Republican Lawmakers Reject Idea of Pay Raise

Despite Governor Spitzer's softening on giving state legislators their first salary hike in a decade, lawmakers are unlikely to win a raise at least until the end of the year — and they may have to wait until 2010.

In Albany, legislative salaries could be compared with orchids — they grow only under ideal conditions. In Albany, the timing and political climate are hardly ripe for a raise, even taking into account the governor's goodwill gesture, lawmakers said in interviews.

While Assembly Democrats are openly clamoring for more pay, Senate Republicans, whose political survival hangs in the balance, insist they're uninterested.

"It's not on our agenda," the Republican Senate leader, Joseph Bruno, told The New York Sun in a sit-down interview yesterday in Lower Manhattan.

On Tuesday, in a private meeting with his Democratic conference, the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, said Mr. Spitzer was now supportive of a legislative raise.

The speaker said the governor told him he would probably propose one as an amendment to his executive budget next month. The meeting was reported in the New York Times yesterday.

Mr. Silver is "hopeful that a pay raise bill would come soon," a spokesman for Mr. Silver said yesterday.

Mr. Spitzer in prior statements had ruled out backing a raise until the Legislature agreed to tighten campaign finance laws and other measures that at the time were his top priorities.

Senate Republicans last year rejected the deal, refusing to pass the campaign finance measure, which had the backing of Assembly Democrats.

Complicating matters, the failure to reach agreement incensed state judges, who have found themselves at the mercy of Albany horse-trading while trying in vain to secure their first raise since 1999. Chief Judge Judith Kaye has been so inflamed over the issue that she has threatened to sue the state.

A source close to the governor said Mr. Spitzer's decision to retreat was a conciliatory gesture to "set the tone for the season" following a year of relentless bickering.

A Democratic assemblyman said to Mr. Spitzer "is trying to get us believe that he likes us and is our friend."

The 212 legislators make a base salary of $79,500 a year, not including stipends for leadership roles.

The earliest lawmakers would be eligible for a pay raise is January 2009, upon the start of a new term.

The dangling of a raise may also be an attempt to encourage lawmakers to cooperate with his budget proposal, Albany observers said.

It's doubtful, however, the gesture will translate into hard cash any time soon.

The biggest obstacle is the Republican majority conference in the Senate, whose members tend to be wealthier than their counterparts in the Assembly and frequently hold lucrative second jobs.

Unlike the veto-proof Assembly Democrats, Republicans, who control the Senate by only two seats, have more to risk by angering voters with an election around the corner.

A spokesman for the Senate Republicans said there is no bill in the Senate, and the issue is not under consideration.

The Spitzer administration yesterday downplayed the possibility of delivering a pay raise bill to lawmakers by February.

"There is no legislation being drafted and absolutely no talk of February," an official said.

Albany sources said the governor was inclined to reverse course knowing that Senate Republicans wouldn't follow suit.

At the very least, they said, Mr. Spitzer could help drive a wedge between the two chambers.

If Senate Republicans refuse to support a pay raise before the budget is negotiated, they could come around after the November elections.

If they lose their majority, however, they would have little incentive to approve a raise that would take effect after they lost power, lawmakers said.