• a study to create a new Tier 5 pension for public employees with less benefits or possibly a defined contribution plan.
  
• mandatory, minimum health insurance contributions for all local government workers, a clear violation of the Taylor Law.
  
• elimination of the Wicks Law (apparently, the Wicks Reform agreed to in the state budget is not sufficient).
  
• mergers and consolidations of various levels of local government services, including police and fire services, a process which may not be constitutional
  
• reopening and renegotiating collective bargaining agreements when local governments merge or consolidate services.

The commission had no LABOR representation and while we expect proposals like these to come from management at the bargaining table, we do not expect one-sided proposals like these to come from our elected officials or our leaders.   As time goes on, I am confident that the legislature will consider each of these proposals on their merits, and heed the concerns of working men and women throughout this state.

The New York State AFL-CIO looks forward to being a part of the public discourse, and is willing to listen to real and workable solutions that address the problems our local governments face. Solutions that include establishing a fair income tax system at the state level that will ensure our local governments and schools are not starved of the revenue they need to provide the services working New Yorkers rely on. Solutions that include fixing our broken economic development programs and industrial development agencies, and the practice of allowing business to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. And solutions that include curbing our health insurance costs, rather than passing on those costs to workers.    

Denis M. Hughes, President