But I am sure that he is doing this “for the children” …. just ask him.
ALBANY — Gov. Paterson has granted stunning pay raises of up to 29 percent to several key aides — even as he slaps furloughs on 100,000 state workers, and his lieutenant governor threatens layoffs. The shocking move by the lame-duck governor involves five members of his embattled press office, whose two top-ranking members abruptly resigned earlier this year amid what they privately called misleading statements made by the governor.
The double-digit pay hikes, granted within the past 10 days, were first disclosed by Albany TV station CBS6 late yesterday — just hours after public employee unions went to federal court seeking a temporary restraining order against Paterson’s unprecedented move to force half the state workforce off the payroll one day a week for the next nine weeks.
“It’s a slap in the face to state employees who have had their raise delayed and are threatened with the loss of another 20 percent pay per week through the furloughs,” said Public Employees Federation spokeswoman Darcy Wells.
“Whatever happened to shared sacrifice?”
Paterson’s staff raises also come in the wake of his April 1 decision to begin holding back pay hikes for all unionized state workers and his announcement that non-unionized workers would receive no pay hike at all.
The furlough plan, designed to save $250 million, is part of the governor’s overall proposal to close a looming $9.2 billion deficit for the current fiscal year — a problem making the new raises even more difficult to fathom.
