This Assemblyman makes a lot of money on the side

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New York State Assemblyman Michael Norris. Photo provided.

Outgoing Republican state Assemblyman Michael Norris won’t be able to keep his lucrative side jobs — 10, all in Niagara County — presuming he becomes a state Supreme Court justice next year. 

The assemblyman did not respond to a request for comment, but his law firm, Lockport-based Seaman Norris, confirmed that Norris will be withdrawing as a partner if elected to the bench in November.

Norris, 48, a Lockport attorney and former Niagara County Republican Party chairman, has served as the 144th District state assemblyman  – representing parts of Niagara and Erie counties –  since 2017. He has twice been embroiled in public corruption investigations, both times trading his cooperation with investigators for immunity from prosecution.

His move from Albany lawmaker to a position behind the bench is virtually assured as Norris has been endorsed as one of four candidates for four state Supreme Court justice positions up for election in November. The winners earn a 14-year term.

Daniel Seaman, a senior partner with Seaman Norris, said Norris will be removed as a partner if he is elected judge, in keeping with state judicial conduct rules, which bar state Supreme Court justices from maintaining or receiving any income from private practice. Norris has been a partner in the firm since 2013. 

“The firm will be reconstituted with the remaining members and staff, and a new name upon Mike’s departure,” Seaman said in a statement issued by the law firm in response to questions. “We will continue to maintain our private and municipal practices, as before with our other partners, associates and paralegal staff.” 

As a state lawmaker, Norris receives an annual salary of $142,000. His side earnings total at least $220,000. He would earn $232,600 a year as a Supreme Court justice.  

During his tenure as an assemblyman, state records show Norris bulked up his annual income considerably by providing legal and secretarial services to various local municipal governments and public entities. 

New York Focus reported last year that Norris disclosed earning between $100,000 and $150,000 at the firm during his first four years in office. While his legal income dipped in 2021, his disclosure reports showed a combination of investment income and the sale of a Lake Ontario beach house “more than made up the difference.”

On his 2023 financial disclosure, Norris claimed income from his position as a partner in Seaman Norris for providing legal and secretarial work for 10 municipalities and public agencies in Niagara County.

New York’s financial disclosure laws require state lawmakers to identify sources of outside income. However, they are only required to disclose income in ranges.

In his 2023 report, Norris indicated that he earned between $5,000 and $20,000 each for work performed as a partner in Seaman Norris for the Village of Barker, Lockport City School District, Town of Lockport, Village of Middleport and the Tonawanda Housing Authority. 

In two instances — Town of Lewiston and Town of Hartland — Norris claimed income between $20,000 and $50,000 each. 

Norris reported earnings of between $50,000 and $75,000 each for the Niagara County Water District, Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency and Town of Somerset. 

Add it all up and Norris earned between $215,000 and $425,000.

Norris was among a group of Republican state lawmakers who filed a lawsuit last year in an effort to block a cap on outside income for members of the state Legislature. The restriction was tied to legislation passed in December 2022 that raised the annual salaries of Senate and Assembly members from $110,000 to $142,000, the highest pay in the nation for state legislators. Under the cap, members of the state legislature will not be allowed to make more than $35,000 from other jobs starting in 2025. 

While Democrats believe the cap would help curb corruption in Albany, Norris and other Republicans who filed the lawsuit argued that it is unconstitutional and would reduce interest in seeking public office. The case is ongoing.

Norris did not respond when asked if he has withdrawn, or intends to withdraw, as a party in the lawsuit in light of his expected transition from the Assembly to the Supreme Court.  

Norris twice struck immunity deals with prosecutors investigating allegations of public corruption: once in 2000, when he was Niagara County’s Republican elections commissioner, and again in 2017, when investigators were probing alleged misuse of campaign money by former state Sen. George Maziarz and his staff. At the time, Norris was chair of the Niagara County Republican Committee.

During judicial conventions held earlier this month, Democratic and Republican delegates from across Western New York’s Eighth Judicial District cross-endorsed Norris and three other candidates for Supreme Court justice for the four seats up for election.

Earlier this week, Norris’s chief of staff, Paul Bologna, announced that he intends to seek election as his replacement in the 144th Assembly district. The Republican will face former Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman, the endorsed Democrat.

Garrett Looker