Pressure is building on Governor Spitzer to back down from his demands and grant lawmakers their first pay raise in more than eight years.
Earlier this year, Mr. Spitzer indicated he would not give his consent to a pay raise unless the Legislature approved his plan to significantly lower campaign contribution limits and impose other restrictions on political giving.
Now, with time running out in the legislative session and Senate Republicans showing no signs of yielding on their opposition to the governor's campaign finance proposal, Mr. Spitzer faces a tough choice: Either he adjusts his demands or risks alienating lawmakers, particularly Assembly Democrats, who have made no secret of their desire for a bigger paycheck.
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...The governor, however, needs the cooperation of the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, who is under pressure from his own members to deliver a pay raise.
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By refusing to compromise on pay raise, Mr. Spitzer also risks angering state judges, who have not received a salary increase since 1999. Chief Judge Judith Kaye has been so enflamed over the issue that she has threatened to sue the state. Mr. Spitzer supports giving judges more money, but lawmakers have refused to approve a judiciary pay raise bill that does not increase their own pay as well.
Lawmakers are predicting that Mr. Spitzer will break the logjam and downgrade his demands on a campaign finance bill. In April, the governor said talks between his administration and Senate Republicans collapsed because lawmakers would not agree to ban political contributions from limited liability companies, which can give the same amount as individuals and have been used by wealthy donors as a tool for unlimited giving, as donors can set up as many as the entities as they choose.
"I think you have to lower the bar," the minority leader of the state Senate, Malcolm Smith of Queens, said. "There has to be something everybody can live with." Mr. Smith said he thought the Legislature and the governor would come to an agreement before session ends on June 21.
I disagree, Mr. Smith. We've been lowering the bar for decades and look where that has gotten us.
Want a raise? Deliver meaningful campaign finance reform.
