In a major victory for taxpayers, New York State’s highest court has ruled unanimously that Buffalo teachers are not entitled to catch-up longevity pay step increases for the 38 months when their wages were frozen by the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority.
The ruling will save the city $100 million, the Buffalo News reported. It also has immediate implications for Nassau County, where another state control board has just ordered a similar wage freeze. The Buffalo Teachers Federation reportedly will attempt to appeal the case in federal court on “contact impairment” grounds — but that route hasn’t worked out too well for the union in the past.
As argued in a legal analysis released by the Empire Center last year, under a line of court decisions relating to the power of state financial control boards for troubled municipalities, the state Legislature has the authority to statutorily freeze wages in mid-contract for all state and local employees, pursuant to a finding that a freeze is necessary under current fiscal conditions. State Sen. John Flanagan last year introduced a bill that would have imposed a one-year freeze on teacher salaries statewide, a move that would have saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars– while also savings thousands of teaching jobs endangered by state aid cuts. The state Conference of Mayors has also called on the Governor and Legislature to temporarily freeze wages for local government workers.
Gov. Cuomo, however, has not exploited this opportunity. In fact, even while claiming he wants to freeze that pay of state workers for at least one year, Cuomo has budgeted $140 million for their step increases.
Memo to Legislative Correspondents Association: will someone please ask the Governor what he thinks of the Buffalo decision?
You may also like
How Washington’s Budget Bill Will Affect Health Care in New York
UPDATE: The final version of the federal budget bill omitted a handful of provisions that had been included in earlier drafts. One would have penalized states that use their own money to provide coverage for undocumente Read More
Albany’s Looming Energy Shock
For all Governor Hochul’s talk about “affordability”, it seems electricity prices have not received that memo. Recent from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show New York househo Read More
New York’s K-12 Problem
New York has an education problem that no one really likes to talk about: it spends more than any other state or country in the world yet achieves mediocre results at best. This might come as a surprise, especially since some politicians and pundits tout Read More
Two Dozen School Districts Are Returning to the Polls for Budget Revotes
Voters in 24 New York school districts return to the polls on Tuesday for school budget revotes. Last month, voters in 96 percent of school districts outside New York City conducting votes approved their school budgets for the upcoming year.
The 683 sc Read More
Sponsors of a $10 Fee for Prescriptions Narrow Their Proposal
UPDATE: The bill discussed in this post passed the Senate at around 3:30 a.m. Friday by a vote of 57-2.
Legislation that would mandate a $10 "dispensing fee" for filling pr Read More
Even With Federal Cuts, New York’s Health Funding Would Remain High
New York's health-care industry stands to lose billions of dollars in federal funding under the major budget bill being debated in Washington – a rare and jarring turn of events for a sector accustomed to steadily increas Read More
As Albany’s Session Ends, Watch for Rising Health Costs
Every session of the state Legislature brings a fresh crop of proposals that would drive up health-care costs, and 2025 is no exception.
Here is a sampling of pending bills that, if Read More
Empire Center Launches K-12 SOS on Education Achievement and Spending in New York
In 2022-23 New York used to spend more than any other state or country – $30,000 per student. Next school year the spending might increase to $35,000 per student.
Even at $30,000 New York spends twice as much as the US average, and about a third more Read More