ALBANY — State legislators won’t find a pay raise in their Christmas stocking this year.
Gov. Cuomo ruled out a raise for lawmakers, telling New York Public Radio yesterday that there won’t be a special legislative session before lawmakers’ current terms expire at the end of the month.
“That’s not going to happen this year,” he said, adding it wouldn’t be appropriate in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.
Since legislators can’t approve raises for themselves in their current terms, lawmakers will be stuck with their $79,500 base salaries until 2015, at the earliest.
They haven’t gotten raises since 1999, although most lawmakers get bonuses for committee chairmanships and leadership positions.
State-agency heads, whose compensation is set by law, will also go without raises.
Many make tens of thousands of dollars less than their deputies, and Cuomo has argued that his agency chiefs should get more.