Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger is proposing a 5 percent pay cut for state workers in California, in addition to an average 10 percent reduction already experienced by employees under an unpaid furlough program. Meanwhile, in New York, most state workers just received a 3 percent wage increase, and it looks increasingly unlikely that Governor Paterson will follow through on his layoff threat. At least 42 state lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats in both houses, have written letters to Paterson opposing layoffs–which effectively means they oppose seeking even modest concessions from government employee unions.
Oddly, while Paterson is asking members of the state’s largest unions to roll back this year’s installment of pay raises granted under contracts ratified in 2007 and 2008, the 2009-10 state budget sets aside $400 million to finance pay hikes for the few unions that haven’t settled on new contracts yet, including those representing prison guards and state police investigators. (See page 110 of the Enacted Budget Report.)
You may also like
Budget Update Paints Less Alarming Picture of Federal Health Cuts
A new fiscal report from the state Budget Division suggests federal funding cuts will hit New York's health-care budget less severely than officials have previously warned.
A relea Read More
How Immigrants Became a Cash Cow for New York’s Essential Plan
The Hochul administration's move to shrink the Essential Plan in response to federal budget cuts has exposed a surprising reality:
For the past decade, immigrants have been a cash c Read More
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
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
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
How 1199 Earns its Reputation as Albany’s No. 1 Labor Power Broker
For the fourth time in six years, the president of New York's largest health-care union, George Gresham of 1199SEIU, has won the top spot on the "Labor Power 100" list from City &am Read More
New York Runs Away from the Pack on Medicaid Spending
New York's per capita Medicaid spending jumped 14 percent in 2023, moving it further ahead of the rest of the country, recently released nationwide data show.
In the federal fiscal year that ended last September, New York spent $94.6 billion Read More
How a Medicaid ‘Cut’ Could Lead to More Unionization of Home Care Aides
A money-saving maneuver in the newly enacted Medicaid budget could end up increasing costs in the long term – by paving the way for more unionization of the state's burgeoning home health workforce.
Read More