Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders are inching toward an agreement on pension reform. Cuomo, in an interview with public radio, says he’d give up his demand to call the reform a new benefit tier, if lawmakers agree to changes that will achieve the same amount in savings.
Cuomo says he’s not “wed” to calling any pension reform agreement a new Tier , if lawmakers agree to a plan that saves the same amount of money. He predicts massive lay offs of local government workers if no deal is struck, saying cities and towns are nearly broke.
“They will lay off teachers and firefighters and police now, because they can’t afford it,” Cuomo warned.
Legislative leaders, speaking after a budget conference committee meeting, say the real issue is achieving savings for state taxpayers and property taxpayers, as well as security for workers, and they say they are discussing a number of pension reform options. They say an agreement on pension reform is “very close”.
