June 04, 2008
Speechless legislators move labor bills
Tuesday's New York Times featured a front-page story that cast a harsh light on the Legislature's history of approving pension bills based on cost estimates by actuary Jonathan Schwartz. Turns out those bills cost $500 million more than Schwartz estimated, the Times reported.
Hours after the Times story appeared, the Assembly Governmental Employees Committee--where most of the Schwartz pension measures originated--raced through its 45-bill agenda without debate, its members serving as rubber stamps for the committeechair,Assemblyman Peter Abbate (D-Brooklyn).
No Democratic or Republican legislator said a word when Abbate called up the Trojan Horse bill which virtually locks in place costly health benefits for retired state and local government workers. Instead of waiting for his colleagues to vote--or even clear their throats--Abbate announced "so moved," sending the bill to the Ways and Means Committee.
Nor was there any debate when the committee approved a "presumptive cause" bill, which says any cop or firefighter with a heart condition must have developed it as a result of his job, thus qualifying him or her for lucrative disability retirements. (Estimated cost: at least $15 million a year.)
Another bill would allow county corrections officers (or deputy sheriffs working as corrections officers) to retire will full benefits after 20 years. Depending on their current plan, they can retire will full benefits after 25 or 30 years.
Ten bills on the agenda bear the names of individual employees. For example, one would give David Hyde retroactive membership in the Tier I pension system starting with seven months in 1971 when he was a sanitation worker in Lockport. Hyde has worked for the Johnsburg Central School District (Warren County) since 1977.
The bill would sweeten Hyde's pension, but there's a cost. According to the bill:
...there will be an increase of approximately $1,500 in the annual contributions of the Johnsburg Central School District....[plus] an immediate past service cost of approximately $97,300 which would be shared by the State of New York and all the participating employers of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement System.
That estimate was by an actuary for the state retirement system, not by Jonathan Schwartz.
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