Legislative Alert: January 22, 2024

President's Message

Recruitment and Retention Package Must Include Tier 6 Improvements

Staffing shortages in the public sector have been worsening since the pandemic and we are now at crisis levels, which is endangering vital services for families and communities.  Teacher shortages are growing across the state and in too many communities, parents have to worry whether the district will be able to get their child home thanks to a shortage of bus drivers and mechanics. 

From law enforcement and public safety to health care, transportation, and critical infrastructure, employers at every level of government have sounded the alarm that they cannot recruit enough staff or encourage qualified individuals to stay in service.  

Governor Hochul acknowledged the problems in this year’s Executive Budget proposal with a much-needed plan to eliminate the state payroll lag. We strongly support that proposal but we need to be more aggressive in tackling the staffing crisis. Eliminating the payroll lag will help with the state workforce but we also need to attract and retain qualified workers in counties, municipalities, and school districts as well.

One of the main causes of the staffing shortages began when Tier 6 was enacted in 2012. The Tier 6 pension plan wiped out incentives for workers to stay in service, created a confusing and administratively difficult contribution and benefits system, and eliminated fair and affordable pension plans for those who chose public service careers.

We need to counter the effects of Tier 6 now and build on important reforms enacted in 2022. One of those temporarily ended the ‘pension penalty’ that raised the contributions for employees who work mandatory overtime. That improvement is set to expire this year and needs to be made permanent in this year’s budget.

We cannot stop there, however. We must pass more widespread and common-sense reforms to make employee contributions more affordable and fairer by reducing them to the same 3% level as other tiers. We must also restore incentives that reward longevity, including changing how a worker’s final average salary is calculated from a 5-year to a 3-year average and increasing the pension benefit calculation after 20 years of service.

There is a slew of other reforms needed including ending the unfair overtime cap, reducing excessive penalties, and restoring the ability to retire after 30 years of service at age 55. Delay will only exacerbate the staffing crisis. Progress on this issue for all public employees and employers must be made this year.

Mario Cilento, President

Upcoming Meeting

LABOR LOBBYISTS MEETING 
Monday, January 22, 2024, 1:00 p.m. 
This will be a Zoom meeting. This meeting is for labor representatives only. 
Nathan Gusdorf, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute will be the guest speaker.