Voters do not get to approve raises for their representatives. Even if they did, we’re not quite sure how they would vote.

Representatives and people always seem more generous when the money is not coming right out of their pockets. But the pay raise for the state governor and lieutenant governor seems a bit over the top. For Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his pay will increase from $179,000 to $200,000 this year. By 2021, his pay will increase to $250,000. “I didn’t take a position on it,” he was quoted in the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester. “I didn’t want to have a personal agenda in the discussion about pay raises, so I never took a position on myself.”

That quote is a position. He is not turning down the money.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul also will be getting a raise. By 2021, the position will make $220,000.

State lawmakers also increased their pay in the budget vote. Nothing funny about this. No one abstained, though it is a conflict of interest.