People’s State of the State — PEF President Ken Brynien was among the speakers at the 22nd Annual “People’s State of the State” on January 3 in Albany’s Academy Park. Brynien talked about social responsibility, tax fairness and ending corporate greed. — Photo by Darcy Wells
Beware of snake-oil proposals, spun as ‘reforms'
By KENNETH BRYNIEN
In the governor’s budget proposal, a word that was heard a lot throughout the presentation and in the news reports following it was “reform.” Among the reform proposals contained in the Executive Budget were civil service reform, reforming the way the state does business and reform of the state’s pension system.
Often calling a proposal a reform is nothing more than trying to put a positive spin on a very bad idea, like a snake-oil salesman trying to sell a tonic that will cure all of your ills and getting a gullible public to buy it.
Certainly a case can be made for increased government efficiency. Our members know the simplest and most direct way to do this is to reduce the state’s reliance on consultants and reduce the layer after layer of political patronage appointments that have built up over the years.
Unfortunately, many of the governor’s proposals will do just the opposite.
Some will aggravate the short staffing in agencies and drive them to use more high-priced consultants and per-diem employees. Another will make wholesale changes in the civil service system that will make it easier for untested and unqualified job applicants to leapfrog career civil servants for jobs, making whom you know more important than what you know when it comes to hiring.
And, finally, there is the governor’s call for pension reform. Although it does not affect current employees, this proposal is potentially the most destructive to public service. The governor spins his proposal as merely allowing employees a choice. However, it’s a choice between two poor options.
Either way new employees choose they are virtually guaranteed to have a lower benefit than the persons who held the jobs before them.
It will mean a lower standard of living for future retirees, reduce the ability to recruit individuals who see public service as a career, and create a mercenary mentality where the commitment to public service no longer exists.
The governor chides the unions, saying, “We never said pensions were a lifetime legacy for future workers who aren’t hired yet. We’re only talking about future employees. I call them the unborn.”
I disagree. Our society has an obligation to try to make the future better for those coming after us. The governor’s proposal is symptomatic of the “I-got-mine” mentality that has allowed the wealthiest 1 percent to continue to build their wealth at the expense of the 99 percent.
New York is seen by many as a model for other states. We have been working with other unions, the AFL-CIO and our international affiliates to fight these proposals. It is our responsibility to make sure they die here because, if we don’t stop them in New York, these so-called reforms could lead to devastating changes to public service and the demise of defined-benefit plans for all workers, public and private, across the country.
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