CONTACT: Lise Bang-Jensen

(518) 434-3100

LEGISLATIVE SPENDING POSTED ON INTERNET

Office expenditures of individual state Senators and Assembly members for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 have been posted in a searchable format on the Empire Center’s government transparency web site, www.SeeThroughNY.net.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan) spent $875,165 on staff, rent, travel, telephone service, office supplies and other expenditures during the 12-month period, making him the highest spender among the 150 members of his house.The Assembly’s next highest spenders were:Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn), $695,185; Catherine Nolan (D-Queens),$656,074; Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn), $607,069; and Robin Schimminger (D-Erie County), $600,378.The sixth highest was Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) at $585,862 for his expenditures as an Assembly member.That does not include his expenditures as Assembly Speaker.

In the 62-member Senate, the top spender was Dean Skelos (R-Nassau County), who served as the Senate Majority Leader from late June 2008 through December 2009.During the fiscal year, Skelos spent $1,274,354, excluding his leadership expenses.

The Senate’s top 20 spenders were all Republicans with one exception—Carl Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, who had close ties with Republicans at the time.He ranked as the Senate’s fourth highest spender at $1,116,232.Other Senate heavy hitters were Serphin Maltese, (R-Queens), $1,144,068; Frank Padavan (R-Queens), $1,118,617; and Dale Volker, (R-Erie County), $1,082,884.

The posted data, which can be downloaded on a spreadsheet, covers the periods April 1, 2008 through September 30, 2008 and October 1, 2008 through March 31, 2009.  A copy of the expenditure rankings for each six-month period and the entire fiscal year can be downloaded here.

Although Democrats took control of the Senate majority in January 2009, many Republican employees kept their jobs until March 31, 2009, so the final six-month report does not reflect a significant bulge in spending by the new Democratic Majority.

Not included in the expenditure reports are member items, or pork barrel projects, which also can be viewed on the “Expenditures” section of www.SeeThroughNY.net.

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