February 23, 2007

Governor Eliot Spitzer

The State Capitol

Albany, NY 12224

Dear Governor Spitzer:

Just seven years ago, 60 percent of the homes sold on Long Island could be classified as affordable for families earning up to $100,000 a year. Last year just 2 percent of the houses sold were in that range for families earning $100,000 (New York Times - January 27, 2007).   As you know, the vast majority of state employees living in the downstate region earn far less than $100,000 making the goal of home ownership even more elusive.

I represent New York State employees who live in high cost areas of our state. A recently completed study by the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) confirms what was reported in the TIMES and supports what we frequently hear from our members about the extraordinarily high cost of living in this region. A copy of the FPI report is attached. The report makes clear how difficult it is for state employees living in these high cost areas.

 The bottom line is that we are being crushed by economic conditions and driven from our old communities.

As you know, New York State is among the largest employers in the downstate and Mid-Hudson regions—some sources suggest that NYS is the single largest employer on Long Island. Your recognition of the problems faced by residents living in high cost areas and your commitment to address it as developed in your State of the State address has brought hope to these employees. More important, given your emphasis on employer-sponsored resolutions, how you help your own employees will provide the leadership that private sector business will require.
 

With an immediate need for relief, we are fortunate to have different examples that might serve as part of the solution to this difficult problem.  The federal government, for example, has since 1995 provided locality pay which grants adjustments to offset geographic differences in the cost of living. Under this system, an employee of the federal branch of government who works in downstate New York and our Mid - Hudson counties currently receives 10.59% in locality pay over and above what a similarly situated federal employee would earn in other parts of the country (page 42).   Perhaps a similar approach to locational compensation could work for New York State employees.  

A second example comes, surprisingly, from the current collective bargaining agreements between your Office of Employee Relations and other executive branch unions. New York State employees covered by six uniformed services executive branch units receive regional adjustments which are as much as 150% greater than the adjustments ('location pay') received by the other Executive branch employees. In addition, several bargaining units within the judicial branch have recently received regional adjustments more in line with the differing costs of living factors (page 39). While these adjustments are important, the state employees covered by these agreements are only a fraction of the total number of state employees working in the downstate region. All the residents in these high cost areas face the same challenges, and eliminating the inequitable treatment of the non-uniform services could be an important first step to solving the larger problem.
 

On behalf of my members and their families I want to thank you for your leadership on this compelling problem.  I look forward to working with your office in helping to bring long needed relief to the many state employees living and working in high cost areas of the state.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Brynien

President

Attachments: FPI Report and Appendices