Three members of the state Assembly were added to the state payroll after their November 2016 elections, allowing them to collect almost $17,000 in extra pay, according to data posted today on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website.
During the six-month period ending March 31, 2017, Assemblymembers Joseph Errigo (R-Livingston County), Melissa Miller (R-Nassau County) and Clyde Vanel (D-Queens) were each paid $23,994—$5,648 more than other freshmen, who were paid $18,346—after being added to the state payroll several weeks before their terms began on January 1, 2017.
The three were elected to seats that became vacant prior to Election Day; however, the election held November 8, 2016 determined who would be seated in the 2017-18 legislature, not who would fill a vacancy.
At least nine other members of the Assembly elected in November 2014 were each paid an extra $3,703 under this practice, SeeThroughNY data shows.
The newly uploaded data detail $110 million in spending by members of the state Assembly and Senate between October 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. The data also show:
The Assembly and Senate paid $6.3 million to the U.S. Postal Service, mostly for campaign-style legislative mailers.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and do business. SeeThroughNY this summer marked nine years of connecting New Yorkers with information about how their tax dollars are spent.
This piece was revised to reflect a subsequent statement by the Assembly speaker’s office, as further explained in this update.
A total of 97 retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) were eligible for pensions of $200,000 or more during the 2025 fiscal year, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Among the 97 retirees Read More
The pension plan covering most New York City government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 70 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, almost quadrupling 2019’s tally of 19, according to new , the Read More
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s payroll surpassed $8 billion in 2024 – a 2.6 percent increase since 2023, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Overtime, as measured using payroll records, totaled $ Read More
Spending by state lawmakers on office personnel and administrative costs varies widely, with some paying out nearly twice as much as others on their office operations, according to the most recent reported, posted to SeeThroughNY.net.
Read More
Albany steered over $226 million in grant awards to 581 local projects between June 2024 and April 2025 through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), according to the Empire Center recently received und Read More
New York’s two teacher pension systems last year had 26 retirees eligible to collect pensions of more than $300,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Data reported from Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of Read More
School districts presenting budgets to voters on Tuesday, May 20, plan to spend an average of $35,012 per student, up 4.6 percent from the current school year, according to new state data.
Data collected by the state Education Departme Read More
New York’s of state and local government union contracts has been updated with the latest collective bargaining agreements for local teachers, police, firefighters, libraries, and public authorities.
Among the on SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center Read More