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History
- Referred to finance
- Referred to finance
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Provides for a salary cap on the chancellor of the state or city university of New York to $250 k of public funds; and no state officer's salary shall exceed the governor's
In Assembly Committee · Higher Education · Sponsor David Koon
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to placing a limit on the annual salary and benefits package of the chancellor of the state university
Purpose of bill
Provides for a salary cap on the chancellor of the state or city university of New York to $250,000 of public funds and sets in statute that no state officer's salary and benefits shall exceed that of the governor's.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 169 of the executive law to establish that no salary plan for the chancellor of the state or city university of New York shall include a salary and benefits package exceeding $250,000 allocated from public funds. Subdivision 4 of section 169 of the executive law is added to prohibit any state entity from increasing the salary of a state officer, or increase a state officers' employee benefits, if the annual salary at the time or with the increase would exceed the annual salary of the governor.
Section 2 sets the effective date.
Justification
Currently, the Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) receives a $250,000 salary and a $90,000 housing allowance, as well as car and driver service costing taxpayers $175,000. At present, the Chancellor's income exceeds that of the governor by more than $70,000.
It can be argued that while the state faces the prospect of raising tuition that the chancellor's salary and benefits package exceeding $300,000 could be useful for lowering class sizes, recruiting and retaining more faculty members, lower tuition, protect important programs that could face elimination, and create additional aid and scholarships for students. Further, in the Chronicle of Higher Education, authors Roger Bowen and Jane Buck assert that an overly generous compensation package - such as the one the SUNY Chancellor receives - can convey to students, faculty and the taxpaying public that the state university system's first priority is the chief executive rather than the education that our students receive. This bill seeks to curb this dangerous trend and protect the high quality of our student's education while limiting the compensation of the chancellor. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, other states such as Florida, Ohio and Oklahoma, have either considered or passed legislation to limit the compensation of university presidents and other state employees.
Finally, this legislation will not only create a cap on the chancellor's salary and benefits, but will also prohibit any state employee from receiving a salary and benefits package that exceeds the governor's salary.
Legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None. In fact, the state could experience a net savings in the long-run with the enactment of this bill.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.