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Investigative Post

Putting legislative pay raises in perspective

Good government groups maintain too many loopholes remain that create the potential for misconduct.

Credit: AP

FILE - Members of the New York Assembly debate legislation to approve a legislative pay raise during a special legislative session in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y., Dec. 22, 2022. New York lawmakers are now the highest paid legislators in the nation under a bill signed Saturday, Dec. 31. Members of both houses will make a base salary of $142,000 starting Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, under the pay raise bill they passed during a special session in late December. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

NEW YORK — State legislators were generous with themselves beyond the $32,000 a year raise they approved last month. The legislation also included loopholes that good government groups are characterizing as weak on ethics and conflicts of interest.

What’s more, the raises, justified by supporters as compensation for inflation, far exceed increases in the cost of living.

Reinvent Albany compared the provisions of the legislation with recommendations made in 2018 by a state compensation commission that considered pay raises for legislators, among other state elected officials.

Read the full story from our partners at Investigative Post.