Legislative Victory:
Pension Equity Bill Passes
On June 21, 2007, in the waning hours of this year’s New York State legislative session, the State Senate followed the Assembly in passing the pension equity legislation the PSC has long advocated that would give eligible Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) members (largely those in TIAA-CREF) an effective increase of up to 3% in take-home pay, a benefit that TRS participants have enjoyed since 2000, when legislation affecting most New York City employees was approved. Now we need to convince Governor Spitzer to sign it. Getting this far represents six years of steady work by the PSC to raise the issue, and then educate and mobilize to get legislation passed. The involvement of hundreds, maybe thousands, of PSC members over the years was critical—phone calls, faxes, e-mails to legislators, lobbying trips to Albany and more, it all made a difference.
At the time of ORP’s creation, the Legislature was explicit in its intent to ensure the equitable treatment of all public retirement systems. Legislation in 2000 gave members of the Employees' Retirement System (ERS) and the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) who had ten years of membership or credited service in the pension system relief from contributions to the retirement system. The bill just passed allows ORP members to catch up with their TRS brethren. If signed by the Governor, it would eliminate the 3% deductions from paychecks and thereby would put an extra 3% in eligible members’ pockets. The deductions would be phased out over three years.
Click here*
for story in Summer '07 Clarion
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Thanks, in
part, to the hundreds of "Act Now" faxes sent by
members, former Governor Elliot Spitzer signed the new ORP
pension bill into law. |
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STATE BUDGET SUM-UP
State leaders reached a budget
agreement in Albany at the end of March and passed a budget on
Sunday, April 1. The higher education portion of the final
budget reflects six years of aggressive campaigning by the PSC
to shift the budget from annual decreases to at least modest
increases. It funds mandatory costs and some increases for CUNY,
but falls short of the investment in CUNY the union advocated to
reverse the effects of years of austerity. We will report on
details as they become available.
Thank you to the hundreds of PSC
members who lobbied, testified, and sent letters as part of this
year's State budget campaign. [Posted 4/3/07]
City Budget Deal -- June 15, 2007
On June 15, the City Council passed a $60 billion budget for the new fiscal year, starting on July 1. The deal includes a full restoration of the Mayor’s proposed cuts to CUNY’s budget request. PSC members worked hard for months to win the restorations; we met with City Council Members, signed and gathered 15,000 postcards to Speaker Christine Quinn and rallied outside City Hall on May 9. Thank you to all who helped make this happen—it would not have happened without PSC members. Though the restored funds represent a victory for CUNY and our students, we should not have to fight just to maintain the current inadequate level of funding. The debate should be about additions, not restorations, especially in a year of multi-billion dollar surplus. The budget does include some additions, which we secured working cooperatively with CUNY management and through the advocacy of several City Council Members. We are grateful to them and await final details, including on the funds available for new hiring of full-time faculty, a centerpiece of the union’s proposal.
Click
here to read more about
the PSC's city and state budget campaigns.
[Posted 7/7/07]
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