Inflation and high gas prices have been hitting Americans’ pocketbooks for nearly two years.
And many people probably wish they could vote to give themselves massive pay raises right about now.
Well, lawmakers in New York are poised to do just that.
Bloomberg News reports state lawmakers in New York are set to take up a bill on Thursday that would give them a $32,000 raise to $142,000 a year — which would make them the highest-paid state lawmakers in the country.
New York lawmakers are expected to take up legislation today giving themselves a $32,000 pay raise, making them the highest paid state legislators in the nation. https://t.co/TBv9Kw5KTL
— Bloomberg Government (@BGOV) December 22, 2022
Spectrum 1 News notes this would be the first pay raise the lawmakers have received through legislation since 1999. At the time, their annual salary was $79,500. However, an appointed commission gave the green light to raise their salary to $110,000 in 2018.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) voiced support for the legislation as she said, “I believe they deserve a pay raise. They’ve worked extraordinarily hard.”
One part of the legislation that seems good is a provision to limit the amount of money lawmakers can make outside of their legislative jobs.
It’s worth noting that while this legislation would make these state lawmakers the highest paid in the country, New York is not even the most populous state.
It comes in fourth place after California, Texas, and Florida.
Sure New York has the largest city in the country, but residents have been fleeing the state in recent years.
According to the Albany Times Union, the state had a population drop of 319,000 from July 2020 to July 2021. That marks the largest drop of any state in the country.
And the population drop led to New York losing yet another House seat after the latest census.
To paint an even bleaker picture, the Census Bureau said in May it actually overcounted the number of people living in New York. It estimated it counted 695,000 more people than actually live in the state.
Some of the population drop can likely be attributed to a variety of reasons such as job opportunities and people just wanting to leave the frigid weather. But taxes, regulations, unemployment, and a high cost of living are also factors that helped people make up their minds to leave the state. And then there’s the state’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and crime.
So it sure seems the legislature is doing a great job and should be the highest-paid one in the country.