Like mosquitoes in warm weather, schemes to boost the already generous pensions of state and local government workers return to Albany every year.
According to the Empire Center for Public Policy, lawmakers introduced no less than 52 pension sweeteners this year — seven of which passed both houses and are eventually headed to Gov. Cuomo’s desk.
The Legislature votes for these bills only to curry favor with public employee unions that help them get reelected — a habit that has driven benefits far beyond the norm in the private sector and stuck taxpayers with an unsustainable tab. The cost to city government this year alone is $8 billion, 12 times what it was 15 years ago.
To put a lid on the crisis, Cuomo in 2012 pushed through trims to benefits that were projected to save $80 billion over 30 years.
Because the state Constitution bars cutting pensions of workers already in the system, the reforms apply only to employees hired since 2012 — and still leave them with more than adequate retirements to look forward to.
Yet legislators tried to roll back Cuomo’s good work with giveaways that — once approved — are lifetime commitments.
Disappointingly, Cuomo supported a too-costly improvement in disability benefits for New York City police and firefighters. But neither the union-backed version nor Mayor de Blasio’s more affordable alternative made it through the Legislature.
What did pass are boosts aimed at certain veterans, police, firefighters, court workers, state university cops and Long Island sheriff’s department employees. Veto. Veto. Veto.
© 2015 New York Daily News
You may also like
Policy analyst: Cuomo wrong to write-off nursing home criticism as political conspiracy
“The importance of discussing this and getting the true facts out is to understand what did and didn’t happen so we can learn from it in case this happens again,” Hammond said. Read More
The good, the bad and the ugly in Cuomo’s budget
“We are at the early stages of what shapes up as the biggest state and city fiscal crisis since the Great Depression,” said E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center. “Borrowing and short-term cuts aside, the budget doesn’t chart any clear path out of it.” Read More
Editorial: Cuomo’s problematic Medicaid maneuvers
“It’s everything that’s wrong with Albany in one ugly deal,” Bill Hammond, a health policy expert at the fiscally conservative Empire Center, told The Times. Read More
Gov. Cuomo’s Lawsuit on Pres. Trump’s Tax Cuts Dismissed
But according to the Empire Center, a non-profit group based in Albany, the overall impact of the Trump tax cuts actually benefited most state residents. Read More
NYS Healthcare Costs Rise Amid Report Of Pay-To-Play Allegations
Earlier this year, another fiscal watchdog group, The Empire Center, found that Cuomo’s budget office had delayed a $1.7 billion Medicaid payment from the previous fiscal year into the current fiscal year. Because of the delay, the governor was able to keep within a self imposed 2% yearly spending cap. Read More
After Hospitals’ Donation to New York Democrats, a $140 Million Payout
“It’s everything that’s wrong with Albany in one ugly deal,” said Bill Hammond, a health policy expert at the nonpartisan Empire Center who first noticed the budgetary trick. “The governor was able to unilaterally direct a billion dollars to a major interest group while secretly accepting its campaign cash and papering over a massive deficit in the Medicaid program.” Read More
What Cuomo’s executive order on vaping will and won’t do
“If you have these really young kids and teens getting hooked, then that’s not good," said Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy. "But the first step would be to do some research, have a public hearing, get the best expert evidence that you have. Instead of reacting to headlines, find out what’s really going on and proceed with proposed regulations.” Read More
$1 billion semiconductor plant: ‘Flashy mega-project’ or ‘transformational investment’ for New York?
"The state is continuing its strategy of pursuing flashy mega-projects instead of making New York more attractive for all businesses. We're now in the second decade of this approach, and it's still failing to deliver the promised results," Girardin said. "This is the sort of economic development strategy that politicians turn to when they don't want to take on the tougher questions." Read More