Senior Assistant Solicitor General Victor Paladino, left, argued on behalf of the state. Cameron J. Macdonald of the Government Justice Center, represented the appellants. Courtesy photos Senior Assistant Solicitor General Victor Paladino, left, argued on behalf of the state. Cameron J. Macdonald of the Government Justice Center, represented the appellants. Courtesy photos

A 2018 law that created a non-elected committee whose members recommended a substantial pay raise for New York lawmakers—their first in 20 years—was unconstitutional because it required further legislative action, a lawyer for the Government Justice Center argued to the New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

Cameron J. Macdonald, the nonprofit center's executive director and counsel, represented appellant Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick, R-Long Island, Saratoga County residents Robert Arrigo and David Buchymn, and Bronx resident Roxanne Delgado, a quartet who spoke against the special four-member committee during public hearings in 2018.