State and Local

New Jersey to cut state employee pensions and benefits

Alex Salta — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:33:00 GMT

The Garden State has long been known as the home of three things: The Boss, Bada Bing, and bloated budgets. On September 29th, Governor Jon Corzine took steps to knock one item off that list; Corzine signed the Public Employee Pension and Benefits Reform Act of 2008 into law, a bipartisan piece of legislation that took quite a bit of fire from the state's all-powerful public workers' unions over the last several months. Supporters claim the law will save New Jersey $150 million in expenses over the next 14 years.

According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the law will raise the retirement age for new public employees from 60 to 62, bar pensions for new workers earning less than $7,500 a year, and eliminate Lincoln's Birthday as a state holiday after contracts expire in 2011. The law will also prohibit public employees from using time worked in other states to reach the 25 years of employment needed to qualify for lifetime health benefits. All of these changes will only affect workers hired on or after November 1st. Corzine described the reforms as "[striking] the right balance of being fair to hardworking public employees and at the same time lightening the burden on our taxpayers."

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, however, are not convinced that this latest piece of legislation is enough to make a difference. Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce, a Republican, noted that "it is troubling that even a minor reform such as this was apparently only signed with reluctance by Governor Corzine". State Senator Nicholas Scutari, a Democrat, added that the pension system is "in trouble" and that "it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the system could collapse". The law is not without its defenders; State Senator Barbara Buono, the chairwoman of the state Budget and Appropriations Committee, said "This legislation isn't perfect, but it will begin to chip away at the culture of abuses and excess that has plagued the pension system for years."

Even with all the talk of collapsing pension systems, the law's most fervent critics have not been elected officials. That honor falls to the group that has long held the most power in the sometimes murky world of New Jersey politics: unions. According to a report in the Asbury Park Press, New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Wollmer lashed out at the law on behalf of teachers, saying educators "paid into the pension system while the state took a very irresponsible vacation." Bob Master, spokesman for the Communications Workers of America, said the law "undermines the retirement security of some of the state's lowest income-workers - all to save less than one-twentieth of one percent of the state's annual budget."

So where does all this backbiting leave the taxpayers that will really shoulder the burden on all of this?

The Cherry Hill Post Courier's right-leaning OpEd page doesn't have too much sympathy for the perceived plight of state workers. The Post Courier noted that "New Jersey taxpayers - we who pay the highest property taxes in the nation - cover the cost for all these benefits. Taxpayers can't do it anymore. People are moving out of this state in droves because of the high taxes that feed a high cost of living. Big, expensive government is to blame for the high taxes." In response to criticism that the benefit changes were made outside the realm of collective bargaining, the Post Courier claims "we're glad Corzine and lawmakers were willing to buck their old reluctance to do anything about worker compensation without it being done at the contract negotiating table." Even the Post Courier acknowledges that in a state with an annual operating budget of about $32 billion, saving $150 million over 14 years is "a drop in the bucket."

In a state that has long been known for it's deeply entrenched culture of cronyism and patronage, this legislation is a very big deal. Corzine is up for re-election in 2009 and can no longer automatically count on the union endorsements that served him so well in 2005, even though it is highly doubtful that a group like the NJEA will throw their weight behind a Republican candidate. Corzine, however, is not backing down from any fight. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, he has introduced a sweeping series of ethics and campaign finance reforms that are yet to be embraced by key lawmakers. Can Corzine fight a legislative war on two fronts, while painting himself as a maverick reformer, and win re-election all at the same time? With a personal campaign war chest worth millions, the answer is probably yes. The true drama will be seeing if these reforms will have a real effect on the massive government, and equally massive tax burden, in the nation's most densely populated state. It might be a drop in the bucket, and it might be a baby step, but it's also a start.

Senate approves Alaska, Hawaii, and territory locality pay

Jaime L. Hartman — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:47:00 GMT

Last week the Senate approved S. 3013 that would, if made law, phase out the 13 to 25 percent cost-of-living allowances (COLAs) for federal employees living in Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories, and replace them with locality pay.

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) sponsored the bill and said it is necessary because of concerns over how federal employee retirement benefits are calculated. COLA payments are not subject to federal income or payroll taxes, but they do not count toward federal retirement benefits or as part of basic pay eligible for Thrift Savings Plan matching funds.

Locality pay is treated as regular income for both taxation and retirement purposes. In simple terms, this means that feds in these areas would see their taxes go up, but so would their retirement payments.

The move would affect approximately 46,000 federal employees working in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Marian estimates.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that direct spending would increase by a total of $302 million over 10 years - $295 million for additional retirement benefits and $7 million for higher Social Security benefits to the anticipated 13,000 federal employees who would accrue additional benefits and retire between 2009 and 2018.

However, the bill would also increase the portion of salary on which employees pay taxes, equating to an increase in tax revenues of $1 billion over the next 10 years. $739 million would come from Medicare payroll and income tax collections and $39 million from higher contributions from employees toward retirement benefits. Additional Social Security tax receipts would bring in an extra $233 million.

So, is this an attempt to treat feds working in our outlying states and territories with equity or a sneaky way to raise taxes on a few? You be the judge!

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K-12 education coming to a computer near you

Andrew B. Einhorn — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:59:00 GMT

Looking to go on vacation but not sure who you can leave the kids with while they attend school? If you're a Florida resident, the decision to finally take the ski trip you've been longing for might soon be an easier one, thanks to an innovative new program where students can earn a diploma from local public schools entirely online.

A new state law requires school districts to create their own full-time, virtual schools, or partner with other districts or virtual education providers to allow any student from kindergarten to twelfth grade to take classes from anywhere, so long as they have a computer and Internet access.

According to the Palm Beach Post, during the 2007-08 school year, more than 57,000 students took at least one Florida Virtual School course, though few students received an entire education online.

The benefits of an online education are varied. For starters, because students range in abilities and habits in a given class, online tools allow students to work at their own pace and at their chosen hours. Night owls (a.k.a. teenagers) can work through the night and sleep all day. Gifted students who digest a lesson quickly don't get stuck in the same lesson as those who digest the material more slowly. Students in rural areas can attend programs and classes previously unavailable or difficult to get to. Sick days are also less of a problem in an online world.

"This is a new world, and children have different learning modalities," said Debra Johnson, principal of what will become Palm Beach County's virtual school. "We need to be preparing ourselves for not only the future, but we need to be addressing students' needs now and providing different opportunities."

Opponents of virtual learning worry that a lack of face-to-face interaction between student and teacher, and between students could stunt emotional and cognitive development. There's also the issue of ensuring a student maintains good oversight of their learning and how to address financial quagmires such as whether to provide state funding for private school students taking public school classes.

There are also costs to consider. While some say having an online curriculum means not needing to build new buildings to keep up with population growth, others predict the costs of creating the online environment, including the additional teaching curriculums needed for the virtual world, eliminates any cost benefits from not having to construct traditional learning environments.

Perfecting the online system also comes at a high price, says Susan Patrick, president of the North American Council for Online Learning. Patrick warns that it would be a mistake for all 67 Florida counties to create virtual schools from scratch, without sharing resources with one another and more importantly, with states like Minnesota that began offering virtual curriculums in 2002.

"There's a lot of planning money to reinvent the wheel that may not be necessary," Patrick told the Palm Beach Post.

Indeed. According to the Department of Education, 40,000 to 50,000 students in 37 states take advantage of virtual schooling in some form or fashion. And while many parents of online student are thrilled that their children have access to more advanced learning tools and the best curriculums available, there are certainly kinks to be worked out.

Most noteworthy may be seen in Wisconsin schools, where a student can enroll in whatever school district's online program they choose. The state simply compensates each district $5,400 per student, per year.

But competition for students has incited a marketing war between school districts, and instead of spending money on education, districts are pouring money into direct mailing campaigns and advertisements to lure students into their programs. Is it money well spent? For the schools: yes. For the taxpayers? Not so much.

Greening the Gov: Mayors Push For Local Solution To Global Problem

Alex Salta — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:02:00 GMT

When thinking of progressive cities in America, Dubuque, Iowa is hardly the first place that comes to mind. But if Mayor Roy Buol has his way, Dubuque will soon be a leader in combating climate change at the local level.

In 2006, Buol, along with over 140 other Mayors, supported the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement - an agreement among mayors to meet the Kyoto Protocol emissions targets, despite President Bush's refusal to do the same. Now Buol's the driving force behind the recently unveiled Blueprint for Local Climate Action.

Following an invitation from long-time environmental activist Robert Redford to attend the second annual Sundance Summit, which was billed as a "Mayor's Gathering on Climate Protection," Buol began developing the Sustainable Dubuque Initiative. He dubbed the initiative a "holistic approach" to sustainable development and energy in his 57,000-person town.

With the help of Assistant City Manager Teri Goodmann, Buol developed a mission statement they eventually called the "Blueprint for Local Climate Action." This Blueprint encourages federal support for local climate protection initiatives and will delivered to the next President.

"There are a lot of opportunities out there and I hope the federal government gets on board and puts incentives in place," Buol told the Telegraph Herald.

But is it possible for global climate change to be combated at the local level? Buol thinks so, as do over 600 mayors who adopted the Climate Protection Agreement at a two-day conference in November 2007.

Mayor Greg Nickels of Seattle coordinated the November summit and agreement as a means of meeting the standards set by the Kyoto Protocol on a local level. According to Nickels' website, the agreement requires participating cities to do three things. First, they must meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol global warming emissions targets in their own communities by promulgating a variety of policies ranging from anti-sprawl to urban forest restoration to public awareness campaigns. Second, they must urge their respective state governments, as well as the federal government, to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol (7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012). The final step requires the mayors to lobby Congress to pass bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national carbon emission trading system.

Still not convinced all politics is local? Consider the fact that today, 884 cities have signed onto the Climate Protection Agreement. Mayors across the country, from Buol to New York City's Bloomberg, have made climate change mitigation a top legislative priority.
The efforts of these mayors represent a major grassroots movement, and if history is any indicator, what began as a small snowball will eventually roll onto the floor of Congress as an avalanche of support for national climate change legislation.

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CA legislating innovative smart growth strategies to combat pollution, traffic

Christine Cea — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:35:00 GMT

Although people across the country battle congestion everyday, the aggravation triggered by miles of traffic has yet to fade. Neither has the cloud of car emissions that follows the traffic like cheap cologne. To combat such issues, California is legislating ways to reduce road rage while cutting back greenhouse gas and emissions.

At the end of August, the California legislature passed a bill (SB 375) to cut carbon dioxide emissions through intense housing and transportation planning, and by providing incentives for agencies that do so. The bill essentially creates a quid pro quo system in which regional planning authorities have to set and meet emission-reduction targets in order to receive transportation funding and fewer building restrictions.

After passage, State Senator Darrell Steinberg, the driving force behind the bill, said, "If California is to fully implement AB 32, we must address how our communities grow. SB 375 will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks and improve Californians' quality of life through smart, coordinated regional planning. I urge the Governor to sign SB 375."

SB 375 includes 59 rules and regulations to first identify greenhouse gas emission targets and then formulate plans to zone in on those targets to help California reach its 30 percent pollution reduction goal by 2020. The targets will foster a policy environment at the city government level in which cleaner cars and better infrastructure to ease the commuting process will be advanced along with smart growth strategies that place new homes near public transit. Special attention would be given to more efficient land use, as more areas will be designated "resource areas" to capture carbon from the air.

Supporters are hoping that incentives will lure the 18 metropolitan planning organizations across California to step up and get their communities involved.

"I call it a coalition of the impossible," remarked Steinberg, mirroring a comment of Tom Adams, the president of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), an organization that is also a sponsor.

Impossibility appears to be a theme as the bill's timeline illustrates something almost impossible to find in government lately: quick results.

But nothing is set in stone, as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has yet to sign the bill.

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INNOVATIONS: It's not an iPhone, it's a crime fighting tool!

Andrew B. Einhorn — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:11:00 GMT

Criminals beware, the geeky, headphone-adorned, iPhone game addict playing on a Manhattan street corner might just be a secret police spy - at least that's what New York City Mayor Bloomberg is hoping will happen following the unveiling of a new emergency response system this week.

The new system allows anyone to send videos or photos to a 911 call center to report a crime or emergency situation. By embracing multimedia messaging, Bloomberg feels he can give 911 call centers a 1,000 word jump on the situation through pictures of a scene or suspect.

"This technology should put a scare into every would-be criminal, because the chances of getting caught in the act is now better than ever," said Bloomberg.

Within a year, 911 dispatchers will be able to forward images captured by witnesses directly to police officers in the vicinity of the reported crime or incident.

Although other cities allow citizens to text emergency reports, NYC officials claim they are the first in the nation to allow multimedia messages to be delivered. But the system still allows those who wish to report something to a 911 call center verbally and send the images after reporting.

"Before I became mayor, I built a business on the idea that we could improve companies' performance by delivering better information faster, and we've tried to bring that same philosophy to government," Bloomberg told CBS.

Residents of the city can also send in videos or pictures of non-emergencies like road or lighting problems, graffiti, or inappropriate conduct by city officials to New York's non-emergency hot line, 311. It looks like Jimmy Justice finally has a place for his videos of illegally parked police officers besides YouTube.

CBS and AP reported that the new response system cost $250,000 and 18 months to build the software. In the government contracting world, that's like Wal-Mart prices.

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Texas government loses track of $1.1 billion

OhMyGov! — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:56:00 GMT

The Texas Department of Transportation made a $1.1 billion accounting mistake last year through a mixture of "ineffective internal communication, a complex reporting structure and misunderstanding" of its data, according to a report by the state auditor's office released Thursday.

Alaskan police officers making six figure salaries

Andrew Brett — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:30:00 GMT

How much would your job need to pay for you to move to Alaska? If you're a police officer from Minnesota, the magic number sits somewhere between $74,000 and $104,000 a year - at least that's what Anchorage Police Department recruiters are hoping.

Due to severe staff shortages, the Anchorage Police Department is lobbying Minnesota and Michigan police officers to embrace their pioneer spirit, brave the cold and relocate to America's last frontier. Sgt. Mike Couturier, head of Anchorage's recruiting effort, said Anchorage, with 280,000 inhabitant, is looking to add another 20 officers by the end of the year to add to its 390 officer staff.

According to the Star Tribune, "Anchorage recruiters say that a rookie officer's average pay (with overtime) in 2007 was nearly $74,000. For a 10-year veteran it was nearly $104,000. They are also dangling as incentives more than five weeks of annual leave, four weeks of sick leave 'and squad cars to take home.'"

But don't forget to tax perks! Alaska has no state, sales or income taxes and citizens of the state receive annual subsidy for putting up with the weather. Last year that subsidy amounted to $1,654 for every person in the state. And it's not like living costs are anywhere close to Manhattan, San Francisco, or Boston; in Anchorage, a six figure salary goes a long way.

So if you're a cop, you may want to consider replacing those shiny shoes with a fresh pair of boots and heading for the snow hills of Alaska. If you hurry, you'll get there just before winter begins...next month.

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Mass universal insurance program showing ups and downs

Andrew B. Einhorn — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:58:00 GMT

The Massachusetts state government reported this week that nearly half a million people signed up for health insurance in the two years since Massachusetts enacted a new law requiring all residents to have health insurance or face penalties.

The plan provides free health insurance to those making less than $9,800 a year, and subsidizes costs for those making more than that but less than $30,000 per year. Employers with 11 or more full-time employees have to pay at least one-third of full-time workers' premiums and ensure that at least 25 percent of their full-time workers are covered by an employer plan.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick couldn't be happier over the progress he's seen to date.

"To have insured nearly a half-million people in less than two years is nothing short of remarkable," said Gov. Patrick.

But not everyone thinks this is good news. Moody's Investors Service reported yesterday that the costs of the Mass insurance program is rising at an unsustainable rate.

"Costs related to the commonwealth's 2007 health-care reforms are increasing far more rapidly than initially projected," said Moody's.

Indeed, the state's subsidized health insurance plan is projected to rise 41 percent from the last fiscal year to the current fiscal year and will reach $869 million in annual costs, Moody's said in a report.

Don't dismiss the program as a failure just yet. The state also reported a financial upside to the insurance saga. Emergency room visits have dropped by 44 percent, eliminating high cost medical care and saving the state an estimated $68 million this year.

The fate of the Mass experiment may be pinned to support from Washington. As the Boston Globe reports, "the economics of the ambitious campaign remains uncertain. Massachusetts is locked in delicate negotiations with federal authorities to determine if the state will continue getting billions of dollars in special assistance to help make the experiment work."

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The parking ticket that turned one man homeless

Jeff Dubbin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Peter Tubic was burdened with his own problems when the Milwaukee city government thought he needed one more. For keeping his unlicensed car parked in his driveway, he was fined $50. Over the course of four years, the unpaid $50 parking fine swelled to $2,645 after late fees were continuously tacked on. To pay for it, the city foreclosed on Mr. Tubic's house.

This tragedy is not simply that one man's debt can run so high, but that there is no force to stop it. The city government became the fat kid in gymnastics: inflexible to a fault. According to city officials, they cannot reverse the fee or the foreclosure even if everyone wanted to; quite a winning attitude.

"At this point, there's really not too much that would allow us to reverse those charges," said Don Schaewe, supervisor of the city's nuisance section who may also be chairman of Milwaukee's local "Not My Problem" chapter.

The government could not even come up with a less painful way of scratching $2,645 out of Mr. Tubic, like harvesting his kidney. Instead, they took his house, despite the fact the man was psychologically unfit to handle the situation.

Social Security Administration records state that Tubic, 62, has been disabled since 2001 from an illness that limits his "ability to understand, remember and carry out detailed instructions." The man admits he would have paid the ticket, but says he was physically and psychologically unable to handle the situation.

This is not just a story of one man slipping through the cracks. It is a lesson in how large those cracks can actually be. In this case, they are literally as big as a house.

There is a compelling counterargument in the government's favor that we are a nation of laws and arbitrary exceptions (albeit emotionally compelling ones) are not the stuff of firm democracy. Our duly elected leaders have erected a sometimes uncompromising system, and as a result, most people pay their fines and fix the violation that incurred fining in the first place. After all, despite fifteen notices, Mr. Tubic never removed his unlicensed car from the driveway or paid the tickets.

But there is also a contradiction written into that defense. The system is not simple. Lawyers exist for a reason - yes there is a reason - which is to help people navigate the legal labyrinth. The prolixity of civil code is not comprehensible to an average American, especially one like Mr. Tubic.

In America, someone facing criminal charges is entitled to an attorney. But one facing a civil violation, like a financially crippling parking fine, is not. And if Mr. Tubic was convicted of a major criminal offense without legal counsel, at least he would not be homeless.

But how is it possible that no one in Milwaukee's government paused to consider that there might be something unusual, if not cruel, about a fine that can multiply so fast. The government can take a house with swift expertise and still find time to lambaste those responsible for the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Yet when it comes to explaining policy, they are as misunderstood as, well, the fat kid in gymnastics.

The government's hypocrisy in house-snatching while criticizing financial institutions for solving their own debts the same way is a blatant, even if small-scale, abuse of power. So with the national debt growing even faster than Mr. Tubic's, I wonder if it is about time that America forecloses on Congress and the White House. Come on, everyone's doing it.

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State and Local

New Jersey to cut state employee pensions and benefits

Most Read:

Senate approves Alaska, Hawaii, and territory locality pay

K-12 education coming to a computer near you

Most Read

Greening the Gov: Mayors Push For Local Solution To Global Problem

CA legislating innovative smart growth strategies to combat pollution, traffic

INNOVATIONS: It's not an iPhone, it's a crime fighting tool!

Texas government loses track of $1.1 billion

Alaskan police officers making six figure salaries

Mass universal insurance program showing ups and downs

The parking ticket that turned one man homeless