Those of us who want to work at Nassau OTB, a public benefit corporation, on any day of the year when tracks are running that bettors want to bet should be able to do so. Who needs a pay raise when you can't even work for your money when bettors want to bet.
Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey is President of the Union that represents Nassau OTB employees.
Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey is President of the Union that represents Nassau OTB employees.
New York's financial regulators
advised health insurers statewide on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014, to cover
transgender treatment deemed to be medically necessary. The state
capitol building in Albany is pictured here. Photo
Credit: Bloomberg News / Ron Antonelli
New
Yorkers should be against any pay raises for Albany lawmakers not
because they don't deserve them (although they don't) or because they
didn't earn them (although they didn't). Our fellow state residents
should be against the pay increases because lawmakers didn't ask us
first.
The state constitution only allows for one session of the legislature to vote for an increase in salary for the next session. But just because legislators can do it, doesn't mean they should. There is a small window every two years just after an election in November and just before the start of the next session in January that allows for the legislature to legally vote itself a raise without being subject to the voters for the other two years.
Our current calendar is in that small window right now -- and Albany lawmakers are in serious talks to take advantage of it.
Video lettersSend us a video about speed cameras CartoonMatt Davies' latest cartoon: North Korea's exports Reader essaysGet published in Newsday Theoretically, we shouldn't necessarily be against a pay increase for our elected representatives. Better salaries for those who write our state laws -- coupled with a limit on their outside employment activities, of course -- might make for better representation and more competitors willing to throw hats into the ring for more competitive elections. In addition, the last time a raise was approved by the Empire State's legislature and governor, as required, was in 1999. Today, 213 lawmakers earn a base salary of $79,500, though many also draw stipends of $9,000 to $41,000 for leadership positions or committee chairmanships.
Yet before we give them more money, let's look at what they are already getting paid to do or, more accurately, not do.
The 2014 calendar only called for the State Senate to meet for 59 days and the Assembly to meet for 61 days. The $79,500 annual salary of these part-time Albany lawmakers (not including travel and other stipends) makes the 213 state legislators the third highest paid in the country. Only California and Pennsylvania pay their state lawmakers more.
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Citizens should be the first line of defense against the
potential of overreaching by politicians -- not be an afterthought. The
debate being held in New York for increased compensation, if there is
one, is among a select few of those who wield power and stand to
personally gain from its passage. The conversation wasn't introduced to
voters before an election but, instead, sprung as a post-election
"gotcha."
Yet the reason for the sneaky oversight of leaving we, the people, out of the discussion is obvious: Why would legislators submit a controversial action for judgment of the voters if the law doesn't require them to do so? "Because it's the right thing to do," is not a sentence we hear much out of Albany. If we begin by expecting them to do the right thing, maybe they will start to consider the prospect.
"Show me the money!" demanded Eric Adams, then a state senator, from the floor of Albany's upper house in December of 2007. The season of giving upon them, that legislature was also considering being charitable toward its members with a holiday gift courtesy of the taxpayers in the form of a pay raise. Although a salary increase was not approved that year -- and Adams has since become Brooklyn borough president -- the sentiment has remained.
Stop scratching on holidays
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
The state constitution only allows for one session of the legislature to vote for an increase in salary for the next session. But just because legislators can do it, doesn't mean they should. There is a small window every two years just after an election in November and just before the start of the next session in January that allows for the legislature to legally vote itself a raise without being subject to the voters for the other two years.
Our current calendar is in that small window right now -- and Albany lawmakers are in serious talks to take advantage of it.
Video lettersSend us a video about speed cameras CartoonMatt Davies' latest cartoon: North Korea's exports Reader essaysGet published in Newsday Theoretically, we shouldn't necessarily be against a pay increase for our elected representatives. Better salaries for those who write our state laws -- coupled with a limit on their outside employment activities, of course -- might make for better representation and more competitors willing to throw hats into the ring for more competitive elections. In addition, the last time a raise was approved by the Empire State's legislature and governor, as required, was in 1999. Today, 213 lawmakers earn a base salary of $79,500, though many also draw stipends of $9,000 to $41,000 for leadership positions or committee chairmanships.
Yet before we give them more money, let's look at what they are already getting paid to do or, more accurately, not do.
The 2014 calendar only called for the State Senate to meet for 59 days and the Assembly to meet for 61 days. The $79,500 annual salary of these part-time Albany lawmakers (not including travel and other stipends) makes the 213 state legislators the third highest paid in the country. Only California and Pennsylvania pay their state lawmakers more.
Yet the reason for the sneaky oversight of leaving we, the people, out of the discussion is obvious: Why would legislators submit a controversial action for judgment of the voters if the law doesn't require them to do so? "Because it's the right thing to do," is not a sentence we hear much out of Albany. If we begin by expecting them to do the right thing, maybe they will start to consider the prospect.
"Show me the money!" demanded Eric Adams, then a state senator, from the floor of Albany's upper house in December of 2007. The season of giving upon them, that legislature was also considering being charitable toward its members with a holiday gift courtesy of the taxpayers in the form of a pay raise. Although a salary increase was not approved that year -- and Adams has since become Brooklyn borough president -- the sentiment has remained.
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Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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