Friday, July 06, 2007
Spitzer vetoes binding arbitration bills
NEWSDAY.COM
SOME VERY INTERESTING VETOES HERE.......ODDS AND ENDS.......WHO THE HECK WOULD HIRE A 16 YR OLD TO DANCE NUDE IN A "JUICE" BAR??? AND WHERE WAS THAT LEGAL??? YIKES!!!!
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Gov. Eliot Spitzer vetoed a series of bills that would have expanded binding arbitration in New York for police and other municipal workers. Among dozens of vetoes handed down Friday, Spitzer rejected bills that would have given binding arbitration rights to Office of Mental Health security assistants, downstate court workers and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police and firefighters. He also vetoed a bill that would have expanded the power of arbitration boards handling cases involving state troopers and another that would have set new requirements for boards for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officers. Spitzer said he was concerned about expanding binding arbitration, which transfers power from municipal officials to an independent authority. Critics claim that union contracts for police and firefighters reached through arbitration have proved too costly. "It should come as relief to taxpayers that he did this," said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. Some of the bills had previously been vetoed by former-Gov. George Pataki. And following Pataki's lead, Spitzer also rejected a bill that would have given higher workers' compensation benefits to privately employed medical responders dispatched to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. Spitzer said the measure would create an "anomaly" by giving those injured workers more than other private workers. Spitzer also vetoed separate measures that would have granted peace officer status to court officers in the Town of New Windsor and the Village of Westhampton Beach, Wayne County animal abuse investigators, Union College security guards and Jefferson County civil enforcement officers. Peace officers have legal powers to make arrests, issue appearance tickets and conduct searches. But a full-time peace officer requires no more than 35 hours training, compared to 635 hours of instruction and training for police officers, according to Spitzer. "These are very far-reaching powers that should not be granted lightly and should only be granted to those who have received sufficient training," Spitzer said in a veto message. Also Friday: _The governor signed a law requiring any state agency with a Web site to post information about New York's Freedom of Information Law. Agencies will be required to provide basic information about how citizens can request information, such as contact information. Sponsors said state agencies have been inconsistent when it comes to posting information online about the law. _A law signed by Spitzer prohibits "juice bars" from hiring nude or topless dancers under age 18. The bars _ which are not regulated by the State Liquor Authority because they don't serve alcohol _ had been allowed to hire performers as young as 16, according to the bill memo. The higher age limit goes into effect Nov. 1.
SOME VERY INTERESTING VETOES HERE.......ODDS AND ENDS.......WHO THE HECK WOULD HIRE A 16 YR OLD TO DANCE NUDE IN A "JUICE" BAR??? AND WHERE WAS THAT LEGAL??? YIKES!!!!
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Gov. Eliot Spitzer vetoed a series of bills that would have expanded binding arbitration in New York for police and other municipal workers. Among dozens of vetoes handed down Friday, Spitzer rejected bills that would have given binding arbitration rights to Office of Mental Health security assistants, downstate court workers and Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority police and firefighters. He also vetoed a bill that would have expanded the power of arbitration boards handling cases involving state troopers and another that would have set new requirements for boards for Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority officers. Spitzer said he was concerned about expanding binding arbitration, which transfers power from municipal officials to an independent authority. Critics claim that union contracts for police and firefighters reached through arbitration have proved too costly. "It should come as relief to taxpayers that he did this," said E.J. McMahon of the fiscally conservative Empire Center for New York State Policy. Some of the bills had previously been vetoed by former-Gov. George Pataki. And following Pataki's lead, Spitzer also rejected a bill that would have given higher workers' compensation benefits to privately employed medical responders dispatched to the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks. Spitzer said the measure would create an "anomaly" by giving those injured workers more than other private workers. Spitzer also vetoed separate measures that would have granted peace officer status to court officers in the Town of New Windsor and the Village of Westhampton Beach, Wayne County animal abuse investigators, Union College security guards and Jefferson County civil enforcement officers. Peace officers have legal powers to make arrests, issue appearance tickets and conduct searches. But a full-time peace officer requires no more than 35 hours training, compared to 635 hours of instruction and training for police officers, according to Spitzer. "These are very far-reaching powers that should not be granted lightly and should only be granted to those who have received sufficient training," Spitzer said in a veto message. Also Friday: _The governor signed a law requiring any state agency with a Web site to post information about New York's Freedom of Information Law. Agencies will be required to provide basic information about how citizens can request information, such as contact information. Sponsors said state agencies have been inconsistent when it comes to posting information online about the law. _A law signed by Spitzer prohibits "juice bars" from hiring nude or topless dancers under age 18. The bars _ which are not regulated by the State Liquor Authority because they don't serve alcohol _ had been allowed to hire performers as young as 16, according to the bill memo. The higher age limit goes into effect Nov. 1.
