Cuomo's Pension Reform Is Too Little, Too Late And Fails To Solve New York's Huge Pension Debt Problem

Cuomo's acting is full of sound and fury and accomplishes nothing to solve already existing Pension Debts.   Can you do that song and dance routine again, Andy?  Or is the stale Albany dog and pony act next?

      Andrew Cuomo prances in the limelight futility attempting to close the Pension Barn Door after the pension dollars were already legally given away.    Cuomo failed to propose and begin in the NY Legislature the passage of a repeal of NY Constitutional Amendment §7.    Fixing the future is good, but ignoring the existing pension debt burden is a disaster.

     Cuomo's latest pension proposals to "increase the retirement age to 65 ...end early retirement, force employees to pay twice as much toward their pension, and end the “padding” of pensions through overtime pay, sick time and other means" will do nothing for any of the budget catastrophes described in this blog already.  All the debts, unfunded liabilities, and other improperly accounted budget items continue to insure default or bankruptcy.
Specifically,
1. NY forgot to fund $53 Billion in retiree health benefits. link 1
2. Block grants for Medicaid will cost NY $32 Billion dollars a year. link 2
3. $3 Billion in NY State Medicaid fraud must be refunded to the Federal government link 3
4. New York has the highest debt per person of US States at a total debt per person of $31,536, which must be added to USA debt per person of $44,805.  Now, multiple this total by four for a family of two adults and two children.   link 4
5. New York's unfunded pension liability of $143 billion dollars is combined with a Madoff-style assumption that 7.5% will be safely earned on pension investments when the latest return is 1.1%. link 5
6. Cuomo's budget had a fantasy forecast for increased tax revenues. link 6
7. Cuomo forgot he has to pay the federal government back $3.6 billion which was borrowed last year to fund unemployment benefits and is due by November of this year.  link 7
8. Cuomo's plan to attract business fizzles because of more taxes due next year for business. link 8
9. The young workers that Cuomo hopes to keep are planning to flee NY's taxes and dying business opportunities. link 9

      Bankruptcy is the only way out for New York, because of its Constitutional protection for pensions in NY Constitution § 7. ...membership in any pension or retirement system of the state or of a civil division thereof shall be a contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.

Proposed federal bankruptcy laws are described in this blog at link 9, link 10, link 11

Your act is over, Andrew, and the handwriting was on the wall in November.  link 12