Local lawmakers want a raise

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz wants to earn about $112,890 a year. State Sen. Gustvo Rivera also thinks he should get a raise from state legislators’ current annual pay of $79,500, although he did not specify by how much.

The local officials are among a number of senators and Assembly members who want their first raise in 16 years before 2014 ends. If lawmakers wait until next year to pass a raise, it will not go into effect for another two years, according to Mr. Dinowitz.

“I’m not someone who secretly wants a pay increase, but doesn’t have the guts to say it,” Mr. Dinowitz said in a phone interview. “I think like any other profession, people should get cost of living adjustments.”

The northwest Bronx assemblyman used U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics figures to calculate his desired salary of $112,890, noting the sum also comes to about the same as City Council members’ pay (which is $112,500 per year, plus thousands of dollars extra for chairmanships). He said the cost of living has gone up about 42 percent since 1998, when the legislature passed measures then-Gov. George Pataki wanted in exchange for his approval of a raise.

Tying a raise to other legislative initiatives this year could sink Mr. Dinowitz and Mr. Rivera’s hopes (both men reported small amounts of outside income on their 2013 financial disclosures to the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics). Some liberal lawmakers have called for the legislature to pass a raise only if it also raises the minimum wage. 

But a recent Daily News story suggested the possibility of forthcoming indictments by Manhattan’s federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, who is reportedly conducting numerous ethics probes into Albany, could give legislators cold feet about passing laws like a minimum wage hike in exchange for higher salaries. That is not even mentioning that Senate Republicans are opposed to a minimum wage increase in the first place.

Mr. Rivera said minimum wage law and boosting legislators’ salaries are “not necessarily related,” adding that there should be conversations about both items.