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Originally Posted by Tonyafd
- A process already exists to amend the state constitution, and it doesn’t cost a thing;
- For example, the state Legislature passed an amendment in 2013 expanding casino gambling. The same process could be used for new amendments;
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There are a host of issues the Legislature will never address, that could be addressed probably only through a constitutional convention. That is the point of having the convention. Albany is seen as useless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyafd
- Experts estimate a constitutional convention will cost hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars
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This is a false figure being parroted around by someone who adjusted for inflation twice (multiplied by 700% then again by 700%).
Last convention cost $7 million, which is
$50 million in today's dollars, not hundreds of millions. And the NYS budget is
$153 billion, so this is a drop in the bucket to fix otherwise unfixable problems and potentially save New Yorkers billions.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyafd
- At risk: The right to unionize and bargain collectively. Your union’s strength could be jeopardized;
- At risk: Workers’ compensation. Safeguard your rights if you’re injured on the job;
- At risk: Public pension protections. The constitution guarantees your pension will be there;
- Other states have made drastic pension changes with disastrous results for active members and retirees. Don’t let it happen here;
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"Labor rights" have never been reduced in prior conventions.
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Public Sector Unions have much more to fear from forthcoming decades of a GOP-appointed conservative US Supreme Court. You should have been waging this fight in 2016, because that battle is all but lost, unless no justices die or retire next 3 years and Dems win POTUS in 2020 (I certainly hope both these things happen, but the former is highly unlikely).
No states/municipalities have cut pensions to current retirees, aside from Ohio:
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And States that have cut pensions have mostly just reduced benefits for new workers, with a smaller % reducing COLA adjustments or employee contributions for current workers, similar to inevitable fixes for Social Security as the population ages and lives longer.
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Almost nobody but government employees receive pensions anymore. Why should taxpayers struggling to fund their own retirements be forced to pay out ever-increasing pension costs for public employees?