Sweeping reforms to New York’s pension system long sought by public sector unions appear likely to be part of the final state budget, with Gov. Kathy Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins all publicly backing fixes to what is known as Tier 6.
A controversial reform approved in 2012, Tier 6 slashed pension benefits for public employees hired after April of that year and raised their retirement age to 63, up from 55 for teachers and 62 for other civil servants.
More than half of public employees in New York now belong to Tier 6, according to the state Comptroller’s office…