CITIZENS BUDGET COMMISSION

1 Penn Plaza * Suite 640 * New York, NY 10119

 

 

Contact:           Carol Kellermann                                            Elizabeth Lynam

                        212-279-2605, ext. 322                                      347-743-7784

 

CBC CALLS ON GOVERNOR PATERSON TO VETO FOUR BILLS

AND DECLARE A MORATORIUM ON COSTLY BENEFIT ENHANCEMENTS

 

New York’s Already-Over-Burdened Taxpayers Cannot Afford

New State-Imposed Mandates

 

New York, NY – July 9, 2008 – The Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) called today on Governor David Paterson to veto four bills passed by the New York State Legislature that would provide pension benefit enhancements to state and local government employees and lock-in health benefits for retirees. All of these bills unnecessarily increase or reinforce the burden on New York State taxpayers by making already-generous post-employment benefits even more generous and costly.  These bills have been passed at a time when two state commissions have affirmed the direct connection between high local taxes and State mandates.

 

As part of his pledge to ease the burden on local taxpayers, CBC also called on the Governor to declare a moratorium on all “pension sweeteners” and other initiatives that force government employers to pick up the tab for costly new entitlements and benefit enhancements.

 

The four bills that should be vetoed are:

 

o      A.9393/S.6457A – This legislation would further tie the hands of local government managers in collective bargaining by prohibiting the reduction of retiree health insurance benefits. Such benefits should be negotiated through collective bargaining by local governments and their labor unions – not imposed by the State through a statutory precedent that can be perpetually renewed on an annual basis. This would represent a serious encroachment by the State into local labor relations; jurisdictions around the State would contend with more limited managerial authority just as school districts have every year since a similar prohibition was enacted affecting them.

 

o      A.10016/S.6703 – This legislation would roll back judicial limitations on improved disability pensions awarded through “heart bills” that create the presumption of on-the-job injury for heart-related disabilities or deaths to police and firefighters. These judicial rulings reasonably require that an employee submit proof of an actual accident or notice to an employer; this legislation would roll back these requirements and increase costs by at least $14.3 million annually. 

 

o      A.10252A/S.7990 and A.10508/S.7332A – This legislation would raise the mandatory retirement age for police and firefighters, allowing those retiring from service in one force to join a second and qualify for another full public pension.

 

Two of these bills are accompanied by estimates that they will be cost-free to the affected governments; but previous experience and recent controversy have demonstrated that the fiscal notes on these bills can be unreliable. These types of enhancements almost always bear an incremental cost, a cost that becomes fixed for the long-term, as pensions benefits can never be reduced or mitigated once granted. Furthermore, granting these benefit enhancements for particular groups of uniformed workers perpetuates an uneven politicized system in which pension costs inch ever upward, as other groups strive to gain the same improved benefit. 

 

“Local governments and taxpayers are being saddled with unnecessary burdens and costs, and State leaders must come to grips with their contribution to the problem,” said CBC President Carol Kellermann. “These proposed benefit enhancements are symbolic of the counter-productive state-local government relationship that must be ended if New York State is to become more competitive in a difficult economic environment.”

 

Full copies of the two letters, sent by the CBC to the Governor calling for these vetoes, are available at the CBC’s website (www.cbcny.org).

 

Founded in 1932, the Citizens Budget Commission is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic organization devoted to influencing constructive change in the finances and services of New York State and New York City governments.