Albany Needs to Stop Passing the Buck

ONEONTA, 04/28/16 – State Senator James L. Seward (R/C/I- Oneonta) today announced that he is co-sponsoring newly introduced legislation (S.7408) to aid counties in paying mandated salary increases for full time district attorneys.

“I am acutely aware of the painstaking measures local elected officials take to balance their budgets, keep property taxes in check, and still provide essential services to their constituents,” said Senator Seward.  “With that in mind, the state needs to come to the aid of local governments and ensure that mandated salary increases for district attorneys are not a drag on local budgets and property taxpayers.”

Salary increases for local full time district attorneys are tied to increases for judicial pay and set by the New York State Commission of Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Compensation.  In the past, the state has funded the DA salary increases in the state budget; however, costs associated with recently adopted raises were not part of the governor’s 2016-17 budget proposal or the final adopted budget.

“The governor’s failure to include funding for the salary increases in his budget proposal made it difficult for the legislature to inject the money during budget negotiations.  This newly introduced legislation will remedy the situation, and is especially necessary for counties that I represent that have relatively lower budget reserves and are unable to absorb unanticipated costs,” added Seward.

Senate bill 7408 would provide 100 percent state aid to counties to cover the increase in salary costs – approximately $30,000 per county or $1.57 million statewide.

“As a strong proponent of  mandate relief for local governments, I have fought for a number of measures to stop Albany from passing the buck.  Right now, counties are seeing substantial savings thanks to a plan I championed to have the state take on increased county costs associated with Medicaid.  I have also supported a full state takeover of Medicaid, as well as a number of other mandate relief measures that would free up local dollars for local needs.  I’d be the first to say there’s much more to be done and we can start with the DA salary increases,” Seward concluded.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Local Government Committee. 

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