(02/02/12) Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the "Battle of Albany'' is on.
And in the first skirmish of what's expected to be a long fight, Cuomo is putting the pressure on teachers and their unions.
Speaking yesterday, he said that if negotiations between the unions, the state Education Department and school districts on tougher evaluations for teachers and principals fail, he'll impose his own Feb. 16. Under law, a governor may try to enact policies in budget bills.
The governor spoke at the annual meeting of the state Association of Counties, trying to drum up support for his proposed budget.
The county leaders were pressing for relief from state-mandated costs. Cuomo said he would meet them half way in providing mandate relief by helping to defray health care and future pension costs.
But, as Karen DeWitt reports, he told the county officials it's up to them to do the rest.
In a speech to the county leaders that repeated many of the points in
his budget presentation, Governor
Cuomo says he’s working on mandate relief that
will help the counties live within the recently imposed 2% property tax cap.
Currently,
the state pays for all of the counties’ Medicaid expenses that rise above 3%
each year. Cuomo says the state will phase in a takeover of all cost
increases for the health care program, which would essentially freeze Medicaid
rates for the counties, when fully implemented.
“This
year we’ll go even further,” Cuomo says.
Counties
in New York, as well as the City of New York, are expected to pay 25% of total
Medicaid costs.
The
New York Association of Counties had been seeking a total state takeover of all
of their Medicaid costs. The association’s Steve Acquario says while he is
appreciative that the governor recognizes the counties’ plight, Cuomo needs to
do more.
“It’s
never enough,” says Acquario, who maintains that counties suffer from a long term
structural deficit.
Cuomo
says he needs to operate in what he calls the “realm of the real”. He says it
would be “wholly unmanageable” for the state to take over the counties’ total
Medicaid costs right now, because it would set the state $8 billion dollars.
“That
is just not possible,” Cuomo says.
Acquario
says perhaps the new federal health care reform could provide some of the money
needed for the takeover. And, he says he understands the governor’s need
to be “pragmatic and reasonable”. He says what’s important is that the
governor is at least starting the Medicaid takeover process.
“We
need to start somewhere,” Acquario says. “We’re very glad that he’s put this on
the table.”
The
governor is also pressing for a new benefit tier for public employees,
something counties say is desperately needed because they can no longer afford
future pension benefits owed to retirees.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver
has already said the proposal has “pitfalls”. Cuomo admits that, politically,
the plan will be a hard sell to many legislators, who have long been friendly
with labor unions. The governor told the county officials
that they would have to help him do the lobbying for the new pension tier.
“I
need you engaged in the battle,” said Cuomo. “You have to take the
responsibility.”
Acquario,
with the Association of Counties, says the pension reform is “essential”,
saying it offers “serious relief”.
“The
status quo cannot be sustained,” Acquario said. “It will soon be 25 to 30% of
every county’s property tax levy.”
The
new pension tier is part of Cuomo’s budget proposal. At least one State
Senator, Diane Savino of Staten Island, has said she doubts the
legislature will approve the new benefit tier as part of the budget.
Cuomo would
not answer a question on whether he’d accept a spending plan from the
legislature that does not include the pension tier, saying, “we’ll
negotiate a budget as we go along."
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