Cuomo to receive pay raise at start of 2021 as lower officials' salaries remain stagnant due to pandemic

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to receive a $25,000 pay raise in 2021 per legislation passed in 2019 while other New York officials' salaries will remain stagnant year-over-year because of the coronavirus pandemic. 

A report recently released by the New York Commission on Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation determined that "it will not recommend any compensation increases for the next four years for New York’s judges, legislators, or executive branch officials."

The report cited the coronavirus pandemic and its "unprecedented challenges" as a major reason why a pay raise for officials would not be wise. 

Gov. Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a news conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol in Albany, N.Y. Cuomo is set to receive a $25,000 pay raise in 2021. (Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)

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"The Department of Budget has predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cause a $60.5 billion loss through FY 2024," its report said. "And in the short term, the State’s unemployment rate is expected to average 11.4 percent, which is 'a level higher than any record since the current methodology for calculating the rate was introduced.'"

The report added that the state is in an "extremely precarious fiscal condition."

Cuomo, who is now the chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA) after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan stepped down, has been on the forefront of asking the federal government for help with states' budget shortfalls during the pandemic. 

"Due to Congress’ inaction, the ability of state and local governments to deliver critical services to the American people is now in serious jeopardy, along with the jobs of millions who work in schools, libraries, police and fire departments, hospitals, road and transit agencies, and other units of state and local government," a joint statement by the NGA and several other state and local government associations said in August. 

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"Only the federal government, with its central bank, the world’s reserve currency, and unlimited borrowing authority, has the power to avoid these devastating consequences. It is unconscionable that our federal leaders have failed to act," the statement continued. 

But amid the struggles of New York and other states, Cuomo's salary is still set to increase from $225,000 in 2020 to $250,000 in 2021. That is the result of a pre-panedmic resolution passed by the legislature, which noted the New York governor and the lieutenant governor had each made the same salary since 1999. 

Fox News reached out to the New York governors' office for comment and did not immediately receive a response. 

The governor's salary will not be the only income Cuomo is making, of course. Cuomo released a book this year on his handling of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, for which, according to the New York Post, he said some of the proceeds will be donated to a charity that helps fight the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.