ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to establish a new, less generous pension system for future state, local and school employees is expected to face resistance in the waning days of the current legislative session.
Assembly Majority Leader Ronald Canestrari said the bill introduced Wednesday, while expected, will face a lot of opposition, though economic forces are exerting pressure on the state as well. The Assembly Democratic Conference hasn't discussed it yet and has to develop a consensus, he said.
"The governor has a way of getting what he wants and he has shown flexibility on his proposals. We'll have to see how this plays out," Canestrari said. "The clock is ticking."
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The legislative session resumes Monday and is scheduled to end a week later.
Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos recognizes the need for pension changes and they are reviewing Cuomo's proposal, spokesman Mark Hansen said.
Cuomo said the measure should save taxpayers $93 billion over 30 years without counting New York City savings under a separate proposal included at the request of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"The numbers speak for themselves — the pension system as we know it is unsustainable," Cuomo said. "This bill institutes common-sense reforms to bring government benefits more in line with the private sector while still serving our employees and protecting our retirees."
New York City stands to save $30 billion over 30 years, Bloomberg said.
Since 2001, pension contributions by the state, local governments and schools increased from $368 million to $6.6 billion outside New York City, according to the Cuomo administration. Meanwhile the city's pension costs increased from $1.1 billion to $8.4 billion.
Cuomo's Tier VI plan for public workers effective July 1 would:
—Raise the minimum age of retirement to 65. Retirement age is now 62 for most employees and 57 for teachers.
—Require workers to put in 12 years before they qualify for a pension. Employees are now "vested" after 10 years.
—Require new employees to pay 6 percent of their salary toward their pension plan.
—End the practice of "padding" a pension using overtime pay late in service, unused vacation and certain sick leave.
CSEA President Danny Donohue, whose union represents more than 250,000 state, local and school workers and retirees, said the average current pension is about $14,000 and this proposal shows "how out of touch" Cuomo is with working people and the economic pressures they face every day.
"The governor's onerous proposal will pick the pockets of front-line public workers and undermine their retirement security without providing any short-term savings," Donovan said.
E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Manhattan Institute said the proposal follows outlines Cuomo began leaking to the press a month ago, a modification of the previous defined-benefit pension terms but without a defined-contribution alternative. He said it undermines the governor's attempts to portray himself as a "transformational" reformer.
McMahon said if history is any guide, assuming another new pension tier is ultimately adopted, the unions will lobby to restore benefits to current levels before any affected new hires reach retirement age.
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