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WE CAN'T AFFORD $92.5 BILLION?

Dear Friend,
New York City has $92.5 billion in health care costs for retirees, and no ability to pay for them.
This week, I introduced a proposal that would require the City to begin saving money for our massive and under-funded health care obligations for retirees.
In our labor agreements, city leadership has promised past, current, and even future employees health benefits for their retirement. The bill for those promises is $92.5 billion today. It doesn't come due all at once, but it does come due.
We currently have $2.4 Billion in the Retiree Health Benefits Trust, which I helped to create in 2006. This trust allows us to put aside funds to tackle these long term obligations. Unfortunately, we didn't require rules for deposits or withdrawals, so when times were good, we put in a few billions dollars, and when we we needed the money, we took it right out.
This initiative -- supported by the Citizens Budget Commission, Citizens Union, and the Partnership for New York City -- would guarantee a certain level of minimum contributions to the trust, so that it grows over time and will ensure that we do not get caught with a bill we cannot pay. The funds could only be accessed for health care costs, or in a severe recession. You can read the details here.
This is a reasonable and affordable way to come to grips with our unfunded liabilities. You can read more about the proposal in the Daily News, NY Post, Gotham Gazette and Capital NY.
I welcome your feedback.
Best,
Dan [Garodnick]
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