The fiscal realities of the time have not deterred the Legislature from advancing dozens of bills enhancing benefits for State and local employees and retirees. The CBC has been tracking the progress of 25 of these bills on its annual Sweetener Scorecard.
The Charter Revision Commission's comprehensive assessment of the structure of city government has prompted a debate about the desirability of providing formula budgets, often referred to as "independent budgets", to particular agencies and offices.
This letter was written to urge the State legislature to allow the seriously flawed Empire Zones program to sunset as of June 30, 2010, as established by law, and to enact the Excelsior program as proposed by the Governor.
Letter from CBC President Carol Kellermann to Legislators to commend them for voting against A9037/S52204, a bill that would have allowed state and local governments to postpone paying the full required annual contributions to their employee pension funds.
This letter from the CBC outlines a new fiscal strategy that would address the structural imbalance in the City's budget for fiscal year 2010. The key elements of the new fiscal strategy should be: 1) no new or higher taxes that harm prospects for economic recovery and growth; 2) reduce operating expenditures in ways that lower the cost of producing services rather than the availability o
This letter from the CBC notifies the Legislature that it has issued a "Pension Sweetener Scorecard" that will track legislative and gubernatorial actions regarding pension benefits and highlight those actions for the media and the public.
This letter from the CBC urges the Governor to veto A3426/S1409, a bill that would extend Tier II provisions to all police officers and firefighters who join a public retirement system on or after July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2011.
This letter from the CBC urges the Governor to veto A4628, a bill that would renew the provision that prohibits school districts from reducing the health insurance benefits offered to retirees unless the changes are approved by the local teachers union.
The federal government has committed an enormous sum—$787 billion over 27 months—to aid the economy. This letter from CBC President Carol Kellermann to the Legislature warns that the federal aid to New York is limited and temporary and addresses the challenge of using the federal money available for next year’s budget wisely, suggests 10 “do’s and don’ts” for using the federal funds and closing the budget gap while avoiding harmful cuts and tax increases, and highlights possible allocation of the funds.
