ALBANY (TNS) — The Police Benevolent Association of New York State is again urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation that would give their more than 1,000 members the ability to retire after 20 years and begin receiving a pension.
The union, which represents police officers with the State University of New York, Department of Environmental Conservation, Parks Recreation & Historic Preservation and Forest Rangers, contend the bill, which has passed the Legislature with bipartisan support multiple times, would bring their officers’ retirement benefits in line with other law enforcement agencies and also help spur recruitment at a time those agencies are struggling to diversify and fill positions.
They currently receive pension benefits after 25 years of service.
“The governor has an historic opportunity to help us recruit and retain more women within our ranks,” said Nancy Ganswindt, the PBA’s vice president. “For too long our agencies have lost diverse officers, including highly qualified women, to departments offering better compensation and benefits.”
Ganswindt said the improved retirement benefits and an initiative to have 30 percent of the police positions in those four agencies staffed by women by 2030 will show “women and diverse individuals that law enforcement is a career in which you can both serve your community and provide a financially secure future for your family.”
James McCartney, president of the PBA, noted this is the fourth year the Legislature has passed the bill with near unanimous support.
“Environmental groups across the state support this critical legislation, as do state agency commissioners and fellow law enforcement agencies,” McCartney said. “In fact, the groups which normally oppose bills with budgetary impact have not raised concerns because they recognize the savings to the state by stemming the mass exodus of officers.”
The push to improve the union members’ pension benefits comes as some agencies, especially Forest Rangers, have struggled to fill positions as the number of rescue missions continue to climb.
When Hochul vetoed the bill last year, she said the pension benefits should be resolved through collective bargaining and that there was no funding in the budget for the measure, which had been estimated would require a one-time payment of $48.2 million. But efforts to negotiate the benefits have stalled and the funding has not been proposed in the state budget.