Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Judge strikes down limit on NY lawmakers' income outside government — for now
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jul 17, 2024
Modified Jul 20, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Thomas A. Ferrara / Newsday via Getty
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jul 17, 2024
Modified Jul 20, 2024
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A judge temporarily blocked a law that would limit how much income New York state lawmakers can make outside government work, dealing a win to Republicans who are trying to strike it down.
Wednesday's ruling from state Supreme Court Justice Alison Napolitano of Suffolk County will prevent the cap from taking effect while a lawsuit led by GOP lawmakers continues, unless the state attorney general’s office successfully appeals.
The cap would have barred state legislators from earning more than $35,000 a year outside of their public salaries. It was set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025, after the Democrat-led state Legislature approved it as part of a 2022 bill to hike lawmakers’ salaries by 29% — making them the country's highest-paid state legislators.
But the Republican lawmakers — which include state Sens. Mario Mattera and Dean Murray of Long Island as well as Assemblymember Jodi Giglio — sued to strike it down. They argued for a preliminary injunction, which will keep the limit from taking effect while their lawsuit proceeds.
In her ruling, Napolitano, a Republican, said she believes the lawsuit is likely to succeed. She said leaving the cap in place while the case is ongoing could harm lawmakers and candidates who currently face the decision of whether to give up their outside businesses or jobs.
“With these decisions, it is conceivable that by giving up their businesses and employment, the affected legislators will have to take certain drastic, often permanent, actions usually associated with the ending of a business or a job,” Napolitano wrote.
The pay hike, however, is already in effect. Democratic state lawmakers approved the salary increase and outside income cap in the waning days of 2022, more than a month after that year’s elections. In 2023, their annual pay went from $110,000 to $142,000 a year.
But the accompanying $35,000-a-year cap on outside income wasn’t set to take effect until 2025. The delay was designed to allow lawmakers time to decide whether to shed their outside business or leave the Legislature altogether.
The Republican lawsuit — led by former Republican state Attorney General Dennis Vacco, now a private lawyer for Buffalo-based firm Lippes Mathias — makes the case that the cap itself violates the state constitution. The constitution lays out only three basic requirements for a candidate for the state legislature to run: They have to be a U.S. citizen, live in the state for five years and reside in their district for the year preceding the election.
The Republicans also argue that the law’s definitions of outside income and some of the exceptions to the limit — which allow things like passive investment income to exceed the cap — are unconstitutionally vague.
As a member of state Senate leadership, Minority Leader Rob Ortt, a Buffalo-area Republican, is technically a defendant in the lawsuit. But he said he supports the effort – in part because the founding fathers “supported the idea of citizen legislators over career politicians.”
“This ruling affirms that principle and protects the ability of citizens from all walks of life to serve in the state Legislature,” Ortt said in a statement.
At least 23 state senators and assemblymembers earned more than $35,000 in 2021, with the top earners skewing heavily Republican, according to New York Focus.
State Attorney General Letitia James’s office, which represents the state in the case, declined to comment. So did a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx). A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) could not be reached for comment immediately.
This isn’t the first time Republicans have beat back a pending limit on outside income.
In 2018, a commission created by the state Legislature recommended three years of salary increases from lawmakers — but tied the final two pay hikes to a limit on outside income.
The courts struck that outside-income cap — and the final two pay raises — down, finding that the commission exceeded its authority.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated Dean Murray's elected office. He is a state senator.
Tagged
new york state
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
In East Brooklyn, aging NYCHA homes get a $636M upgrade
The improvements to at the Reid & Park Rock developments come has the agency wrestles with a multibillion-dollar backlog in needed repairs.
By
Willow Higgins
Published Oct 26, 2026 at 6:30 a.m. ET
What NYers can expect as open enrollment for health insurance begins
Some consumers will face higher prices partly brought on by federal spending cuts.
By
Caroline Lewis
News
What NYers can expect as open enrollment for health insurance begins
Some consumers will face higher prices partly brought on by federal spending cuts.
By
Caroline Lewis
Why New Yorkers should care about bats beyond spooky season
By
Catalina Gonella
Serbians forced to wait hours to vote at NYC consulate as Balkan nation holds election
By
Jill Webb
and
Michael Sol Warren
Retired NYPD detective charged in George Washington Bridge killing out on $1M bail
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .