ALBANY — State legislative leaders may be saying that now’s not the time to talk about pay raises for state lawmakers — but they’re not bashful about insisting their members deserve one.

The groundwork for a possible pay hike comes in the wake of a second straight on-time state budget. It has been more than 13 years since lawmakers got a raise.

“Many members are full-timers at this job, and they have lost a tremendous amount of economic power in terms of spending over the last 13 years,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said yesterday on Albany’s Talk 1300 AM radio. “If there’s a will with other people, I would not object.”