Why do private companies have to tighten their belts and when necessary have to layoff employees and cut benefits to survive in economic climates? If they didn’t, they could go bankrupt. BUT public entities can have the best salaries and benefits with a deficit, and the taxpayers have to foot the bill? This is not fair at all. The government has to stop taking money from special interest groups and start looking out for the taxpayers.

Similar bills have been vetoed by former Govs. George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer.

So how will Paterson handle this one? We’ll have to wait and see.

Lupardo bill protects public employee retiree health benefits

ALBANY - Union leaders and lawmakers are attempting to slip a “Trojan Horse” bill through the Legislature that potentially could result in higher property taxes around the state, local-government leaders and analysts said Friday.
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The measure, sponsored by Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, Broome County, among others, would ban local governments for a year from changing health benefits for retirees - a growing cost for counties, cities and towns that are struggling to hold down property taxes - unless they also changed them for active workers.

“This is the antithesis of mandate relief,”‘ said E.J. McMahon, of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. “It goes against everything legislators claim they want for localities.’”

“At a time when there’s no appetite for these bills coming from Albany, there continues to be a disconnect between the decisions being made in Albany and the impact these decisions on taxpayers,” said Steven Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties.

The issue of retiree health benefits has taken on new urgency for local governments recently, because starting next year some are going to have to declare the liability on their balance sheets under new accounting rules - something that could hurt their ability to borrow money.

Two weeks ago, a commission chaired by former Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine issued a report urging the Legislature to give more control over health-care and pension costs of public workers to local governments as one way to hold down the growth of property taxes in the state, which are among the highest in the country.

The moratorium idea “runs counter to the spirit of what our commission is recommending, which is more individual responsibility for health-care costs and greater flexibility for local governments to negotiate health-care agreements,” Lundine said Friday.

He said rising cost of health insurance “is one of the biggest cost drivers” for local governments.

While only 38 percent of workers retired from private companies get at least a portion of their health insurance paid for by their former employees, virtually all public-sector workers get that benefit, state records show.

The “Trojan Horse” aspect of the bill, in the eyes of critics, is the proposal to establish a panel to study the issue for a year. Then under the guise of the study, the moratorium would also be put into law, and then would be renewed annually after that, opponents speculated.

McMahon pointed out that a prohibition from changing retiree benefits for school-district employees was passed in 1994 after a similar study and has been renewed every year since, including this year, over the objections of the state School Boards Association.

“They’re trying to find a similar avenue to get the same result,” said Peter Baynes, executive director of the state Conference of Mayors.

He said surveys of his members show that health-care costs amount to 15 percent of city budgets in some instances, and that sometimes the cost of health insurance for retirees is higher than the tab for active workers.

That’s due in part to the fact that police and fire departments are typically the biggest expenses for cities. The average age for a police officer and firefighter to retire in the past year was 53, according to the state Comptroller’s office - 12 years before they are eligible for Medicare, the federal health-insurance plan.

Average age for other public workers was 61, according to the comptroller’s figures.

But far from being a “Trojan Horse,” establishing the commission is an attempt to find out the facts of the issue and to help balance protection for
retirees and financial concerns, supporters said.

“I viewed this as a positive, as a chance to provide some expertise and advice to local governments as they deal with the issue,” Lupardo said.

“Everybody recognizes that health costs are soaring,” said state AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes. “This gives everyone an opportunity to slow things down and take a good, careful look at what can be done to provide these benefits in the most economic way.”

Senate sponsor Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, Schenectady County, said he expects his house to pass the measure next week, and quick approval is also expected in the Assembly.

Similar bills have been vetoed by former Govs. George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer. A spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson said Friday he would review if after it is approved by lawmakers.