Linking the budget's passage to a
pay increase — lawmakers
last received a
bump to $ 79,500
in 1999 — is considered especially key for Assembly Democrats, whose conference is predominantly comprised of lawmakers from New York City and the metropolitan area, where the cost of living is generally higher than the rest of the state.
Lawmakers have said they'll fund the step increases that were foreshadowed
in last year's set of
pay raises, which is welcome news to teachers who thought they would have seen those
pay bumps earlier this summer.