WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. From Westchester County Department of Communications. (EDITED) August 23, 2010:

County Executive Robert P. Astorino  vetoed a law  Friday that would expand the number of county government employees who are eligible to receive free health care for life, basing years of service on service for any government in New York State in the New York Pension System. Astorino felt only employees working solely for Westchester County for 30 years service

Twelve Legislators' votes are needed to override.

 “It is hard to believe that less than 100 days after the Board of Legislators passed what it rightly called ‘historic’ legislation to have county employees pay a portion of their health insurance, some of the legislators are already starting to reverse course,” said Astorino. “If the taxpayers are to get the relief they deserve, legislators can’t be allowed to dismantle needed reforms. This veto is designed to prevent that from happening.”

Currently all retirees receive individual health-care coverage for free. A feature of the legislation  is to require most employees who retire after this year to start contributing toward their health-care benefits. A compromise reached during the negotiations was to allow employees who have at least 30 years of service to Westchester County as of Dec. 31, 2010, to receive individual health benefits for free after they have retired.  

The legislation in the bill Astorino vetoed, amends the earlier law by easing the 30-year requirement, allowing it to be met by employees who have serviced any governments covered by the New York State Pension System.

In May, after three months of negotiations, the administration and board agreed on a plan to start making employees pay for a portion of their health-care coverage. Until then, Westchester was only one of four counties in the state that did not require employees to pay a portion of their health benefits. The plan applied to about 400 non-union, managerial employees, requiring them to contribute between 10 and 20 percent of their health premiums, depending on their salaries.

These 400 employees, including Astorino, began making payments in July. The legislation was crafted with the expectation that it would become the basis of contract negotiations with the county’s approximately 5,000 union workers.

Trouble in Amendment City

Under the legislature version of the amendment, employees with 25 years in the New York pension system, say working for a municipality or school district, could spend the last five years of their career working for Westchester County, retire with 30 years of service, and then be eligible for free, individual health care for life, with that expense paid for by county taxpayers.  This legislation passed on a strict party-line vote with 11 Democrats in favor and 5 Republicans against.

 “The compromise was to recognize the service of those who have worked for the county for 30 years, not those who retire here with 30 years of service, the bulk of which could be from other places, including places outside of Westchester,” Astorino said.  “The problem with amending the original legislation is that county taxpayers are now on the hook for new and unjustified costs. It is wrong and unfair for county taxpayers to be burdened with this added, open-ended expense.”

Astorino acknowledged that the amended legislation only applies to six retirees at this time. The concern, however, is that the number will greatly expand if allowed to become the benchmark for union contracts as they are renegotiated.

“This law sets a terrible precedent for union negotiations,” Astorino said. “We are in effect giving the unions a major concession without even having the opportunity to ask for anything in return. That’s just plain irresponsible.”

The veto is Astorino’s fifth. It takes a two-thirds vote (12 votes) of the Board of Legislators to override a veto.