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Let NY Works On Tier VI, Mythbusters Edition
Feb 21st - 2:39 pm
Underlying the debate over the new, less generous pension tier as proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the option of a defined contribution plan and how it’s been referred to as a “401(k)-type” system.
The proposal, which only applies to future public employees, is being touted for its portability (meaning you can take it to other jobs with minimal fuss) as well as its potential savings to the state.
But organized labor has its opening when it’s described as a 401(k) retirement plan, mostly because workers in the private sector have seen their own plans lose a tremendous amount of value over the last several years of market violatility. Aside from an increase in the retirement age, it’s the simplest facet of the plan to understand and is a good way to turn the opinion of non-public employees.
So that’s why among the “Myths versus Realities” list from Let NY Work, a coalition of business, education and local government groups pushing Tier VI, the 401(k) notion is firmly pushed back on.
From the group:
“Longstanding voluntary participation by SUNY, CUNY and Federal government employees in Defined Contribution plans — that ARE NOT 401(k)plans –has proven successful from both an employee and employer perspective.”
But perhaps the bigger concern unions have — including the smaller local ones that represent fire and police departments — is the concern Tier VI would hurt recruitment in the long run (though you can’t prove a negative, necessarily).
Observers around the Capitol seem to think the governor will get at least part of Tier VI, given that it is in his 2012-13 budget proposal and he controls most of the process. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told Ken Lovett that he’s uneasy with the governor’s broad prescription on pensions.
PEF President Ken Brynien said a public campaign against the proposal kicks into high gear in March, with letter writing efforts, ads and direct lobbying.
Tier 6 pension reform myth vs reality
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Brynien: ‘Even Popular People Can Be Wrong’
Feb 20th - 3:31 pm
At first glance, the state’s labor unions face an uphill battle in halting the march to a new, less generous pension tier for future state workers as prescribed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The Tier VI proposal is staunchly opposed by the state’s labor organizations, but Cuomo’s insertion of the plan into his budget proposal practically guarantees its passage. It helps that the governor has a sky-high approval rating and that most voters seem to support Tier VI, which includes an optional defined-contribution component.
But Public Employees Federation President Ken Brynien sees it differently.
“Even popular people can be wrong sometimes and in this case, the governor is wrong,” Brynien told me Sunday night.
But the fact that Cuomo’s popularity helps him the budget and pension battle was highlighted after the Civil Service Employees Association released a television ad in opposition that didn’t mention or show the governor with the 70 percent approval rating.
Of course, Cuomo’s plan has a flip side. Putting the proposal into the budget does risk the possibility of a government shutdown should state lawmakers balk at the idea. Brynien went further with Jimmy Vielkind, telling him it should a “line in the sand” for pro-union legislators.
The pension plan has roughly zero effect on this year’s $132.5 billion budget, but does save $83 billion over the course of 30 years. Cuomo has said the state pension fund is in dire need of transformation given the amount of money it costs local and state governments.
Given the timetable for this year’s budget — lawmakers want to get it done by March 22 — gives unions even less time to muster resistance. The budget is due April 1, the start of the 2012-13 fiscal year. Labor plans to make its stand in March through coordination with affiliated unions and a mix of direct lobbying, ads and rallies.
“We’ve already started some ads as you know,” Brynien said. “We’re working with some other unions in the AFL-CIO to produce them. Probably throughout the month of March there’ll be direct lobbying of legislators both in Albany and in their districts. There’ll be more ads, there might be a rally or two, there will be a lot of letter writing. Everybody pretty much assumes that the budget will be done by the end of March, so March is the month that we’re going to put on all our efforts to get this changed.”
Caucus Weekend: Defending Liu, Treading Lightly With Cuomo
Feb 19th - 10:48 am
The Hotel Albany (formerly the Crowne Plaza) was crowded last night as caucus weekend participants schmoozed, sipped and munched their way through the numerous receptions that are the hallmark of this annual event.
The evening kicked off with a cheese, fruit and hors d’oeuvres event hosted by NYC Comptroller John Liu in honor of organized labor.
The room was packed with union members – including UFT President Michael Mulgrew – and sundry supporters of Liu, who has had a rocky several months thanks to multiple investigations into his fundraising practices that so far have resulted in one indictment.
(Xing Wu Pan, a major Liu bundler, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges during his arraignment in Downtown Manhattan on Saturday).
No mention was made of Liu’s troubles, which he has insisted will not deter him from running for NYC mayor in 2013, until Sen. Eric Adams took to the podium.
Adams likened Liu’s election in 2009 as NYC’s first citywide Asian-American official to the election of President Obama in 2008, telling the largely black crowd that the comptroller’s elevation meant the same thing to the Asian community as the former Illinois senator’s breaking of racial barriers did to their own.
The Brooklyn Democrat, never one to be shy about speaking his mind, directly addressed what he called the “pink elephant in the room,” seeming to suggest that Liu’s troubles and the harsh media coverage has a racial component. (Adams isn’t alone in expressing this sentiment).
Adams, who’s planning a run for Brooklyn borough president in 2013, called Liu a “great comptroller” and urged the crowd to sing his praises because “other folks are off key.”
He lamented the fact that Liu’s children have to see negative coverage of their father, and the comptroller later admitted he has had to explain some stories to his 6-year-old son, Joey, who has taken to reading the editorial pages.
That was the only passing reference Liu made about the cloud hanging over his head.
He preferred to stick to happier topics, like the hot streak of Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin. Liu said Lin’s success has made him particularly proud because it proves something he has been saying “my whole life,” that Asian-Americans aren’t “just math nerds.”
King: SED May Need Outside Help With Teacher Evaluation Reviews
Feb 17th - 8:43 am
ICYMI: During a CapTon interview last night, State Education Commissioner John King again expressed confidence his department will be able to handle reviewing – and potentially rejecting – the 700 school districts’ local teacher evaluation plans, as required by the deal announced yesterday.
But he also didn’t rule out the possibility of seeking outside assistance, at least temporarily as he tackles the task.
“As we worked through the process over the last few weeks, internally at the department, we put in place a plan to make sure we’ll have the resources for the staffing necessary to execute on that charge, to review the agreements,” King told me.
“We really think of it as an opportunity to ensure that the agreements are truly rigorous. The whole point here is to make sure that the evaluation system helps people get better, is a good performance management tool, and to do that, you need the standards to be rigorous.”
“…We’ll use some internal staff. We’ll probably need to use some temporary staff, legal staff in particular, to help with the review. But again, I expect, as I said earlier today, that the first few agreements will create a template and people will follow that.”
King said he, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and NYSUT focused on making sure the language in the evaluation deal was “clear and specific” to make it easier for local districts to establish their portion of the system.
Cuomo has criticized the 2010 bill as too vague and difficult to follow, which he said contributed to some districts’ inability to establish a system, which is what touched off this whole mess to begin with.
“(I)t really is a menu of options , and we’ll be able to tell, I think, pretty quickly, whether people have held to that,” King predicted.
NYSUT’S Insurance Policy
Feb 17th - 8:07 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, SED Commissioner John King and officials of the teachers unions were all very upbeat – if not a bit bleary-eyed after an all-night negotiation session – during yesterday’s Red Room press conference where they triumphantly announced an end to the long-running battle over a teacher evaluation system.
But the matter is actually far from settled.
The bill language, included in the 30-day budget amendments the governor submitted last night, must be passed by the Legislature, which at this point seems highly likely, given yesterday’s events, but it’s not like we’ve never seen supposedly done deals fall apart before in Albany.
Also, much depends on the local districts’ ability to negotiate their 20 percent portion of the evaluation deal with their respective local bargaining units.
All those districts – somewhere between 100 and 250 – who have either already completed their evaluation agreements or are close to doing so under the existing 2010 law now have to go back to the drawing board to meet these new guidelines.
The districts have until next January to get their collective act together or risk losing the 4 percent increase in state education aid Cuomo has promised.
Everyone has expressed optimism that is indeed within the realm of possibility, save for the UFT and Mayor Bloomberg, who continue to battle over the mayor’s desire to close, reorganize and reopen 33 low-performing schools, axing about half their teachers in the process.
While NYSUT’s Dick Iannuzzi, Cuomo and King all said this agreement will result in the settlement of the statewide union’s lawsuit against SED and the Regents (which the union insists was close to being settled anyway before Cuomo stepped in with his ultimatums), you can’t simply stop a legal proceeding on a dime.
The legal system doesn’t work that way, and, as it turns out, NYSUT isn’t really interested in doing anything rash – just in case yesterday’s big deal somehow falls through.
“What will happen now is attorneys for the state Ed Department and my attorneys will meet and decide the best way to approach the court,” Iannuzzi told me during a CapTon interview last night.
“Remember: While the governor is putting this language into law, until it’s passed and signed by the governor it isn’t law.”
“Hopefully there’s a mechanism to put the case on hold while we see what happens…Certainly if, for some reason, the law was to fail then the 2010 law would remain on the books. And, in fact, the 2010 law will remain on the books until the day the law passes.”
Teacher Evaluation, Appeal Deals Amendments
Feb 16th - 6:57 pm
Get ‘em while they’re hot.
So far, we’ve only seen the education-related 30-day amendments. Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said this afternoon that other amendments would:
- Make technical changes to the solar equipment tax exemption for the leasing of equipment and the Green Jobs/Green NY programs, and add fiscal notes related to the creation of a Tier VI pension benefit for newly hired employees.
- Make modifications to the Excess Medical Malpractice Liability Coverage Pool to conform eligibility requirements to the intent of the program and allow the Pool to operate within the funding level reflected in the Executive Budget.
- Insert language to restore the farm vehicle hours-of-service exemption while maintaining compliance with the Federal motor carrier guidelines.
- Duplicate in the appropriation bill the language already contained within the Executive Budget affecting preschool special education and summer school special education.
Here’s the amendment – released five hours before the midnight deadline – that includes the teacher evaluation system deal struck by SED and NYSUT and announced with great fanfare this afternoon by leaders of the teachers unions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Education Commissioner John King:
…and here’s the amendment that includes the appeals process for NYC teachers.
This was a major sticking point between the UFT and the Bloomberg administration. Cuomo said this afternoon that with this out of the way, he didn’t see why the two sides wouldn’t be able to come to a deal on other outstanding issues, but the mayor’s decision to continue his push to close, reorganize and reopen 33 NYC schools is likely going to be an obstacle. The UFT says it’s reviewing its legal options.
All the amendments will be posted here “shortly,” according to Vlasto.
Q Poll (Take I): NYers Trust Cuomo More Than Teachers Union
Feb 16th - 7:43 am
Looks like all Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s talk of so-called “special interests” (is this case, a clear euphemism for labor unions) that want to protect the “status quo” in Albany is working.
A new Q poll finds New York voters overwhelmingly trust the governor more than teachers unions, 50-38, “to protect the interests of New York State public school students.” That holds true even with those who live in union households (47-42).
While a slim margin of voters said they approve of the way Cuomo is handling education policy, 45-42, they gave broad approval to his specific reform proposals, including merit pay for “outstanding” teachers (64-31) and basing layoffs on teacher performance rather than seniority (87-9).
This comes as the deadline looms today for union leaders and education officials to reach a deal on a teacher evaluation system or risk Cuomo doing it for them in his 30-day budget amendments.
Sources told the DN that negotiations on a deal between NYSUT and SED are all but complete, while things are looking less definitive between the Bloomberg administration and the UFT.
Donohue Re-elected CSEA President
Feb 15th - 2:25 pm
Following one of the more bruising contract years his union has faced in years, Civil Service Employees Association Danny Donohue today was re-elected to a new term.
First elected president in 1994, he did not face any opposition this year.
“These are some of the toughest times CSEA has faced in our 102 year history, but there is only one way to go and that is forward,” Donohue said in a statement. “I want to thank CSEA members of their confidence in my leadership.”
CSEA, made up of mostly blue-collar workers, is the largest union representing state workers. Donohue and the Cuomo administration agreed to a tougher contract than in years past, but continues to oppose his efforts to institute a new, less-generous pension tier for future state workers.
For DiNapoli, Unions To The Rescue
Feb 13th - 5:38 pm
If anyone doubted that Comptroller Tom DiNapoli isn’t close to the state’s labor unions, this afternoon’s statements from CSEA and the AFL/CIO would certaintly dispell that idea.
The Civil Service Employees Association and the AFL rode to the comptroller’s rescue today after business groups from around the state slammed his position on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Tier VI proposal. In particular DiNapoli takes issue with the option to provide for a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
Cuomo, who has allied himself with the state’s business community, is pushing the new, less-generous pension tier for future state workers in the budget, a savings that would total $79 million over 30 years.
Both the Business Council and Unshackle Upstate unloaded on DiNapoli, who received significant support from organized labor in 2010 in order to beat Republican Harry Wilson.
The unions released strikingly similar messages of solidarity in response.
Here’s CSEA’s take:
“The Business Council (the lobby for Big Business in New York State), Unshackle New York (another front for big business interests) and Billionaire NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg are all taking shots at state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for standing up for working people in the Tier 6 debate. DiNapoli has raised legitimate concerns that a 401K style pension option will lead to greater economic instability.
And the AFL-CIO:
Today, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came under attack for his defense of middle class retirement security. As sole trustee of one of the largest pension systems in the country, the Comptroller has more credibility on the issue of defined-benefit pensions than anyone in our state. Moreover, he has a duty to protect the economic well-being of the members, retirees, and beneficiaries of the pension system. As such, he has presented a reasoned case based on the facts. Unfortunately, he is being castigated for doing the job he was elected to do.
Finally, DiNapoli himself put out a statement and made a reference to what as far as I can tell was a reference to the show “Survivor” (News flash: People still watch “Survivor”?)
I haven’t seen such a coordinated attack since Francesca was voted off Survivor.
I stand firmly behind my position that defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers. Study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401k style plans and perform better. It is unconscionable that so many New Yorkers and Americans do not have a secure retirement, often times because corporations have stripped retirement plans for short-term fiscal gains.
This is a discussion that deserves more than sound bites. Too often in New York we have made policy at the extremes, when costs were usually low or high. The best public policy comes from thoughtful discussions, accurate and realistic presentation of the facts, and a long-term view.
‘Why Do Some Politicians Go After Teachers?’
Feb 13th - 6:25 am
The UFT is out with an ad that continues the latest trend: Shooting the message, but avoiding the messenger.
The 30-second spot, which features a number of real-life educators lauding their students’ achievements and a cameo by UFT President Mike Mulgrew, does not address any specific woes. Instead, it laments “some politicians,” who shall remain nameless, and their propensity to “go after teachers.”
It’s well-known that the UFT is locked in battle with the Bloomberg administration over the creation of a teacher evaluation system, leading Gov. Andrew Cuomo to threaten to force the issue in the 2012-13 budget, and is also none too pleased – along with its fellow unions – with the Tier 6 proposal Cuomo has proposed.
Yet this ad makes no mention of any of that, despite the fact that Thursday is the deadline set by the governor to automatically amend his executive budget to unilaterally impose teacher-evaluation requirements statewide.
The ad starts airing today on broadcast stations and cable television networks in the New York area. In addition to running on NY1, it will appear during the Today Show, Good Morning America, Morning Joe, Top Chef, Project Runway, Jeopardy , David Letterman, the Daily Show, Saturday Night Live, Conan, and Rangers and Knicks games,
The broadcast buy is designed to reach more than 8 million broadcast and cable TV viewers multiple times, according to the UFT. The spot was produced by Shorr, Johnson and Magnus Strategic Media.
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