The rich aren’t all getting richer. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’d go without the $25,000 per year raise that had been scheduled to take effect in January, which keeps his salary at $225,000. Other top politicians and state officials will join him.
New York’s Division of the Budget has predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic will likely cause a $60.5 billion loss through fiscal year 2024, so any raises at this time for prominent state politicians would not pass the smell test.
“I’m gonna ask them to defer their raises and not take a raise given the overall financial picture for the same rationale that we didn’t do a raise,” Cuomo told reporters during a Wednesday press conference in Albany.
“I understand there’s a disconnect in the law, but I’m going to ask the commissioners, myself, the other electeds not to take a raise this year and then I’ll do an (executive order) to that effect … .”
The governor won’t be without additional personal revenue for too long. He is expected to receive an undisclosed amount of money from a publishing deal for his book “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” which was released on Oct. 13.
Cuomo’s critics include Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean, who referenced the potential pay increase and Cuomo’s book via Twitter:
“Not to mention the hundreds of thousands (maybe over a million) that he was given for his insulting ‘leadership’ book. While thousands suffer and died.”
According to Cuomo, a portion of the sales will go to a coronavirus-related charity.
As of late October, the book had sold more than 21,000 hard copies, according to NPD BookScan.
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