With the stroke of a pen Governor George Pataki killed Local 237’s legislative effort to ensure that school safety agents employed by the NYPD are given time off with pay to recover from injuries resulting from line-of-duty assaults, and another bill that would have granted disability pension to peace officers who are disabled as a result of an accident sustained in the line of duty.

Although the Governor’s veto came as no surprise — Pataki has vetoed similar legislation — Local 237 President Carl Haynes said he was “disappointed” that the governor did not consider the issue of equity for peace officers in his decision.

The issue of equity was a key factor for New York City Council members who approved measures supporting the State legislation, both of which passed The New York State Senate and Assembly in May 2005.

Specifically, the accident disability pension bill — S.4067, by Senator Frank Padavan, and its companion bill in the State Assembly, A. 7021, by Assemblyman Peter J. Abbate — would have amended the state retirement and Social Security law to allow the New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS) and the Board of Education Retirement System to provide accidental disability retirement benefits to peace officers who become physically or mentally incapacitated during the performance of their duty as a result of an accident not caused by the officer’s own willful negligence.

The second bill, S. 3118 by Senator Dale Volker in the Senate and its companion bill in the Assembly, A. 7020 by Assemblyman Peter J. Abbate, would have provided school safety officers with a leave of absence of up to 18 months and receive pay that is the difference between their weekly salary and their workers’ compensation wage benefit without any charge against their annual or sick leave if they are disabled due to an assault while performing their job. It would also require that a neutral body — the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings of the City of New York — make determinations of assault instead of the NYPD as is currently the case.

“It’s not for lack of trying that and property. Yet, Governor Pataki continues to deny us these benefits.”

In his July veto message on the disability pension, Pataki states:

“The mayor of the City of New York continues to strongly oppose this bill on the grounds that (1) the actual fiscal impact of the bill exceeds the retained actuary estimates, (2) it remains questionable whether the duties performed by these peace officers are so inherently dangerous as to warrant the generous disability benefit provided by the bill (3) authorization of an accidental disability pension to peace officers would almost certainly result in a spillover effect encouraging other City employees to seek the same benefit (4) it imposes an unfunded mandate upon the City during a time of increased non-discretionary spending and projected figure budget gaps, and (5) it fails to cross-reference the medical review and safeguards provisions included in the provisions for Tiers I and II…”

The Governor has vetoed this legislation four times (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004), and each time the Union has sought to modify the legislation to overcome the Governor’s objections. Patricia Stryker, Local 237’s political action director responded the union used the city’s own actuarial estimates to avoid a conflict with the city over the cost of the benefit.. “It is more than ironic that the governor cites this as the number one reason for vetoing this bill even though he is wrong.”

On the Assault bill, Pataki states:

“The City of New York urges disapproval, contending that the bill would inappropriately divest the NYPD of its current managerial prerogative to render ‘assault grant’ determination, unilaterally placing that authority with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Moreover, the city objects to removing the Office of Corporation Counsel from its current role in determining whether the assault at issue arose out of the school safety agent’s employment. Finally, the city asserts that the issues raised by the bill should be subject to negotiations with the affected employees and their representatives, so the bill improperly circumvents the collective bargaining process. The Division of the Budget (DOB) also urges disapproval because the non-taxable nature of the Workers’ Compensation benefit involved would result in a school safety agent receiving greater net pay than he or she would have earned if working full time.”

The governor had vetoed a similar bill last year.

Haynes, who after the legislation sailed through the State Legislature, had urged members to “write and tell the Governor to sign this bill,” added that “Governor Pataki’s actions indicate that he is no friend of Teamsters. NYPD officers routinely receive paid leave when they are injured on the job while protecting the public. The Governor did a great disservice to the members of Local 237 and the peace officers who risk their lives every day in the course of their work protecting life and property in our schools, hospitals, on CUNY campuses and on the streets of New York City.”