Pension reform is crucial to Albany’s legislative agenda

Before the fireworks are launched on the Fourth of July, Governor Cuomo and our leaders in Albany hope to have this year’s legislative session wrapped up. Still on the table are some very pressing issues, including the property tax cap, ethics reform and gay marriage.

With a 74 percent approval rating, Cuomo holds all the cards, and has taken his no-holds-barred legislative agenda on the road. That being said, there will be some intense negotiations as he tries to win support for his agenda from Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.

There will undoubtedly be some intense negotiations and sleepless nights in Albany over the next month.

I was ecstatic to see that despite having a full plate, Cuomo announced a major pension reform plan. Let’s make it a legislative priority.

For years, our state’s ballooning public employee pension packages have been crippling our economy. The state’s pension fund system has been marred by corruption, and our lawmakers are either in on the scams or too afraid to challenge union leaders. State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has made strong efforts to crack down on abusers of public pensions, but now we must focus on reforming the entire system.

Rising pension costs are one of the prime reasons behind New York’s devastatingly high tax rates. In 1999, public-worker pensions cost the state $1.3 billion. By 2014 that total is estimated to rise to as much as $6 billion.

Skelos and the Senate majority support pension reform. Now, in order to give taxpayers relief, Cuomo will have to go to war and hit the bargaining table with the state’s union leaders.