Hochul Says Any Legislative Pay Raise Should Include a Cap on Outside Income

Governor Kathy Hochul says she’s not asking the state legislature for anything in return if they decide to vote to raise their pay later this month. But she says a limit on lawmakers’ outside income should be part of any agreement.

Some State Senators and Assembly members are seeking a raise in base pay from $110,000 to $130,000 dollars a year. Hochul says she has not yet seen any proposed legislation, and says a special session is still “hypothetical”.

But she says any pay raise deal should include a limit on how much outside income a legislator could earn. Several past legislative leaders were convicted of criminal charges related to outside jobs that they held.

“That seems to be if you’re having a pay increase that that would be something in the interest of transparency and accountability that people would expect,” Hochul said.

Hochul says if the lawmakers meet, it will be a “very short session”, and she says it may not be the time to bring up other issues, with the new legislative session beginning in less than three weeks.