memo:
memo:
TO:
State Senators and Assemblymembers
DATE:
January 28, 2010
RE:
PEF asks the Legislature to
modify the Governor’s budget in these areas:
State Employees and Retirees -
Salary and Benefits
Salary and Benefit Cuts
- The Governor proposes to impose through the budget a cut of $250 million in
the salary and benefits of state employees. The Governor proposes to achieve
this by negotiating modifications to labor contracts such as a five-day “lag” in
payroll or a delay or reduction of pay raises that are due to take effect on
April 1, 2010. State agencies budgets have been reduced by $250 million to
reflect this proposal even though no negotiated agreement has been reached.
Medicare Part B premiums
- The Governor also
proposes to shift part of the cost of Medicare premiums ($30 million) from the
State to State employees and retirees. The budget estimates that it would
increase premium costs to workers and retirees by $30 per year for individuals
and $85 for families, but these amounts could increase in the future.
PEF Position:
PEF opposes these cuts. State
employees and retirees are middle class taxpayers who will be affected by the
spending cuts and fee increases in the proposed budget, just like any other
citizen of New York. The Governor’s proposal to impose further cuts on State
employees and retirees is unfair since it imposes a double burden on them. The
proposed elimination of salary increases and lagging of pay would be a violation
of negotiated labor agreements. Contracts that were negotiated in good faith
must be honored.
State employees have already borne the brunt of cuts. Since 2008 the State
workforce has been cut by 4,500 positions. In 2009 PEF and CSEA agreed to a new
pension Tier 5 that will save the State and local governments $35 Billion over
30 years.
The Legislature should reject salary and benefit cuts, restore funds to allow
the State to honor its contractual obligations and amend S6606/A9706 by deleting
Part U (Medicare Part B).
PEF Supports the Following
Governor’s Cost Savings Proposals For Employee Benefits:
Pension amortization
- This proposal would allow
the State and local governments to amortize part of the increase in employer
pension costs that are projected to occur because of investment losses in the
stock market. It would have the benefit of reducing the volatility of employer
costs. State budget savings: $217 million in 2010-11, $475 million in 2011-12.
The legislature should enact S6606/A9706 Part V.
Allowing NYSHIP to self-insure
for employee health benefits
-
This would reduce costs without negatively affecting benefits. State budget
savings; $15 million in 2010-11, $30 million in 2011-12. The legislature should
enact S6606/A9706 Part T.
State Employee Layoffs & Facility Closures
Office of Children and Family
Services (OCFS)
- Effective January 2011 the Annsville non-secure facility will be closed and
consolidated with the Taberg non-secure facility, the Tryon campus will be
downsized by closing the limited secure boys program and downsizing the Lansing
non-secure center. The budget estimates 75 position abolitions that could lead
to layoffs, but the actual number could be higher.
PEF Position:
PEF is opposed to these proposed closures. In some cases, this may result in
young people being placed in privately operated programs that are not really
able to address their needs, leading to greater recidivism and often to higher
costs. One-third of youth placed by OCFS in private facilities fail in these
placements and are transferred to OCFS facilities.
If the State wants to reduce recidivism then they
should fully implement the Governor’s Juvenile Justice Task Force Report’s
recommendations to improve staff/youth ratios in OCFS facilities so more
intensive services can be provided by teachers, counselors, and direct care
staff as well as the proposed enhancement of mental health staff. These closures
will have a serious negative impact on workers, their families and their
communities. The Legislature should restore $2.9 million to keep these
facilities open and avoid employee layoffs.
Department of Correctional
Services (DOCS) –
Due
to a significant projected decrease in the inmate population the
Executive Budget proposes a
January 2011 closure
date for the Lyon Mountain minimum secure facility and the minimum security
facility at Butler Correctional Facility and an April 2011 closure date for the
minimum security Moriah shock incarceration facility and the medium security
Ogdensburg Correctional Facility. These closures will reduce the DOCS workforce
by 637 positions.
PEF Position:
PEF is opposed to these proposed closures. Currently DOCS has thousands of
double bunks in medium security facilities, many of which were not constructed
to accommodate double-bunks. DOCS is also using a large number of temporary beds
in their facilities. In addition, minimum and medium security beds should be
more widely used to transition inmates out of maximum security facilities and
into our communities. Closing these facilities may lead to future capacity
shortages and hazardous situations such as increased double-bunking. In addition
currently 1,231 federal prisoners are housed in county jails. The state should
explore moving these federal prisoners to state facilities as a way to reduce
local governments’ cost of housing these federal prisoners and keeping DOCS
facilities open.
Although the department has
committed to working with PEF to find positions for the displaced employees,
these closures will have a serious negative impact on workers, their families
and their communities.
In many cases in order to keep a job employees will
have to relocate hundreds of miles away from their current homes which could
involve relocating their entire families. The legislature should restore the $3
million necessary to keep these facilities open this fiscal year.
Department of Agriculture and
Markets - 34
position abolitions/layoffs.
This reflects
the reduction of 29 positions in the Consumer Food Services program which is
primarily due to proposed reduced Kosher Enforcement staffing due to a court
decision that limited the State’s role in performing religious inspections and
13 position reductions in the Agriculture Business Services program due to the
proposed discontinuation of farm products grading.
PEF Position:
PEF opposes these cuts in programs that are important to consumer protection,
food safety and the state’s agricultural industry. The final court decision on
Kosher inspections was issued seven years ago and should have no impact on how
inspectors have done their job since it was issued. The loss of Farm Products
Grading Inspectors will have a major negative impact on the state’s agriculture
business and it agricultural exports. There are no private entities to perform
the farm grading services that A&M Farm Products Grading Inspectors provide. The
USDA does not and will not perform this service for NY. In order to export
products, such as apples, a USDA certification is required and NYS A&M Farm
Products Grading Inspectors provide this service. The Legislature should restore
$543,000 for these positions.
Office of Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD)
- The budget eliminates 20 positions for research scientists at the Institute
for Basic Research (IBR). These scientists are currently conducting important
research to help combat Alzheimer’s disease, fatal brain disorders in infants,
and other genetic diseases. Although the budget states these positions will be
reduced through attrition, there is a risk that layoffs may result and the
research program at IBR will be impaired.
OMRDD also will transfer 10
positions that are responsible for conducting Medicaid compliance reviews of its
not-for-profit provider network to the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General
(OMIG). This may lead to contracting out this audit function to consultants at a
much higher cost to taxpayers
PEF position:
The legislature should restore $1,538,000 to keep these 20 positions in IBR and
reject the transfer and contracting out of audit functions.
Additional Problems with the Executive Budget
Department of Economic
Development (DED)
-
The Executive Budget proposes to merge two entities that deal with economic
development- the Department of Economic Development (DED) and the Empire State
Development Corporation (ESDC) into a new public authority to be known as the
Job Development Corporation.
PEF represents professional employees in the
Department of Economic Development. We do not represent any employees in ESDC,
which is a public authority rather than a state agency. ESDC employees are not
civil servants.
PEF Position
- PEF supports the goal of improving the effectiveness of the state’s economic
development programs by integrating these agencies. However, we believe that the
language of this bill needs to be modified to provide that the agency will be
staffed by qualified civil service professionals. The proposed language
partially addresses this issue, but S6609/A9709 Part L must be modified to
protect workers’ rights and to protect the public interest.
State University of New York
(SUNY) - The
Governor proposes language to alter the relationship between SUNY and the State
government by giving SUNY greater authority to enter into contracts and leases
and to buy and sell real estate and enter into “public-private partnerships”
without prior review by the Comptroller, Attorney General or the Legislature. It
would also give SUNY authority to increase tuition and to spend money raised
from tuition and other sources without legislative appropriation.
PEF Position:
PEF opposes this “flexibility” language as it relates to contracts for services
and public-private partnerships. It goes too far in removing oversight and
accountability. The review of contracts for services by oversight agencies like
the Comptroller and Attorney General exists for a good reason- to make sure that
the public interest is protected. The proposed language is so broad it could
lead to unanticipated results that could alter SUNY’s operation without real
public input. For example, parts of SUNY campuses could be leased out to private
operators, or SUNY professional employees could be replaced by contractors. SUNY
has never demonstrated the need for this proposal. The legislature should amend
S6607/A9707 by deleting Part E.
A more limited version of flexibility for SUNY
should be considered.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute:
The budget amends PHL § 2807-v to discontinue HCRA funding for the Roswell Park
Cancer Institute Anti-Tobacco Program. This will cut $13.6 million in funding
that will negatively impact research at this noted cancer research center.
PEF Position:
The legislature should reject this change in S6608/A9708 Part E and restore the
$13.6 million in funding for RPCI.
Department of Transportation
(DOT) – The budget
cuts 91 positions in DOT. If this cut is approved, DOT would have lost 1,011
positions since 2008. Meanwhile DOT continues to spend millions of dollars on
contracted consultants to do engineering work similar to that formerly performed
by state-employed engineers. Multiple studies by the State comptroller and other
analysts have demonstrated that the State could save millions of dollars by
reducing the use of consultants in DOT.
PEF Position:
The DOT engineering positions should be restored and DOT should be directed to
reduce its hiring of consultants by 50% over a three year period, beginning now.
This could produce cost savings in FY 2010-11 of $93.25 million.
State Spending Cap
- The Governor proposes to enact a cap that would limit increases in state
general fund spending to no more than the average of inflation over the prior
three years. This is an impractical measure that pretends to reduce spending
without indentifying any actual spending cuts. It would prevent the State from
fulfilling its most basic obligations and would prevent the State from
responding to changing conditions.
PEF Position:
PEF is opposed to a spending cap. The legislature should amend S6610/A9710 by
deleting Part Q.
Authorize State agencies to enter into memoranda of
understanding with Cornell University to procure services and technical
assistance -
This proposal would authorize State agencies to enter into memoranda of
understanding (MOUs) with Cornell University (Cornell), instead of contracts, to
procure services and technical assistance.
PEF Position:
PEF is opposed to this language that would reduce accountability and oversight
and may lead to increased costs due to contracting of services to high-cost
consultants. The legislature should amend S6609/A9709 by deleting Part U.
Disproportionate Share Hospital
Auditing - The
budget proposes authorizing the Department of Health (DOH) to contract, without
a competitive bid or request for proposal, with one or more firms for the
purpose of conducting audits of Disproportionate Share Hospital payments and
audits of hospital cost reports.
PEF position:
PEF has demonstrated that in most circumstances, state employees can do as good
a job as outside contractors, and at a better value for the taxpayer.
Instead of contracting out these functions the state
should utilize civil service employees to provide this function.
The legislature should amend S6608/A9708 by deleting
Section 51 of Part B.
PEF
Supports the Following Proposals
Pharmaceutical Industry
Regulation -
Prohibits inappropriate gifts and payments from pharmaceutical companies to
physicians and other prescribers, and requires that information provided to
prescribers by pharmaceutical companies about their products be accurate and not
misleading. The legislature should enact Sections 38 through 38-b of Part B of
S6608/A9708.
Social Worker/Mental Health
Professional License Exemption
- Extends current social worker and mental health professional licensing
exemptions for the Department of Mental Hygiene, the Office of Children and
Family Services, and local government programs. The legislature should enact
Part R of S6607/A9707.
Increase Excise Tax on Cigarettes
by $1 a Pack
-
This proposal will further reduce the incidence of smoking, especially among
young people, and result in an additional $210 million in revenue in 2010-11.
The legislature should enact Part B of S6610/A9710.
Impose An
Excise Tax on Syrups or Simple Syrups, Bottled Soft Drinks, or Powders or Base
Products
-
This excise tax is equivalent to one cent per ounce on
syrups and soft drinks. Based on the New England Journal of Medicine estimates,
on average, this tax will increase the price of sugar-sweetened beverages by 17
percent, which will reduce consumption by approximately 15 percent. It will
improve nutrition, reduce obesity and recover some of the health costs caused by
consumption of high calorie, nutrient poor foods and beverages. It will raise
$465 million in revenue in 2010-11 and $1 billion in revenue in the out years.
The legislature
should enact Part C of S6610/A9710.
For more information, contact the
PEF Legislative Department
·
800-724-4997
·
Fax 518-432-7739