Buffalo, NY (WBEN) When Daniel Burling gave his farewell address to the Assembly, he told his colleagues he'd be back to vote a pay raise for them. Though there is no official proposal out, there is plenty of talk in Albany about it.

"The legislative base pay of $79,500 gets you a lot further in Cheektowaga than you do in Manhattan," says Jimmy Vielkind of the Albany Times Union, who says Speaker Sheldon Silver is hearing those concerns from his downstate colleagues, who haven't had an increase since 1999.

That talk is being heard in the Executive Mansion as well. "Governor Cuomo, who can very persuasive, has said he's open to it. By leaving that door open, that's going to set off a round of negotiations, where a pay hike will be tied to a package with another key issue," says Vielkind. Among those possibilities, says Vielkind, raising the state's minimum wage, tax cuts for businesses, or setting up campaign finance laws.

But one group who may not be in favor is the public. "Quinnipiac released a poll saying 80 percent of voters oppose a pay raise. Lawmakers know they'll be on the wrong side of the issue, and the only way it wlll be saleable is to link it up to something that's more popular," notes Vielkind.

Vielkind says if such a vote happens, it will take place as far away from the election as possible.