Gov. Kathy Hochul expects lawmakers would include a ban or cap on outside income if they return to Albany for a special session next week to vote for a pay increase, she said Thursday.
Sources have said lawmakers are weighing holding a special session of the Legislature late next week to increase their pay to $130,000 and potentially ban or limit outside income. They currently earn $110,00 annually.
"That seems to be if you're having a pay increase, that that would be something I would think, in the interest of transparency and accountability, that people would expect," the governor said of barring or limiting other income for lawmakers.
Officials have proposed capping or banning what state senators and assemblymembers can earn in additional income for many years, failing to legislate changes.
Hochul held a briefing in the state Capitol on Thursday afternoon following a meeting with her cabinet members, and to provide an update on the winter storm to hit several parts of the state Thursday and Friday.
The governor added she expects the Legislature's pay would be the main focus if a special session happens.
"I guarantee the nature of that would be a very short session," Hochul said. "This may or may not be the place to bring in larger issues, so that is to be determined."
The governor reiterated the Legislature's rumored return is just that — chatter.
"That's all it is," she said. "We've not been told the Legislature is coming back."
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat from Yonkers, have not sent Hochul a proposed salary hike for lawmakers, or details of what it would include.
The governor last week said she supports lawmakers getting a pay increase.