New York State Temporary Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Compensation Background Research and Correspondence…

The Temporary State Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Compensation was created by Chapter 263 of the Laws of 1987 to "examine, evaluate and make recommendations with respect to adequate levels of compensation" for the governor and other high-ranking executive branch officials; members of the legislature; and judges and justices of the state-paid courts of the Unified Court System. Enabling legislation directed the commission to take into account the overall economic climate, the levels of salaries received by other professionals in government and private enterprise, and the ability of the state to fund increases in compensation. The commission was also directed to formulate a "systematic and appropriate mechanism by which the state shall regularly review and adjust levels of pay" received by the public officials in question.

The commission consisted of thirteen members, including four appointed by the governor, two appointed by the majority leadership in each house of the legislature, one appointed by the minority leadership in each house of the legislature, and three appointed by the chief judge of the State Court of Appeals. In its 1988 final report, the commission concluded that inflation over the previous twenty years had significantly eroded the purchasing power of state officials. The commission also found that while New York State officials were compensated at higher levels than their counterparts in other states, they were not paid as well as public officials in the federal government and in New York City. Most importantly, New York State officials were compensated at levels significantly lower than those of executives and other professionals in the private sector, making it difficult to retain experienced personnel in public service.

The commission recommended multi-year programs designed to adjust salaries of public officials to compensate for inflation and to remedy disparities in pay that existed between trial judges and State Supreme Court justices. The commission also a advocated for the creation of a permanent state commission on compensation, which would be charged to review and periodically adjust the salary levels of high-level state government officials. Although none of the recommendations put forth in the commission's report were immediately implemented, its work was studied by subsequent state commissions charged with reviewing compensation of public officials.

This series consists of the background research and correspondence files of Dr. Joseph P. Viteritti, a senior research scientist affiliated with the Urban Research Center in New York University's Graduate School of Public Administration. Viteritti served as Executive Director of the Temporary State Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Compensation. Records include reports of predecessor New York State commissions such as the Commission on Legislative and Judicial Salaries (1973); reports of compensation commissions and copies of published compensation data from other states; copies of New York and other state laws pertaining to salaries of public officials; public-private sector and inter-agency comparison studies undertaken by Hay Management Consultants of Philadelphia; copies of resolutions and testimony, submitted by interested private citizens, public officials, and professional associations, in conjunction with public hearings held by the commission; and minutes of public hearings held in Albany and Rochester.

Records also include statistical and analytical memoranda on compensation of public officials provided by the State Division of the Budget; reports of the federal Commission on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Salaries; task force and commission reports on compensation of New York City public officials; copies of published court decisions pertaining to compensation of public officials; press releases; memoranda to commission members from Chairman Hugh R. Jones; administrative correspondence generated by Viteritti, himself; and working copies of the commission's final report.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.