Provides for the increase in the annual salary of members of the legislature, commencing on January 1, 2019, in an amount equal to the increase in the value of $79,500 based on the rate of inflation between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2018.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5933
SPONSOR: Weprin TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the legislative law, in relation to
compensation payable to members of the state legislature
PURPOSE:
Provides for the increase in the annual salary of members of the legis-
lature commencing on January 1, 2019
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends Subdivision 1 of section 5 of the legislative law to
provide for an increase in the annual salary of members of the New York
State Legislature, based solely on the rise in inflation as calculated
by the national Consumer Price index.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date of this legislation.
JUSTIFICATION:
Members of the New York State Legislature have not received a raise in
their annual salary since 1999. when their annual pay was set at
$79,500. Since this time, the national economy has experienced a massive
rise in inflation, experiencing both an economic boom, but also a seri-
ous recession and an ongoing recovery from it. This legislation seeks
not to provide legislators with a raise, but only to peg the current
rate of pay with the current value of $79,500 in 1999, using only the
rate of inflation set forth by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics'
Consumer Price Index.
Contrary to common belief, the majority of New York State legislators
typically engage work on an annual, full-time basis that far exceeds
scheduled session days that occur between January and June of every
year. Countless hours, days and months are spent by legislators and
their staff members to address serious concerns raised by constituents,
as well as to coordinate and engage in important events that serve to
benefit the communities they serve. As the discussion over whether to
designate the New York State Legislature to be a 'full-time' legislature
continues, it is true that most legislators already view their offices
as being exactly that.
Finally, failing to recognize the rise in inflation in the salaries of
legislators has the negative effect of discouraging those who do not
earn income from outside sources from remaining in office. Until impor-
tant issues such as the potential implementation of term limits and a
ban on the accrual of outside income are resolved, the sensible approach
to maintaining fairness and promoting the execution of good governance
is to recognize the impact of inflation upon legislators and the fami-
lies that they support.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPACT:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5933
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 17, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WEPRIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the legislative law, in relation to compensation payable
to members of the state legislature
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 5 of the legislative law, as
2 amended by chapter 635 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. Effective January first, [nineteen hundred ninety-nine] two thou-
5 sand nineteen, each member of the legislature shall receive [a] an annu-
6 al salary in an amount equal to the increase in the value of seventy-
7 nine thousand five hundred dollars [per annum] between January first,
8 nineteen hundred ninety-nine and December thirty-first, two thousand
9 eighteen, based on the rate of inflation established by the consumer
10 price index as calculated by the federal Department of Labor. Such
11 salary of a member of the legislature shall be payable in twenty-six
12 bi-weekly installments provided, however, that if legislative passage of
13 the budget as defined in subdivision three of this section has not
14 occurred prior to the first day of any fiscal year, the net amount of
15 any such bi-weekly salary installment payments to be paid on or after
16 such day shall be withheld and not paid until such legislative passage
17 of the budget has occurred whereupon bi-weekly salary installment
18 payments shall resume and an amount equal to the accrued, withheld and
19 unpaid installments shall be promptly paid to each member.
20 For purposes of this section, net amount shall mean gross salary minus
21 any or all of the following deductions: federal taxes, state taxes,
22 social security taxes, city taxes, payments on retirement loans, retire-
23 ment contributions, contributions to health insurance or other group
24 insurance programs, child support and court ordered payments.
25 § 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07436-01-7
