DiNapoli shuts off pols’ cash

ALBANY — State Controller Thomas DiNapoli’s office has withheld tens of thousands of dollars in controversial Senate committee chairman stipends that are doled out to lawmakers who don’t actually head any panels.

“The concern raised and the question underlying the concern is straightforward: Where is the authority for payment to be made to a member of the Senate in the special capacity of ‘vice chair’ of a committee?” Deputy Controller Christopher Gorka wrote in a March 30 letter to Senate GOP counsel David Lewis.

Until the question is answered, he wrote, “we are unable to pay an allowance to any committee vice chair at this time.”

The letter, which affects five senators, was obtained through a freedom of information request to the state controller’s office.

Lewis, in a March 20 letter to DiNapoli, argued it’s legal to hand out the stipends even to senators who don’t chair a committee.DiNapoli previously approved the payment of 25% of the stipends to the senators. The rest was due Wednesday.