That mindlessly right-wing rag, The New York Times, has a piece today that makes a simple and salient point about New York City pensions. If Albany won’t cooperate on real pension reform, one good way for the mayor to keep pension costs down is to control wages.
Retirees generally earn a pension of half their wages — and Mayor Bloomberg is known for his generous wage hikes. He gave unions annual 4 percent hikes last year even as the economy — and inflation — plummeted.
The Times‘s Michael Barbaro, citing New York City budget data, estimates that salary hikes “approved by Mr. Bloomberg are responsible for nearly 30 percent of the growth in city pension costs from the 2002 through 2008 fiscal years — about $1.2 billion.”
Yesterday, the mayor announced a pension deal with the teachers’ union that will preserve the retirement age at a youthful 55.
You may also like
Hochul’s Pushing Affordability. It Would Cost A Lot.
Governor Hochul is hammering an “affordability” theme in the leadup to Tuesday's 2025 State of the State address. But her campaign, dubbed "Money In Your Pockets," has so far featured little that would reduce the cost of providing, and therefore buying, goods or services in New York.
Instead, the biggest announced and expected elements reflect Albany's waning interest in growing the state economy—and a greater appetite to redistribute what it produces. Read More
Unions Reprogram NYS To Do Less With More
Governor Hochul on Saturday signed an innocuous-sounding bill to “regulate the use of automated decision-making systems and artificial intelligence techniques by state agencies.” But the “Legislative Oversight of Automated Decision-making in Government,” or LOADinG Act, wasn’t about protecting New York from self-aware computers trying to wipe out humanity. Instead, it was an early Christmas present for the state's public employee unions—and a lump of coal for New Yorkers hoping for more efficient state government. Read More
Former Utility Regulator Warns State Lawmakers They’re On the Naughty List
A legislative hearing into spending by the state’s sprawling energy agency featured a surprise guest who offered sober warnings about Albany’s energy policy. Read More
New York’s Public Employee Shortage Is Over
Public employee unions complained loudly when New York's state government workforce shrank during the coronavirus pandemic, using that decrease as pretext to press Governor Hochul and state lawmakers for more hiring and costly giveaways to benefit their members. But the latest data show nearly every state agency has more employees than it did a year ago, and that by at least one key measure, the state workforce is larger than it was before COVID. Read More
Upstate Insurance Customers Pay the Price for Medicare’s Hospital Rate Hike
A billion-dollar Medicare windfall for upstate hospitals has turned into a crisis for upstate health insurers that's threatening to disrupt coverage for millions of New Yorkers.
The Read More
Hochul Wants To Spend The Same Billions Twice
Governor Hochul’s plan to mail $500 checks to millions of households has a problem: the sales tax “surplus” she wants to dish out doesn't exist. Read More
How Will A Major Milk Plant Fit Under NY’s Climate Limits? It Won’t.
Plans to build a milk-processing facility in Monroe County were announced last year to great fanfare but with few details on how such an energy-intensive operation could fit within Albany’s strict climate rules poised to hit homes and businesses. The answer: it won’t have to. Read More
New York’s Proposed ‘MCO Tax’ Would Generate a Fraction of What Lawmakers Expected
The Hochul administration's proposed "MCO tax" would generate far less than the $4 billion in extra federal aid anticipated by state lawmakers when they approved the concept this spring, according to documents obtained by t Read More