One central New York state lawmaker doesn’t want to go into special session in Albany this month to vote on legislative pay raises, at least the way it’s being discussed now.
State Sen. John DeFrancisco (R-Syracuse) says he’s opposed to voting on any kind of legislative package that links a potential pay raise to some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pet proposals.
"If there’s a proposal for a legislative pay raise tied into anything else, to me, that’s a perfect example of pay to play,” said DeFrancisco.
DeFrancisco admits that the legislature packages items together, voting on them togeter, all the time, but the state Senate’s deputy majority leader says a pay raise shouldn’t be one of them.
Cuomo has a list of reforms and other initiatives he’s pushing right now, including campaign finance reform, and the expansion of the state’s hate crimes law.
"I don’t care what the governor wants. If he puts them down in separate pieces of legislation, we vote them up or down, as well as a pay raise. It’s fine, as long as their not tied in together,” said DeFrancisco.
DeFransisco does support pay raises in general. Legislators as well as some of Cuomo’s top commissioners haven’t had a pay hike in 17 years.
