Gov. Andrew Cuomo cynically waited until three days after last year's election to veto the bipartisan Veterans' Equality Act that five months earlier passed the state Senate 57-0 and the Assembly 133-1.
In his veto message, Cuomo said that the bill should be addressed in the "broader context of negotiating the state budget." Then the governor failed to include the veterans' equality proposal in his initial budget or the subsequent amendments.
The bill would allow a veteran who is a state employee to count up to three years of active military time toward his state pension time. Veterans impacted by the bill would pay their contributions into the pension system for those years counted.
Currently, New York only allows veterans who served during specific eras and in specific regions to buy back service credit. For example, a Persian Gulf War vet can buy back time, but one who served in the Balkans or at Gitmo cannot. That doesn't make any sense, and it's wildly unfair.
Opponents of the bill perpetuate the myth that the Veterans' Equality Act only benefits peacetime veterans. This is grossly inaccurate. Those who fought in Mogadishu, Somalia, during the Black Hawk Down episode are ineligible to buy back their time in the New York pension system.
Service in Afghanistan certainly isn't peacetime service. Nearly 500 New Yorkers were wounded and more than 100 were killed in Operation Enduring Freedom, which primarily involves the conflict in Afghanistan. Afghanistan service doesn't count when it comes to the New York pension law, but service in Operation Iraqi Freedom does.
The Veterans' Equality Act addresses and cures this injustice.
Those who would benefit served in the post-draft era of the all-volunteer military. They volunteered to serve on ships and in garrisons at home and abroad keeping the Soviet war machine in check, and then maintained the peace after we won the Cold War.
This bill does more than honor the service of veterans. It encourages the next generation to serve by reminding them that their state values and rewards service in defense of our nation. It also recognizes and takes steps to remedy the fact that military service often takes a person out of the civilian workforce for many of their prime earning years.
The governor's veto message claimed the bill puts a significant financial burden on local governments. However, the governor fails to recognize that the bill is an opportunity for municipalities and school districts to immediately and permanently save money.
The bill expedites the retirement of senior, relatively higher-paid, employees who will be replaced by junior, relatively lower-paid, employees. In some cases, no replacement will be necessary. Also, retiring workers in the more expensive pension tiers will be replaced by employees in the less expensive Tier Six.
Upfront costs to municipalities, if any, could more than be offset with a portion of the savings provided by the Legislature going paperless. The move to digital could save as much as $53 million per year. Alternatively, a tiny fraction of the windfall financial settlements could be given to local governments if they incur an expense implementing the law.
The Veterans' Equality Act is supported by a diverse group of organizations, including the AFL-CIO, New York State United Teachers, Civil Service Employees of America, Police Conference of New York, DC-37, Public Employees Federation, Vietnam Veterans of America and New York State Association of PBAs. It has the support of conservatives and liberals, upstate and down.
Our veterans have done their part. Now it is time for the governor and legislative leaders to do their part and include the Veterans' Equality Act as part of this year's budget.
Kieran Michael Lalor, R-Fishkill, is an Assembly member and a Marine Corps veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.