Politics on the Hudson

   The Citizens Budget Commission wants Gov. David Paterson to veto four bills the group said are expensive “pension sweeteners” for state and local government employees. If they became law, they would “unnecessarily increase or reinforce the burden on New York State taxpayers by making already generous post-employment benefits even more generous and costly,” the CBC said in a news release.   The CBC also called on the governor to declare a moratorium on all “pension sweeteners” and other initiatives that require government to pay for “costly new entitlements and enefit enhancements. CBC is a non-partisan watchdog group.

   “Local governments and taxpayers are being saddled with unnecessary burdens and costs, and state leaders must come to grips with their contribution to the problem,” CBC President Carol Kellerman saod in a release.

   Some specifics of what the four bills would do: prohibit the reduction of retiree health benefits, increase the mandatory retirement age for police and firefighters and allow retirees from one force to join a second one and qualify for another full public pension.