A member of the state salary commission says legislators have no one but themselves to blame about a provision linking their upcoming pay hikes to an on-time state budget.
City Comptroller Scott Stringer, one of the commission’s four members, says he personally opposes withholding the raises if legislators don’t pass a new budget by the April 1 deadline.
“I actually don’t support that. I don’t think it should be tied to an on-time budget because there are times when you fight for principle,” Stringer told The Post Editorial Board on Thursday.
But he said there’s not much he could have done about it because it was the legislature itself that including the provision in the law creating the salary panel.
“The leadership of the Assembly and the Legislature voted for those provisions to tie the raise to an on-time budget,” Stringer said. “They voted for it. The speaker voted for it.”
The reference was to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who has criticized the commission for attaching conditions to the 64 percent raises it recommended for legislators, boosting their base pay from $79,500 to $130,000 in 2021.
Michael Whyland, Heastie’s spokesman, responded: “The speaker is looking forward to getting the people’s work done beginning on January 9th when we return. Who is Scott Stringer?”
Stringer defended the other conditions tied to the pay hike — a limit on outside income and an end to most leadership stipends — as “best practice” ethics reforms.
Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was among those convicted in a public corruption case for trading his public office for private gain through his law practice.
“We need to institute reforms that are now becoming standardized across the country,” said Stringer.
“The City Council eliminated outside income. There’s no such thing as stipends. And we said`Well, if we give a big raise and there’s so few who have outside income and we still let people do some of the things they have to do, that’s best practice. If we get rid of stipends, which is also being eliminated in legislatures across the country, that’s best practice.”
The panel’s recommendations go into effect Jan. 1 unless the Legislature votes to make changes.
But the outcome could hinge on the courts.
Critics last week filed a lawsuit to block the commission’s actions, claiming only legislators and not an appointed body can vote for pay increases under the state Constitution.