ALBANY — The state salary commission decided it will not raise salaries for lawmakers and elected officials across the state, but agreed to raise the pay of 40 agency commissioners by up to 20% with another 2% raise in two years.

Members of the Legislative, Judicial and Executive Compensation Commission said the decision reflects years of underpayment to agency heads. Supporters said salaries for top administrators have been surpassed by union salaries for many of their employees and are lower than salaries for many comparable positions in New York City government.

Commission members Helene Blank and R. Nadine Fontaine said the raises are necessary so the state can attract and retain top talent.

The action means salaries will increase from $220,000 to $245,000 for commissioners of the largest agencies, including the departments of health, environmental conservation, transportation and corrections.

Commissioners at a lower level of agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the gaming commission and the liquor authority, will receive $225,000, up from $220,000 currently.

Heads of lower-level agencies, including the workers’ compensation agency and the athletic commission, would receive $200,000, up from $170,000. And the lowest level of state workers, including members of the parole board and public service commission, will receive $190,000, up from $159,200.

The increases will take effect on January 1. Salaries for the jobs would increase again by 2% in 2027 under a similar cost-of-living increase that the salary commission provided to state judges last year along with their immediate raises.

Part of the debate that led to the commission’s decisions was over the limit on the amount of outside revenue that elected officials could raise.

A court case by Republican lawmakers challenges a 2022 law that created a $35,000 limit on outside income as a condition of receiving raises for senators, Assembly members and statewide elected officials.

At the salary commission’s October public hearing, good government advocates Reinvent Albany and the New York Public Interest Research Group said capping elected officials’ outside income is important as a protection against conflicts of interest between their jobs. publics and their employers, clients or the field in which they work.

The groups urged the commission to deny any increases until a cap on outside revenue is set.

This week, the wage commission said previous court rulings tied its hands.

“We simply do not have the authority to place political conditions on our action outside of the issue of wage increases,” said President Eugene M. Fahey, a retired Court of Appeals judge.

The commission meets after a general election every four years, so its decision not to raise state legislators’ salaries is valid for at least four years.

Justin Wilcox of the business-backed group Upstate United applauded the commission’s decision. He said another pay increase “would have been a slap in the face to all New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet.”

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering issues, politics and state government. He has covered Albany since 2001.