In Albany, the “fix” is in — and New Yorkers are about to get screwed once again.
This time, it’ll cost them about $1.5 billion a year, and it’ll be thanks to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s cave-in to the public-sector unions, even as she blatantly breaks her vow to make the state more “affordable.”
Hochul is working out a scheme with New York AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento on behalf of the state’s politically influential teacher, health-care and other public sector unions, whose membership — voters — top 1.2 million.
The plan is to relax some reasonable restraints on pension costs that affect the plans of government employees hired after April 2012 (i.e., Tier 6 employees).
That will make the plans enormously sweeter — even though they’re already far more generous than those of nearly everyone in the private 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 jump, they all race to ask how much more taxpayer cash can we shower you with?
Most outrageous is that Hochul claims to be running for re-election on an “affordability” platform.
Really? Who does she think will pay for those pricey new goodies for union employees?
Yup: Hard-working New York taxpayers, who’ll be left with less money to spend on other things.
Think about it: The reform that helped rein in pension costs in 2012 saved taxpayers billions.
And get this: The unions’ “Fix Tier 6” campaign that led to this deal claims it’s meant to restore “fairness” . . . by retroactively hiking pensions — and lowering the retirement age from 62 to 55 — for workers hired in the past 14 years.
Does that sound “fair” to you?
Lowering the retirement age would cost an estimated $835.9 million. But the plan would also slash the employees’ pension contribution rate from 4.5% to 3.5%, costing the state another $593 million.
The Big Apple, other localities and school districts would have to shoulder $328 million in additional costs from their own budgets, hitting up taxpayers.
Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, of course, is fine with, even though his budget is already billions in the red.
Yet taxpayers, across the state, should be livid — particularly at Hochul for looking to worsen “affordability” just to buy union votes.
The good news? This deal will be cemented by election time. Voters can hold the gov accountable at the voting booth.
They’d be well-justified in doing so.
The post Kathy Hochul’s sleazy deal with the unions will make New York LESS affordable appeared first on New York Post.
