Governor Pataki vetoed two bills that would have provided pension benefits to Local 237 peace officers and beneficiaries. Both of the vetoed bills were featured in an article entitled “Legislative Update” in last month’s Newsline and were labeled “Waiting for Action,” at the time.

One bill, Accident Disability, S.7119-A (Padavan)/A.10530 (Abbate), would have provided our 6,000 peace officers with a 75 percent pension benefit when injured while on the job.

Pataki said, “It remains questionable whether the duties performed by these peace officers are so ... dangerous as to warrant the generous disability benefit provided by the bill.”

The other bill, Special Accidental Death Benefits, S.8364 (Maltese)/ A.11930 (Abbate), would have amended a section of the general municipal law to provide a special accidental death benefit to widows, widowers, or children of peace officers who die before the effective date of retirement as the natural or proximate result of an accident.

Of this bill Pataki said, “The job titles [it] would make eligible for special accidental death benefits do not face the same degree of danger as police officers, firefighters and other positions, which are entitled to a special accidental death benefit.”

“The governor doesn’t comprehend our members’ duties and responsibilities, although we provided all the necessary documentation to inform them of the dangers our members face on the job,” said Patricia Stryker, Local 237 recording secretary and director of the union’s Political Action and Legislation Department.