THE ENABLING ACT WHICH TASKED A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE WITH DECIDING WHETHER THE SALARIES OF LEGISLATORS AND STATE OFFICIALS SHOULD BE INCREASED IS CONSTITUTIONAL (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Cannataro, over an extensive concurring opinion and a two-judge dissent, determined the enabling act which empowered a committee to decide whether to increase the salaries of legislators and state officials was constitutional. The opinions are far too comprehensive to fairly summarize here:

In this declaratory judgment action, plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of part HHH of chapter 59 of the Laws of 2018 (the enabling act), in which the Legislature tasked the Committee on Legislative and Executive Compensation with determining, after consideration of various factors, whether “the salary and allowances of the members of the [L]egislature” and certain other state officials “warrant an increase” … . The enabling act further provided that the Committee’s recommendation with respect to any salary changes would become effective unless modified or abrogated by statute. Inasmuch as defendants have failed to overcome the presumption of constitutionality afforded to the enabling act as a duly enacted state statute … , we affirm. Delgado v State of New York, 2022 NY Slip Op 06538, CtApp 11-17-22

Practice Point: Here the enabling act which tasked a legislative committee with deciding whether the salaries of legislators and state officials should be increased was deemed constitutional.