Governor moves to dock Senate pay
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- June
- 25
  Gov. David Paterson said this afternoon that he is asking the state treasurer to withhold the per diem compensation and travel expenses for the Senate as long as they cannot resolve their leadership dispute and act on legislative business.Â
  The governor said he has asked state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli for an opinion on whether senators’ salaries can be withheld. Since Democrats and Republicans disagree over who controls the chamber, there is no official presiding officer of the Senate. That means no one has the authority to OK payments, he said. Senators’ base pay is $79,500 a year, but many get stipends on top of that for leadership positions.
  If any senators do not show up for work, the governor’s office will file a lawsuit to compel them to do so, Paterson said.
  The Senate has been in a stalemate since June 8, when two Democrats broke from the other 30 Democratic senators and voted to put Republicans back in power. One of the Democrats has since re-allied himself with the other 30 Democratic senators, creating a 31-31 deadlock.
  Paterson said senators told him they are close to an agreement and want to go back into session next week. The governor said he is wary, based on the lack of success and progress they have shown so far. He said senators did not provide him with any details of their negotiations, he said.
  “I demand the Senate stay in session until an agreement is reached,” he said.
  The governor responded to criticism he has been receiving from senators—Democrats and Republicans. They have accused him of not providing the leadership needed to resolve the issue.
  “This is a crisis that needs to be redressed and it needs to be redressed now. This is a crisis of governance. This is governance versus chaos, not the governor versus the Legislature,” he said late this afternoon, calling the Senate “derelict” in its duties.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 5:12 pm by Cara Matthews.
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