Ceretto Urges Passage Of Mandate Relief Bill

June 20, 2011

Assemblyman John Ceretto (R,I-Lewiston) is urging the leadership in the state Legislature to take up and pass new comprehensive mandate relief legislation designed to reduce the costs on local governments and school districts and help lower sky-high property taxes.

Assemblyman Ceretto noted that the measure, Assembly bill 8447, would lower mandatory costs on local governments and school districts by implementing a spending growth cap, requiring larger public employee contributions for health insurance, limiting unfunded mandates, reforming labor laws relating to public works projects, repealing the Wicks law, and reducing reporting requirements under New York State’s education law.

“With a property tax cap on the verge of passing the Assembly, lawmakers must begin serious talks about implementing policies which can lower costs for local governments and school districts and help rein in local property taxes,” said Ceretto. “Unfunded state mandates are a severe drain on our local resources and allow Albany to continue its reckless spending by passing on its costs to our local taxpayers.

“As a former town and county official, I witnessed firsthand the impact unfunded mandates can have on local municipalities. This cost shift gobbles up a significant portion of Western New York’s local resources and makes it difficult for municipalities and school districts to provide services to the community,” said Ceretto. “This needs to change if we are going to provide lasting tax relief to Western New York families and ensure that local governments have the resources to meet the public’s needs.”

***ATTACHED IS ASSEMBLY BILL 8447’S LIST OF UNFUNDED MANDATE REFORMS ***

COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF MANDATE REFORMS

SUSPEND & REMOVE ALBANY'S UNFUNDED MANDATES

• Prohibit any new unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts for as long as a property tax cap is in place;

• Require "fiscal notes" – specific language making it clear what a piece of legislation's financial impact is – on bills affecting local governments;

• Establish a process for the Governor to annually submit to the state Legislature a plan to repeal unfunded mandates. Also, require the state Legislature to vote on the plan within 60 days of its submission, with or without amendments;

RESTORE FISCAL RESTRAINT TO STATE GOVERNMENT

• Cap state spending at the average rate of inflation of the three previous calendar years and increase the maximum capacity of the state's Rainy Day Fund from 3 percent to 10 percent of General Fund spending. If a spending cap had been in place over the past decade, spending would have been $30 billion less this year;

REDUCE PUBLIC PENSION & PAYROLL OBLIGATIONS

• Establish a defined-contribution retirement plan for all new public employees and teachers who join a New York State or New York City retirement system;

• Allow local governments to opt out of the provisions of the Triborough Amendment, which allows for step increases during periods of expired contracts and removes the incentive for public employee unions to renegotiate contracts;

REIN IN MEDICAID MANDATES

• Allow counties to opt out of providing optional Medicaid services to new enrollees. Also, require the state commissioner of health to apply for a federal waiver to implement this provision;

• Freeze the municipal share of Medicaid costs at the current level;

ADDRESS HEALTH CARE COSTS

• Increase the state tax credit allowed for the premium paid for long-term-care insurance from 20 to 50 percent;

• Allow health-savings accounts, which are low-rate, high-deductible plans with catastrophic coverage. These plans are currently prohibited under New York State law;

• Require all public employees to make minimum health care contributions (10 percent for individuals; 25 percent for families);

CUT THE EXPENSE OF LOCAL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

• Remove prevailing wage requirements on municipal-construction projects with a total anticipated cost of less than $500,000;

• Repeal the state law that extended applicability of the prevailing wage law to private sector third parties contracting out work for a public entity;

• Grant counties a local option not to follow sections 240 and 241 of the state labor law (Scaffold Act) and be subject to a contributory negligence standard;

• Repeal the Wicks law, a state mandate that significantly drives up construction costs for localities and school districts by requiring separate plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and electrical contracts for certain projects;

• Allow contractors to submit bids that do not include project-labor agreements;

PROVIDE RELIEF FROM STATE ADMINISTRATIVE & PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS

• Allow for regional school-district employee collective bargaining through BOCES;

• Require the state commissioner of education to reduce onerous paperwork requirements and allow the electronic submission of reports;

• Authorize school districts and the state commissioner of education to determine when Academic Intervention Services (AIS) are redundant;

• Discontinue the cost of fingerprinting from collective bargaining agreements with teacher unions;

• Require all professional development plans to be designed by the state Education Department. Also, allow school districts to create development and mentoring plans once every three years, rather than on a yearly basis; and

• Require building inspections once every three years as opposed to annually.

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