Kathy Hochul’s sleazy deal with the unions will – Latest News
In Albany, the “fix” is in — and New Yorkers are about to get screwed as soon as again.
This time, it’ll price them about $1.5 billion a yr, and it’ll be due to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s cave-in to the public-sector unions, whilst she blatantly breaks her vow to make the state more “affordable.”
Hochul is figuring out a scheme with New York AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento on behalf of the state’s politically influential trainer, health-care and different public sector unions, whose membership — voters — prime 1.2 million.
The plan is to chill out some cheap restraints on pension prices that have an effect on the plans of authorities staff employed after April 2012 (i.e., Tier 6 staff).
That will make the plans enormously sweeter — though they’re already far more beneficiant than these of almost everybody in the non-public sector.
That legislative leaders are letting Hochul and Cilento work out the scheme on their own is proof-positive that they’re all on board: When the union says leap, all of them race to ask how a lot more taxpayer money can we bathe you with?
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Most outrageous is that Hochul claims to be operating for re-election on an “affordability” platform.
Really? Who does she suppose will pay for these dear new goodies for union staff?
Yup: Hard-working New York taxpayers, who’ll be left with much less money to spend on different issues.
Think about it: The reform that helped rein in pension prices in 2012 saved taxpayers billions.
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And get this: The unions’ “Fix Tier 6” marketing campaign that led to this deal claims it’s meant to revive “fairness” . . . by retroactively climbing pensions — and decreasing the retirement age from 62 to 55 — for employees employed in the previous 14 years.
Does that sound “fair” to you?
Lowering the retirement age would price an estimated $835.9 million. But the plan would additionally slash the staff’ pension contribution fee from 4.5% to three.5%, costing the state one other $593 million.
The Big Apple, different localities and college districts must shoulder $328 million in extra prices from their own budgets, hitting up taxpayers.
Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, of course, is ok with, though his funds is already billions in the crimson.
Yet taxpayers, throughout the state, needs to be furious — notably at Hochul for seeking to worsen “affordability” simply to buy union votes.
The excellent news? This deal will be cemented by election time. Voters can maintain the gov accountable at the voting sales space.
They’d be well-justified in doing so.
