April 28, 2009
Paterson threatens vetoes of new local mandates
Governor David Paterson--who Monday threatened to veto bills that will have "undue impact" on local governments--should take a hard look at the pro-labor agendas of two legislative committees.
The Assembly Government Employees Committee already has 252 bills on its agenda; the Senate Civil Service and Pensions Committee has 155, according to a search of the Legislative Retrieval System. Many sweeten pensions or grant new benefits to public employees.
For example, police and firefighters in the state retirement system could get extra pension service credit while taking unpaid leaves to care for their children. The credits would be limited to one-year per child.
Another bill would give government employees paid time off for colon cancer screening.
At a press conference Monday, Paterson announced he had signed an executive order (here) requiring state agencies proposing or recommending legislation to provide detailed information on the impact on local government (here ,here, here and here).
In a press release (here), he said: "It's time to put the brakes on the spiraling cost of property taxes by taking a close look at unfunded mandates that are handed down from the State to local governments, and in turn drive up the cost of property taxes for New Yorkers across the State." As the Buffalo News reports, Paterson sent a warning to the Legislature. "I'm not going to sign any legislation that I think has an undue impact on counties, local governments or taxpayers," he said. Paterson, though, left some wiggle room by not specifically defining his definition of "undue impact."
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