ALBANY — A bill that would have sweetened pension benefits for military veterans has again drawn a veto from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
For the second consecutive year, Cuomo rejected legislation that would have allowed all honorably discharged veterans who now work for the state or local government to purchase up to three years of credit toward their pension. Currently, only veterans who served during certain periods of combat are eligible for the credit.
The legislation was denied on Monday along with more than 20 other bills, making it the second time the governor vetoed the bill after he first sent it back to the Legislature last November.
In vetoing the bill, Cuomo said the measure — along with four other pieces of legislation related to the retirement system — had no viable funding source to pay for it and should be negotiated as part of the state budget.
Had Cuomo signed the measure, the state would have put aside $24.8 million to fund it.
"I vetoed similar or identical bills in 2014 because the costs imposed were not accounted for in the state's financial plan and the unfunded costs and expenses would impose a substantial burden on New York State taxpayers," Cuomo wrote.
Cuomo's veto drew frustration from the bill's sponsors, who have pushed the legislation for several years.
Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, said she was "deeply disappointed," but vowed to continue pushing. She said the state's current system doesn't properly recognize all veterans' service.
Paulin said she intends to push the issue as parts of next year's state budget negotiations, which kick off in January.
"I'm not going to give up," she said. "I'm glad we've gotten this bill to the governor's desk, which was an achievement in itself. Now, we're going through the same procedure I went through in the Legislature, which is educating everybody who needs to be educated about the inequities in New York's policy regarding veterans."
Cuomo said the five pension-system bills he vetoed would have cost the state $229.7 million in "near-term costs" and $607 million in "combined, estimated long-term costs."
Along with the veteran's bill, Cuomo also nixed legislation that would have made newer employees of the state's court system eligible for early retirement if they reach age 55 and have worked for the state for 30 years.
E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, said both the court and veterans bills would have set troubling precedents. He said Cuomo made the right decision in vetoing the "pension sweeteners," but said the governor should have sent back a stronger message against the court bill.
"If (Cuomo) doesn't put his foot down very definitively against this uniformed court officer bill, he is opening the door to unraveling everything he did" to reform the pension system, McMahon said.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, largely focused on the veterans' bill.
Assemblyman Peter Lawrence, R-Greece, Monroe County, called Cuomo's veto "insulting."
"It is only right that (veterans') time spent protecting our nation's freedoms be considered an extension of their public service to our state," Lawrence said in a statement. "Considering the bill's sweeping, bipartisan support, it seems as though the only person who disagrees is the governor."
