Even with Albany passing a $175 billion budget underpinned by a series of new taxes, there’s at least one New Yorker whose bank account will be better off: Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Lawmakers voted in the wee hours of Monday morning to hike Cuomo’s salary to $250,000 by 2021, making him the highest-paid governor in the nation.
Voting largely along party lines, the Senate signed off on the raise around 2:45 a.m. in a 35-24 vote.
The Assembly followed at 7 a.m., approving the raise by a margin of 92-46.
Cuomo’s compensation will jump from a 2018 salary of $179,500 to $200,000 this year, $225,000 in 2020 and $250,000 in 2021 — good enough to leave California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s current high of $202,000 in the dust.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will also get a bump to $220,000 by 2021. She was making $151,500 last year.
The state Compensation Committee recommended the pay hikes as part of a sweeping slate of raises for lawmakers and top state officials that took effect on Jan. 1.
The committee voted in December to increase lawmakers’ salaries over three years, from $79,500 to $130,000.
But that came with a restriction on outside income to no more than 15 percent of a legislator’s total earnings.
Cuomo’s raise required separate legislative approval — and lawmakers weren’t notified of the plan to boost his salary until late Sunday.
The raise came amid a rush of new fees and taxes, including a charge to drive into central Manhattan, a 4 percent tax on home sales of $25 million and up, and an extension of the top income tax rate of 8.82 percent to 2024.