Great editorial and it really bring up the question, how much more “pay to play” exists in Albany. Not just in the pension system but in every aspect of Albany politics.

Even so, one agent caused DiNapoli problems. The New York Post reported that the fund had done two deals using a firm with ties to Hank Morris, a Hevesi consultant. DiNapoli says the deals were approved before his office knew of the Morris connection, and now his office will avoid future deals with the firm.

Getting the bugs out of New York’s pension system

What would you do without that monthly pension check from the state’s retirement system? Even if you haven’t retired yet, what if you learned the system had made some disastrous investments and lost its shirt - and therefore yours?

Got your attention, didn’t we?

Right now, 44,000 former state employees living in Nassau and Suffolk are already receiving checks. Many more hope to follow in the years ahead. The good news is that New York’s Common Retirement Fund is in excellent shape. Last year, it posted a rate of return of 12.58 percent. That’s not stratospheric, but it’s very sound. The other crucial number is the percentage of current and future pension payouts that its $154.5 billion in assets cover. It stands at a very healthy 104 percent.

So why are we bothering you?

Well, there is a little cloud on the horizon: The former state comptroller, the sole trustee of the fund, had to plead guilty to a felony and resign to avoid going to jail. Alan Hevesi took that precipitous fall from grace after winning re-election in November 2006. The allegations that brought him down involved his misuse of state employees to chauffeur and provide other services for his ailing wife.
Rest here at Newsday.com

var sc_project=1609654; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=15; var sc_security=”26e26d49″;