5. Compensation of members. 1. Effective January first, nineteen hundred ninety-nine, each member of the legislature shall receive a salary of seventy-nine thousand five hundred dollars per annum. Such salary of a member of the legislature shall be payable in twenty-six bi-weekly installments provided, however, that if legislative passage of the budget as defined in subdivision three of this section has not occurred prior to the first day of any fiscal year, the net amount of any such bi-weekly salary installment payments to be paid on or after such day shall be withheld and not paid until such legislative passage of the budget has occurred whereupon bi-weekly salary installment payments shall resume and an amount equal to the accrued, withheld and unpaid installments shall be promptly paid to each member.
For purposes of this section, net amount shall mean gross salary minus any or all of the following deductions: federal taxes, state taxes, social security taxes, city taxes, payments on retirement loans, retirement contributions, contributions to health insurance or other group insurance programs, child support and court ordered payments.
2. (a) Each member of the legislature, upon verification of attendance, which shall be by electronic verification when practicable, in compliance with the policies set forth by the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate for their respective bodies, shall be eligible to receive payment of actual and necessary travel expenses and a per diem equivalent to the most recent federal per diem rates published by the general services administration as set forth in 41 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 301, App. A, for the time in which the member was in travel status in the performance of his or her duties during the months in which the legislature is scheduled to be in regular session. During the months when the legislature is not scheduled to be in regular session, members shall receive such actual and necessary travel expenses and per diems, in compliance with verification policies and in accord with standards and limits for reimbursable events set forth by the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate for their respective bodies. The per diem allowances including partial per diem allowances shall be made on audit and warrant of the comptroller on vouchers approved by the temporary president of the senate or his or her designee and speaker of the assembly or his or her designee for their respective houses.
(b) Each house shall make available on its website all documentation otherwise available to the public pursuant to section eighty-eight of the public officers law related to the payment of travel expenses and per diems.
3. "Legislative passage of the budget", solely for the purposes of this section and section five-a of this article, shall mean that the appropriation bill or bills submitted by the governor pursuant to section three of article seven of the state constitution have been finally acted on by both houses of the legislature in accordance with article seven of the state constitution and the state comptroller has determined that such appropriation bill or bills that have been finally acted on by the legislature are sufficient for the ongoing operation and support of state government and local assistance for the ensuing fiscal year. In addition, legislation submitted by the governor pursuant to section three of article seven of the state constitution determined necessary by the legislature for the effective implementation of such appropriation bill or bills shall have been acted on. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the prohibition contained in section five of article seven of the state constitution.
Last modified: February 3, 2019