{"id":639153,"date":"2026-05-12T20:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639153\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T20:03:09","slug":"emerging-deal-on-pensions-improves-benefits-for-public-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/639153\/","title":{"rendered":"Emerging deal on pensions improves benefits for public workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALBANY \u2014 State lawmakers are nearing a deal to sweeten retirement benefits for public workers hired after 2010, allowing teachers to retire at age 58 and other workers to contribute less toward the pension system, sources familiar with the negotiations told Newsday.<\/p>\n

The changes, under discussion as part of the state budget, would be a win for the state\u2019s major unions in an election year. They would affect virtually everyone working in state and local government, including\u00a0teachers, firefighters, police and health care workers at public hospitals such as Stony Brook University Hospital and Nassau University Medical Center.<\/p>\n

The deal comes with an about $500 million price tag, down from the more than $1 billion pension boost<\/a> labor unions fought for in Albany. Local governments and school districts would cover the bulk of the cost.<\/p>\n

The changes would cover workers from the pension tier known as Tier 6, which was created as lawmakers looked to tame fast-rising retirement costs. As a result, workers hired on or after April 1, 2012, receive fewer benefits, must wait longer to retire with full benefits and contribute more toward their pensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Contribution rates<\/p>\n

The deal, if approved, would allow teachers to retire without penalty\u00a0at age 58 with 30 years of service. It also would lower retirement contribution rates for public workers, excluding teachers, by three-quarters of a percent, with the lowest contribution rate being 3%. Contribution rates vary, with those earning more generally paying more and those earning less contributing less.<\/p>\n

The deal would increase the amount of overtime pay that can be counted toward pension benefits to 20% up from 15% \u2014 largely helping uniformed workers like firefighters and police officers.<\/p>\n

The changes, where applicable, also would apply to workers in the fifth pension tier, or Tier 5, who were hired from Jan. 1, 2010, through March 31, 2012, sources said.<\/p>\n

The proposals are still subject to change as union leaders continue to push lawmakers to further sweeten the benefits, sources familiar with negotiations told Newsday.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, last week announced a “general agreement” on the state\u2019s approximately $268 billion state budget touting various policy wins, including slowing down the state\u2019s climate goals and a $1 billion utility rebate. She acknowledged that details on spending for the thousands of programs the state funds are still being negotiated.<\/p>\n

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers),\u00a0asked Tuesday by reporters about the pension changes, didn\u2019t provide details but said, “I think we will land someplace that will benefit members.”<\/p>\n

All 213 legislative seats and the governor\u2019s seat are up for election in November, increasing political pressure to deliver for constituents.<\/p>\n

Priority for unions<\/p>\n

Union leaders have been pushing lawmakers to “fix” Tier 6<\/a> to attract and retain public sector workers as employers struggle to find workers in high-demand areas such as corrections, nursing and some teaching positions.<\/p>\n

There are about 787,241 members in Tier 6 and 38,873 in Tier 5, according to the most recent data from the state comptroller’s office, state Teachers’ Retirement System and the New York City Office of the Actuary. Changes would not generally affect members of the NYPD or FDNY pension funds because new members are generally considered Tier 3, and the city retirement systems don\u2019t include Tier 5, according to the Office of the Actuary.<\/p>\n

The cost was a major sticking point in discussions, according to sources with knowledge of negotiations.<\/p>\n

School district and municipal leaders have said that without financial help from the state, the increased cost would mean cuts to services or increased taxes. The increased benefits come as most school districts and municipalities have already finalized their budgets for the next fiscal year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY \u2014 State lawmakers are nearing a deal to sweeten retirement benefits for public workers hired after 2010,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[28,2559,147,530,84150],"class_list":["post-639153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-local-politics","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-state-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}