New York Legislature: Get re-elected, retire and then collect a salary and pension

ALBANY – Add three more members of the state Legislature to the list of those who were re-elected, retired and started a new term collecting both a salary and a pension.

The three New York City-area Assembly members this month joined two state senators who lost re-election in November and put in for their pensions, as well as former Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle, who was elected to Congress.

Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County, will now collect a roughly $80,000 annual state pension each year along with his $174,000-a-year congressional salary.

The practice of state lawmakers being able to collect a salary and a pension for the same job when they reach retirement age has long been derided in Albany.

But doing so is legal, and 15 state Assembly members and six senators double dipped last year, state records show.

Collecting a salary and a pension in the same job became more lucrative this year.

Salaries for state lawmakers rose from $79,500 to $110,000 this month and goes to $130,000 in 2021.

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The new double dippers

Democratic Assembly members Peter Abbate Jr. of Brooklyn and Deborah Glick of Manhattan put in for their pensions as they are seated for another term in the Legislature, according to the state Comptroller's Office.

Based on their years of service, age and previous salaries, their pensions could each be about $57,000, according to a calculator on the state Comptroller Office's website.

So too did Assemblyman Fred Thiele, a member of the Independence Party from Long Island who sits with Democrats. His pension may be about $70,000 a year.

They could not immediately be reached for comment.

Two state senators who lost re-election last November — GOP Sen. Carl Marcellino of Long Island and Democrat Tony Avella of Queens — also put in for the pensions, but they are no longer in public office.

In Morelle's case, his office said he filed to receive his pension because he was eligible after decades of state service as he moves into federal office.

Lawmakers have said that taking their pensions is important to ensure their spouses are entitled to the payments if they died.

"These benefits are fully earned and collecting them ensures the Congressman’s beneficiary may receive the pension in the event of a tragedy, providing peace of mind for his family," Morelle's spokeswoman Dana Vernetti said.

More collecting a salary and pension

Lawmakers are only one group of state workers who can collect a salary and a pension at the same time, often in the same job.

For example, more than 300 state workers earned $100,000 in combined pension and salary in 2017, records last year showed.

But the state has cracked down on the number of double dippers, dropping 37 percent to about 1,700 workers since 2011.

State law, though, allows legislators to collect a salary and a pension if they reach retirement age. They officially retire with the pension system, then resume in their next term after being re-elected.

Assemblyman David Gantt, D-Rochester, collected $166,739 in 2017 in salary, stipend and pension in 2017, for example.

Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, received $140,564, and Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, R-Bainbridge, Chenango County, got $133,348, records show.

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