Cuomo criticizes DiNapoli over controversial Senate stipends
Gov. Cuomo put state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on the hot seat Thursday over the state Senate’s controversial practice of paying out stipends to lawmakers for leadership positions they don’t hold.
Cuomo said the state comptroller reviews the Legislature’s payroll submissions and determines whether to cut the checks.
“He either did it legally or illegally. I’m assuming his position is it’s legal. But it’s either legal or not legal,” Cuomo told reporters following a housing event in Manhattan.
“It’s the comptroller’s opinion whether or not that was legal. If it was not legal, the comptroller shouldn’t have done it. If it was not legal, the comptroller should call up and say ‘Whoops. I made a mistake. I need the money back.’’’
Cuomo even raised the specter of DiNapoli being investigated.
“Now, if the comptroller violated the law and is unwilling to admit it, you could have authorities come in and that would take it to a new level. But the fundamental question is the comptroller funded it. Was it legal? Was it not legal? He must believe it was legal, because I have not heard him say he wants the money back.”
DiNapoli spokeswoman Jennifer Freeman responded:
“The Comptroller’s office is not a court of law. This issue needs to be decided by the Senate itself or the legal system.”
Cuomo’s administration has been rocked by a pay-to-play and bid-rigging scandals that include charges against former top aide Joe Percoco.
The governor and DiNapoli have sparred on how much oversight the comptroller should have over the state’s economic development program.
On Wednesday, DiNapoli released a hard-hitting audit blasting Cuomo’s chief economic development arm, the Empire State Development Corp., for failing to report the outcomes of many of the programs it runs.
Cuomo economic development officials disputed the findings.
DiNapoli, a former state assemblyman, is personally familiar with the Legislature’s leadership stipends, or lulus, paid to lawmakers on top of their base $79,500 salaries.
The bonuses range from $9,500 to $40,000.
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The Republican-led Senate submitted documents to the comptroller’s office that listed seven lawmakers — three Independent Democratic Conference members, plus four Republicans — who were listed falsely as holding committee chairs to get larger bonuses. Some were actually vice chairs, not chairs.
The Senate leadership issued a legal opinion insisting the stipends were legal.
But Senate Democratic Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins questioned its legality and called for an investigation.
Salaries have been a sore point with lawmakers because base salaries haven’t been raised since 1999.
Cuomo last year pushed for ethics reforms as part of any deal to raise legislative pay. The deal fell through.
“None of it looks good,” said Cuomo, who argued that a legislative pay hike should be accompanied by restrictions on outside employment.