Page 3 - CSEA Retiree News Winter 2019

CSEA working to ensure fairness in New York State Budget
While Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s $175.2 billion 2019-20 New York State Budget proposal includes positive steps for New Yorkers, the plan also presents many challenges for retirees.
The budget includes three proposals that would drastically increase health insurance costs of current and future public retirees.
One proposal would create a Tier 2 health insurance contribution for anyone hired by the state on or after April 1, 2019.
Also included is a proposal to cap the reimbursements of Medicare Part B premiums for retirees in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP).
The final proposal would eliminate the reimbursement
of the Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amounts (IRMAA) for higher-income NYSHIP retirees as of Jan. 1, 2020.
Each of these proposals would harm retirees because they would increase out-of-pocket expenses and thus negatively affect their retirement security. CSEA is
urging for all three proposals to
be overturned in this year’s final budget agreement. All of the retiree
proposals have been proposed and rejected by state legislators in previous state budgets.
“These proposals would drastically increase out-of-pocket costs for our retirees, who have fixed incomes. Any major cost increase could hurt their budgets and well-being,” CSEA President Danny Donohue said. “With the costs of prescription drugs, groceries, utilities and other essential everyday needs constantly on the rise, retirees are already stretched thin when it comes to their incomes. It’s also unfair to
our retirees, who worked for many years and earned the retirement security they have. I urge the state not to balance the budget on the back of its own retirees.”
Working for fairness
CSEA is also working to ensure fairness in other areas of the budget that affect retirees and working people.
Aid to state agencies was essentially held flat. The budget also proposes to make the property tax cap permanent for local governments. The spending plan would eliminate Aid and Incentives to Municipalities (AIM) funding for
towns and villages where state aid funding accounts for 2 percent or less of the municipality’s budget, which would affect nearly 90 percent of the state’s towns and villages. CSEA strongly opposes this proposal.
Education would get a $1 billion increase under the Governor’s plan, along with decreases in aid
to libraries. The proposal also eliminates the operating subsidy for the three SUNY hospitals: Stony Brook University Hospital, SUNY Downstate and SUNY Upstate.
The proposal extends the existing “Millionaire’s Tax” for five years and includes several new sources to boost revenue.
The budget also includes a provision to allow for the financing of political campaigns with public tax dollars. This proposal would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, at a time when vital services and programs are being cut or flat funded. CSEA strongly opposes this proposal.
The budget proposal makes it an improper practice for a public employer, including the state, local governments and school districts, to disclose the home address, personal telephone number, cell phone number or personal email address of a public employee.
This extends the executive order the Governor signed shortly after the Janus v. AFSCME Council
31 decision that protects state workers’ information.
“Working people and retirees
are the true backbone of New York and we want to make sure that our public services stay strong to keep our state strong,” Donohue said. “Our retirees also serve as a key part of our state’s economy, and we want to ensure they can continue to have a dignified, secure retirement. We will work to ensure that this budget protects all New Yorkers and the services they rely upon every day.”
For more on the budget, visit cseany.org.
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WINTER 2019
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