By Mark Scheer
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
Albany may be having trouble with its finances, but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers from spending big dollars on staff and office supplies.
Data released Wednesday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy shows for the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2009, Democrats in the New York State Senate spent $12.99 million on office operations, an increase of $4.2 million, or 48 percent, over the same period last year.
The data shows that Senate Republicans, who are now in the minority, saw their office spending reduced to $9.92 million, a decrease of $6 million, or 38 percent from the same six-month period from the previous year.
In the Assembly, Democrats in the majority spent an average of $193,712 per member, an increase of .06 percent, while Republicans in the minority spent $139,980 per member for a 5 percent decrease.
Senate Democrats spent an average of $393,759 per member office. This represents an increase of $101,411 or 35 percent from the $292,349 per member from the same period in 2008, when they were in the minority. Senate Republicans averaged $320,227 per member office. This represents a decrease of $178,600, or 36 percent from the $498,827 in average member expenditures when they were in the majority. However, it was 9.5 percent more per member than Democrats received when they were in the minority a year earlier.
The figures include costs for staff, rent, travel, telephone service, office supplies and other expenditures between April and September of 2009, the last period for which numbers are available.
Lawmaker Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, was the biggest spender in the 150 members of the Assembly, having spent $440,764 on office related expenses during the six month period. In the 62-member Senate, lawmaker and Deputy Majority Leader Jeffrey Klein, D-Bronx and Westchester, spent $758,070 on office expenses.
Several local representatives were among the bigger spenders in both houses.
Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, D-North Tonawanda, ranked fifth in Assembly spending at $332,115. He outspent Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhatten, whose six-month office budget came in at $311,971. Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, D-Niagara Falls, ranked 99th in the Assembly, with expenses totaling $146,366.
State Sen. Antoine Thompson, D-Niagara Falls and Buffalo, ranked 12th in the Senate with expenditures totaling $422,650. State Sen. George Maziarz finished 39th, with an office budget for the six-month period of $325,111.
The Empire Center for New York State Policy is a project of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and is dedicated to promoting freedom, opportunity and enterprise in the Empire State. The complete lists of state Legislature office spending can be found at SeeThroughNY.net.
