22 May 2008
State Senator William T. Stachowski (D-Buffalo) announced today that he has introduced legislation that would require more public scrutiny when it comes to fiscal statements accompanying public employee retirement bills, and who is actually compiling them.
Senator Stachowski, the Ranking Democratic Member on the Finance Committee, introduced the legislation (S. 8270) after published reports revealed that experts providing financial analysis on proposed pension bills before the Senate were being paid for by the same unions that stood to possibly benefit from the legislation. “Considering the State's current fiscal outlook, we are undermining our own best efforts to watch over taxpayer dollars when experts who are assumed to be assisting us to better understand legislation may actually have a vested interest somewhere else,” Senator Stachowski said. “It is imperative that relevant disclosure information be made available to ensure that we are getting the best advice possible, and that the State’s taxpayers are getting the best possible deal.”
Senator Stachowski's proposal would amend legislative law that currently requires all retirement bills be accompanied by actuary fiscal notes, by additionally requiring further disclosure about who is providing the fiscal note, and more importantly, who the individual is being paid by to compile the financial impact information.
State lawmakers recently learned through published reports that several pension benefit bills before the State Assembly had been accompanied by fiscal notes prepared by an actuary on the payroll of various labor unions whose membership would be directly impacted by these same pension bills.
“This legislation aims to prevent any conflict of interest from happening in the future, by establishing a more open and transparent system of governance when it comes to the numerous bills considered by the Legislature every year relating to the State’s public employee retirement system,” said Senator Stachowski.
“This bill will give lawmakers another tool in making the best possible decision we can when it comes to the State’s coffers. It just makes sense to know who is paying who when it comes to pension bills.”
Senator Stachowski added that since the practice came to light, each and every piece of legislation regarding retirement or benefits before legislators that has, or will come before lawmakers, will have the appearance of impropriety. “That is, unless the Legislature takes action to stop the practice,” the Buffalo lawmaker concluded.
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