Carl Heastie, poised to become the new leader of the State Assembly, said Saturday he would favor banning or limiting state legislators' outside income.
Heastie (D-Bronx), 47, said it is one of the changes he would look to employ if, as expected, Assembly Democrats pick him to replace Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) on Tuesday.
Most Popular
- Lake Placid's Olympic torch to be lit again
- Officials: NY student with measles took Amtrak
- 7-alarm warehouse fire burns in Brooklyn; 1 injury reported
- New York Assembly facing historic change in leadership
- Cops: NJ teacher had sex with 5 students
"One area that needs to be addressed is outside income," Heastie said. "Among the options are an outright ban on outside income or a cap."
The idea is part of starting "a new chapter in the Assembly," said Heastie, who graduated from Stony Brook University in 1990 with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Statistics and was first elected in 2000.
He also said he is looking at ways to include rank-and-file members more when deciding what bills reach the Assembly floor for a vote.
Banning outside incomes would require making legislators -- who are considered part-time -- full-time, he said. He did not say how much a full-time salary would be or how low a cap he would set, adding he wants to first discuss the ideas with the 105 other Assembly Democrats.
In a brief phone interview, Heastie said he did not think the Assembly upheaval would threaten lawmakers' streak of four on-time budgets. He said his relationship with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, also a Democrat, is fine but added, "just because you have good relations with someone doesn't mean there isn't room for disagreement."
Heastie offered his ideas on outside income after U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara accused Silver of pocketing $4 million in kickbacks tied to his outside work as a lawyer. Silver, facing five counts of conspiracy and theft of honest services, was arrested Jan. 22.
He plans to resign as speaker effective 11:59 p.m. Monday. Heastie is expected to be elected on Tuesday, making him the first African-American to hold the job.
Even before Silver was arrested, Cuomo proposed a two-tiered pay system for state legislators: one for those with outside incomes and another for those without. Lawmakers earn a base salary of $79,500, but many get stipends for leadership posts that bring the average salary above $90,000.
Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) has proposed limiting outside income to 15 percent of legislators' base pay, matching the formula for Congress.
No comments:
Post a Comment