Archive for September, 2009

Add us to buyout, state workers ask

PEF, managers petition governor to expand $20,000 severance list

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau

ALBANY — A major state employee union and a group representing managers have an unusual request for Gov. David Paterson: Let our people go.

Dissatisfied at the number of $20,000 severance packages granted to their members, the Public Employees Federation plans to send Paterson a list of more than 400 members who wanted to take the buyout, but were turned down.

“We’re going to get those names and go right to the governor,” said PEF spokeswoman Darcy Wells.

Another 35 names are coming from the ranks of Management/Confidential employees who want the buyout. “We’ve done the same thing,” said Joseph Sano of the Management Confidential organization. “We’re getting the names right now.”

The list-building is the latest development in Paterson’s effort to save money by trimming the state work force — an initiative that has so far fallen short of predictions.

It’s another lesson in just how hard it can be to cut the state payroll, at least without resorting to layoffs.

The positions held by workers who receive the buyouts won’t be replaced, a stipulation that according to insiders makes state agency managers hesitant to give the package to many who want it.

“These positions are basically being earmarked (for elimination),” Sano said.

The initially tepid response by state agencies raises questions about how much control Paterson, eager to maximize savings from the buyouts, is able to exert over his commissioners — even though he has the ability to hire and fire them.

In April, former Education Commissioner Richard Mills assured employees at the Education Department they would only lose 71 jobs, although Paterson’s Budget Division had initially called for 199 positions to be eliminated. (While the education commissioner is actually hired by the Board of Regents, the governor must still approve his budget.)

That was at a time when the governor was talking about layoffs — a scenario he avoided with the alternative plan for buyouts. The Education Department is now on track to lose 98 jobs through buyouts and attrition.

When the one-time buyout plan was first announced over the summer, the Paterson Administration said it expected 4,500 people would take the offer. But earlier this month, the governor’s Budget Division announced that state agencies had authorized 1,089 people for the buyouts. It was initially unknown how many people had applied.

Because another 2,633 state jobs will be eliminated through attrition and unfilled vacancies, the Paterson administration says it is still on track to reach the goal of saving $260.3 million over two years.

The other major union participating in the program, the Civil Service Employees Association, wasn’t planning to present names to the governor, spokesman Stephen Madarasz said.

“I don’t know that that’s something we’re gong to wade into,” he said. The union, Madarasz added, was focused on making sure state agencies continue to have adequate staffing.

Many CSEA employees, including direct-care workers in mental health facilities, have been excluded from the buyout because they are classified as crucial to their agency’s mission. About a third of CSEA’s state membership is involved in some form of direct care, Madarasz said.

Workers such as nurses, prison guards and those whose roles impact safety or security are excluded as well. In terms of the $20,000 buyout, many of the workers find themselves in something of a paradox: relatively low-paid, but still too crucial to be given up by their employer.

Meanwhile, higher-grade workers who earn more money but might not be as critical to their agencies can put in for the buyouts.

One CSEA member — who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to her fear of angering her supervisors — said she works in a mid-range clerical job, but one which is needed for the functioning of her particular unit.

She was denied a buyout, although she knows of a deputy commissioner and another executive who are likely to get the package — a payout she said was tantamount to a retirement gift.

Because those taking the buyout would have to give up the money if they returned to state service within five years, it’s more attractive to people who are eligible for retirement.

Despite these concerns, observers say the fact that the bought-out jobs are slated for elimination suggests that Paterson is serious about trimming the state work force.

During many previous budget pinches, the state offered retirement incentives to cut payroll, but many of those jobs were later refilled.

“I see a lot more control on it this time around,” Sano said.

New Leader of City Teachers Is Ready for His Test

by Jennifer Medina

This is not the kind of man who walks into a room unnoticed. Michael Mulgrew’s stature — six feet tall, 230 pounds, size 48 — demands attention. His voice, trained in years of childhood theater, booms from his chest. He is just what central casting might expect when searching for the part of union president.

But Mr. Mulgrew cuts quite a different figure from those who came before him as president of the United Federation of Teachers, the New York City teachers’ union, one of the most powerful labor positions in the country. And the distinctions are not just physical.

His predecessor, Randi Weingarten, was known for her work-around-the-clock ethos and frequent news conferences, and seemed to relish rising to the balls of her feet and shouting to make a point. Ms. Weingarten rose to become leader of the American Federation of Teachers, the U.F.T.’s parent union, just like her forebears, the labor giants Albert Shanker and Sandra Feldman.

Mr. Mulgrew, 44, projects a sort of easy confidence, routinely described as down to earth and the No. 1 person to hang out with at a party. Even now, years after he stopped working in construction, he is happy to spend a weekend mixing concrete. But what members of his union, the nation’s largest local, most want to know is whether his regular-guy manner will serve them in negotiations, and battles, with City Hall and the State Legislature.

He answers with a belly laugh. “I’m not the kind of person you want to ignore,” he said.

Mr. Mulgrew was elected interim president by the union’s executive board in July, just in time for negotiations with the city over the next teachers’ contract and amid steep budget cuts both in the city and state. But he is also taking the reins at a time of intense debate over education, with officials from President Obama on down calling for changes that have long been anathema for the unions, including more charter schools and using student test scores to judge teacher effectiveness. The union’s influence could wane as education officials across the country move to bring their policies in line with the Obama administration’s.

“This is a time of huge, huge challenges,” said Leo Casey, the vice president of high schools for the union. “Leaving aside the huge budget gaps, he also has to figure out how to mount a response to the charter school movement that accepts the best of what they should be, but really turns back the attempt to use charter schools to privatize education.”

Like Mr. Shanker and Ms. Feldman, Ms. Weingarten appeared to hand-pick her successor. And so far, Mr. Mulgrew has staked out many of the same positions as Ms. Weingarten, offering cautious praise for some of Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s changes to the system, but criticizing his “relentless focus on data at the expense of everything else.”

One education official who spoke only on the condition that he not be identified for fear of angering Mr. Mulgrew — or his predecessor — contrasted the two by saying that Ms. Weingarten often seemed to be calculating several moves ahead when she spoke. Mr. Mulgrew, the official said, says exactly what he is thinking.

Asked to respond to the comparison, Mr. Mulgrew gave another belly laugh:

“I can’t answer that one without getting myself in trouble — maybe it’s a good idea people believe you say what you’re thinking.”

Mr. Mulgrew also differs from his predecessors in one key way: he is the longest-serving classroom teacher ever to head the union, something that could help him earn the respect of veteran members who are often the most active members. (He also happens to be the first non-Jewish leader in the 49-year history of the union.)

Mr. Mulgrew needs to win a unionwide election next spring to secure the presidency. While he is expected to have broad support, the union, which has 228,000 members, also has its share of internal dissent.

“We’re not expecting any major change — it’s still the same machine that is running the U.F.T.,” said James Eterno, who is making a long-shot bid to challenge Mr. Mulgrew. “In some ways, it does not matter who the head is, you know that they are going to toe the line and not fight for many changes for teachers.”

A native of Staten Island, Mr. Mulgrew went to work as a carpenter after graduating from Saint Peter’s High School for Boys, eventually using the income to help pay his tuition at the College of Staten Island, where he graduated with a degree in English literature. He lives on Staten Island.

He attributed much of his ambition to his mother, who raised four children on her own — his parents divorced — while juggling jobs as a waitress and bookkeeper.

Two of Mr. Mulgrew’s siblings also became teachers. Although he has never married, he has a daughter, Meghan, 22, who is studying business at Fordham. While still working in construction after college, he got a job as a substitute teacher at William E. Grady Vocational High School in Brooklyn. He quickly decided he wanted to teach full time, but he was eager to stay out of woodshop.

“There was no way that after all that work and college I was going to teach shop,” he said over a grilled chicken salad lunch this month. “I just wasn’t interested in that. If I wanted to stay in construction full time, I would have done that.”

At Grady, where he was hired full time in 1993, he taught computers and film, working with students who were at risk of failing or dropping out. He made friends at the school quickly, even offering to help build kitchen cabinets for one colleague.

By the time he became the union chapter leader in 1999, career and technical education was falling out of favor, both locally and nationally. When the principal moved to cut a program focusing on heating and plumbing, Mr. Mulgrew fought back by filing a formal complaint and seeking help from the local plumbers’ union. They responded enthusiastically, explaining that they were desperate for new apprentices with basic skills.

“It was obvious that this is what we had to do,” he said. “Nobody understood what career and technical schools were supposed to do, but when we had entire classes graduating with reading and math skills and the ability to work, nobody could argue with us.”

In 2005, Mr. Mulgrew was recruited to become the vice president of the career and technical education division of the union, working in the union’s headquarters near Wall Street. He quickly impressed teachers and principals at the technical schools, in large part by coming to visit often and worrying about the small obstacles.

It took him several years, but he eventually secured a new train for students to work on at Transit Tech Career and Technical Educational High School in East New York, Brooklyn. As he prepared for a large protest against budget cuts in front of City Hall last year, he made sure that a school’s step dance troupe would have the sound equipment they needed. And when students at Automotive High School in Brooklyn were unexpectedly stuck without a graduation site in June, he arranged for them to use the auditorium in the union’s building.

“There’s a real sense of honesty and passion there, and that’s no small thing,” said Melissa Silberman, the principal of Automotive, who sought Mr. Mulgrew’s help in developing an engineering program at the school.

An Open Letter to New York State Commissioner of Health Richard F. Daines and Administrators of Healthcare Facilities/Agencies in New York State

On behalf of our 37,000 members, we call on you to ensure that registered nurses and other healthcare providers are adequately protected against the H1N1 influenza virus, which is expected to affect large numbers of the population this fall.

A report released on Sept. 3 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) states that the minimum protection for workers (including those in non-hospital settings) who are in close contact with patients with suspected or confirmed H1N1 influenza is a fit-tested N-95 respirator. The recommendation conforms to guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

DOH guidelines must be updated

Influenza is transmitted three ways: droplet (between 5 and 10 microns), airborne aerosol (less than 5 microns), and contact. With H1N1, which primarily attacks the lungs, airborne infection has an important role to play. Because it allows viruses to enter the deep lung tissue more easily and can cause illness at lower doses than the other two modes, airborne transmission is a clear hazard for workers.

The New York State Department of Health has issued guidelines stating that a surgical mask is appropriate protection for routine care of patients with respiratory illness. Surgical masks, however, do not provide adequate protection against airborne aerosols. The DOH guidelines must be updated to require fit-tested N-95 respirators (or better) for all workers who will be caring for flu patients.

Facilities must invest in infection control

Healthcare facilities are trying to increase their surge capacities in the event of an epidemic. But they must also invest in protecting the nurses who will care for these patients. As we have already communicated to DOH, even when they are vaccinated, employees can still get the flu and spread it to others if they are exposed to the virus without proper protection.

When novel H1N1 influenza appeared last spring, nurses were concerned about the appropriate infection control measures when caring for suspected H1N1 cases. When the Nurses Association evaluated the readiness of hospitals to deal with a possible public health emergency, we were shocked to discover that many facilities were unprepared.

Some hospitals did not have enough N-95 respirators available and had not performed the necessary fit testing. Some had not completed the OSHA-required risk assessment process. Respiratory isolation rooms were either not available or were poorly maintained, work practices were not adequate, and pertinent policies were either outdated or nonexistent.

Mandatory immunizations are not an “easy fix” that will prevent workers from contracting seasonal flu or H1N1. To effectively prevent the spread of infection, healthcare facilities must establish and implement effective infection control policies and procedures and DOH must ensure that federally mandated infection control procedures are being followed.

The State of Working New York 2009

The State of Working New York 2009: Unemployment and Economic Insecurity in the Great Recession In a new report, the Fiscal Policy Institute examines the effect of the current economic downturn on New York State, finding that job loss and wage declines are hitting New Yorkers hard – with some groups experiencing staggering levels of unemployment. Joblessness in New York State has increased by almost 400,000 since early 2008.

The report, The State of Working New York 2009, comes out as the country hobbles through the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. We are in the midst of the steepest economic drop and the longest period of job loss since the 1930s, and are living through what’s been justly termed “The Great Recession.” Over 850,000 New Yorkers are unemployed. While the state’s official unemployment rate was 8.2 during the first half of 2009, the “real” unemployment rate was 14.1 percent, and for some demographic groups unemployment is extraordinarly high. For black men, the real unemployment rate in New York was 27 percent during the first half, and for Hispanic men and black and Hispanic women, real unemployment is between 17 and 19 percent.

The report also examines how the federal stimulus package–the Americn Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)–has helped keep the Great Recession from being even worse. Two components in particular–state/local fiscal relief and aid to the unemployed, needy, seniors, and people with disabilities–have had extremely beneficial effects in New York.

Links –

Executive Summary

Recommendations

Full Report

Investor funds: Tackle climate peril

DiNapoli co-hosts forum with groups holding $13 trillion; action termed good business

By Brian Nearing

Among the 181 investment fund leaders issuing the statement at a conference in New York City was state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who heads the $116 billion state pension fund, the third-largest in the nation.

“We cannot drag our feet on the issue of global climate change,” said DiNapoli. “I am deeply concerned about the investor risks climate change presents, and the human cost of inaction is unthinkable. As investors in the global economy, we can lead the way toward a future of lasting prosperity.”

The forum, co-hosted by DiNapoli, came as the United States prepares for negotiations, slated to begin in Copenhagen in December, to ratify a new international climate change treaty. The current agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012.

The outcome of the climate talks depends on U.S. congressional action on climate and energy legislation. The House passed a comprehensive bill in June, and Senate consideration of a similar climate bill is expected to begin within weeks.

Touted by organizers as the largest collection of investment funds ever to call for greenhouse gas limits, the $13 trillion combined total is equivalent to the entire U.S. economy for 2008. The investors’ statement called for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut globally by 50 to 85 percent by 2050, and for stepped-up government support for energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies.

A growing international scientific consensus has identified rising levels of carbon dioxide — emitted from the burning of oil, gas and coal — as the cause of climate change.

Long-term CO2 reduction targets will give investors “confidence about the future direction of climate policy. Investment decision-making is hampered by policy uncertainty and the absence of a binding reduction target,” according to the statement.

“If we fail to lead, if we adopt the attitude that we’re not going to act until enough other nations act, we will violate that duty. And we will run an even greater risk of leaving future generations a damaged planet and diminished hopes for prosperity,” said California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, whose state also signed the investors’ statement. California has the nation’s two largest public pension funds.

Other state pension funds that signed include Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

International pension funds participating included those of Sweden, South Africa and the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Joseph Biden talks about affordable college education at Syracuse University forum

by The Post-Standard

Vice President Joseph Biden was in town today, along with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for a discussion on college access and affordability at Syracuse University.

The meeting started about 11 a.m. at the Schine Student Center on the SU campus, and lasted about an hour and a half. Afterward, Biden will attend a private fundraiser for Rep. Dan Maffei.

During the forum, Biden reviewed a series of proposals and reforms the administration believes will make a college degree more attainable, including spending billions of dollars more to provide student loans and grants and simplifying the aid application process. The vice president also pushed a loan repayment plan that would peg repayments to a proportion of the graduate’s salary.

Visit this page for video and other links related to this visit by the Vice President: BIDEN

Biden ties education reform to Say Yes initiative

By Julia Terruso

Syracuse University was the backdrop for Vice President Joe Biden’s meeting on education Wednesday, literally.

Behind Biden sat 35 SU and community activists and above them hung an orange and blue banner that read, “A Strong Middle Class: Syracuse University, Scholarship in Action.”

The meeting, held in Goldstein Auditorium, was a clear joining of two messages – one national and one local, with similar goals for education in the United States.

Biden, who wore an orange and blue striped tie and never stopped flashing his smile, complimented Syracuse’s Say Yes to Education initiative, claiming it addressed just the issues the White House hopes to reform, specifically college access and affordability.

Say Yes is a kindergarten through 12th grade initiative seeking to raise graduation rates in both high schools and colleges.

“This is not a minor issue,” Biden said. “This is a big deal. I get it. Barack gets it. We would not be where we are today would it not be for those loans and grants and scholarships.”

Biden began his speech by quoting his 92-year-old mother who used to tell him, “Children tend to become that which you expect them to be.”

“We expect, you should expect, all of us should expect a lot more from our children and give them the support that’s needed,” he said.

Low expectations, on the other hand, could further fuel the ever-increasing dropout rate, which Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said is up to 30 percent of students a year.

Duncan noted that New York loses 77,000 students between ninth and 12th grade each year.

“We have to ask where they’re all going? We’re losing them to the streets. We have to do something different and we have to do it now,” Duncan said.

Duncan said he’s here to observe how the Say Yes program is working to remedy the situation by breaking down emotional, academic, social, health and financial barriers to higher education. He said he could see Say Yes becoming a national model for improving education.

“I’m here to learn, to pay attention,” he said. “You have public, private school systems, unions, management, parents, all coming together saying, ‘Starting in kindergarten, college becomes the norm.’”

Logan Tousaw, a senior at Corcoran High School in Syracuse, was among a group of Say Yes students who attended the speech wearing blue “Generation Yes” T-shirts. Tousaw came as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet, a collaboration of student representatives from five Syracuse city schools.

“I was surprised but proud to hear he was coming here,” Tousaw said. “My sister goes to Ithaca, and she has a ton of loans. For the middle class, this is making life that much easier. It’s making it possible to go to a private university.”

Tousaw said he hopes to attend SU or Binghamton University next fall.

“I was just mesmerized by everything he said and impressed with how much money he’s putting into the education system,” Tousaw said in regard to the Obama administration’s $100 billion American Recovery Act.

Affordability was a hot topic at the meeting. While Biden commended Syracuse’s financial aid, he also addressed a concern from an audience member on the rising cost of tuition.

Some students in the crowd found it contradictory that a push for more affordable education was being delivered from the stage of a pricey university.

“I was very surprised SU was chosen as the place for this considering how expensive our tuition is,” said Aamir Noorani, a junior television, radio and film and marketing major. “We’re one of the most expensive private schools in the country.”

Cantor said that the university has given out $167 million in institutional financial aid this year. The incoming class is 27 percent Pell Grant eligible, she said.

“Keep ‘em ‘Cuse is our rallying call,” she said.

Attia Nasar, a graduate student in the public diplomacy program, attended the meeting, updating her Twitter account with Biden’s jokes and points throughout.

“I think it’s important for people to realize there are opportunities out there. It may be difficult to find, but they exist,” she said.

Nasar was also impressed that SU’s Say Yes program has the potential to become a national model.

“That could put SU on the map,” she said. “It shows you don’t have to be from an Ivy League school or a big city to make a difference.”

DiNAPOLI AUDIT PROBES USE OF SERVICE CONTRACTORS AT MTA

Personal, Miscellaneous Contracts Cost MTA Nearly $3 Billion Since 2005

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today released an audit that found the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) needs to improve its process for approving personal and miscellaneous services contracts, which have consumed up to 15 percent of the MTA’s annual operating budget in recent years. The audit found that the cost of such contracts increased to $881 million in 2008 from $315 million in 2006.

During the four-year period examined by the audit, the MTA awarded thousands of contracts worth approximately $2.9 billion for outsourced services, including engineering and architecture, waste management, consulting and information technology. Auditors found that the MTA could not show that awarded contracts were always the most cost-effective option. The MTA also lacked a process to periodically determine whether these contracts were still necessary or if they could be suspended or scaled back to help manage fiscal constraints.

“The MTA has raised fares and received more tax dollars to cover its deficits and debt,” DiNapoli said. “At the same time, the MTA expanded its use of personal service contracts without a thorough evaluation of the need or cost-effectiveness of those contracts. Now more than ever, every dime counts, and the MTA needs to manage public resources more carefully. Consultant contracts should only be used when absolutely necessary, and there has to be documented justification of that need.”

DiNapoli’s auditors found that the MTA contracted for some services that would appear to be within their in-house capabilities. In such cases, the MTA should consistently document the need to contract out for such services. For example, MTA awarded 244 contracts totaling $513.6 million for engineering and architecture services, 387 contracts totaling $203.9 million for maintenance services, 183 contracts worth $149.5 million for consulting services, and 46 contracts $99 million for waste removal. The MTA also awarded contracts for real estate management, tree trimming and bus engine repair, despite the existence of in-house staff that perform similar services.

The audit recommended that the MTA look at the potential for cost savings by eliminating contracts for outside services. By way of illustration, the audit noted that a 10-percent dollar reduction in consultant contracts, the goal Governor Paterson set for state agencies and public authorities, would save $176 million.

The DiNapoli audit also found that:

MTA records showed that the agency initiated or completed consultant contracts valued in excess of $4.5 billion between January 1, 2005 and October 16, 2008;

Spending on miscellaneous contracts consistently exceeds $1 billion per year and is rapidly approaching $2 billion per year;

The value of awarded contracts nearly tripled between 2006 and the first 10 months of 2008, while the actual number of contracts declined by 35 percent during the same period;

New York City Transit alone accounted for 776 contracts worth $1.8 billion during the audit period; and,

Nearly one-quarter of all service contracts were non-competitive, including awards to sole contractors and well as emergency purchases.

The audit recommends that the separate constituent agencies of the MTA:

Improve documentation of compliance with the MTA’s “All Agency Guidelines for Procurement of Services” by determining whether agencies can collaborate on contracts, or fulfill their needs by using another agency’s in-house expertise or existing contract;

Periodically re-evaluate personal and miscellaneous contracts after they begin; and,

Take steps to scale back or suspend reliance on service contracts, where appropriate.

The MTA agreed with most of the audit’s findings, and announced the creation of a subcommittee on service contracts usage shortly after the start of the audit process in November 2008. This audit is part of DiNapoli’s ongoing efforts to closely monitor the financial operations of the MTA. Since 2007, DiNapoli has released nine other audits on the MTA as well as six reports on MTA finances and policy. There are several other MTA audits underway.

Click here to view the audit and MTA response.

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S HEALTHCARE SPEECH RINGS TRUE FOR SMALL BUSINESS

SMALL BUSINESS MAJORITY

President Obama reiterated Wednesday night in his address on healthcare reform what we’ve been hearing from small business owners across the country—the status quo is no longer acceptable. He acknowledged that for America’s small business owners to be successful, they need reform, and they need it now.

The president shifted the debate away from the anti-reform rhetoric the country got bogged down in over the summer and back to the facts – which is that there is considerable bipartisan agreement on about 80 percent of the components of healthcare reform. We’ve seen the same overwhelming support in opinion polling we conducted of small business owners in 17 states across the nation. Elements including cost containment, insurance reform (specifically eliminating preexisting condition rules), establishing an insurance marketplace and providing tax credits to help small businesses and individuals afford insurance are all components the vast majority of small businesses support.

President Obama also introduced some new features we believe will be a great boon to small businesses, including a fail-safe mechanism to ensure cost savings and to prevent the deficit from rising, and a plan Senator McCain proposed during the campaign last year for a high-risk pool.

Those who suggest that reform will crush small businesses are, simply, wrong. What’s crushing small businesses is skyrocketing healthcare costs, limited choices and a broken system that has this country’s small business owners stuck in a financial morass. With his speech Wednesday night, President Obama invigorated and united proponents, shone a light on the facts and invited all those involved to contribute constructive solutions.

We are closer to reform now than we’ve ever been, and we must put political agendas aside and continue to move forward in our commitment to achieving reform this year. Constructive participation on both sides of the aisle is needed. The time for change is now, and we must work together in order to succeed. The future prosperity of our small business owners and the continued economic health of our nation depend on it.

Numbers of uninsured New Yorkers soars

Census shows more than 14% had no insurance at some point last year.

The proportion of uninsured New Yorkers skyrocketed by 2 percentage points in 2008, according to census figures released Friday. A total of 2.72 million New Yorkers were uninsured last year, which means that 14.1% of the state’s population had no insurance at some point during the year. Based on the new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, the percentage of uninsured adults aged 19-64 rose t0 19% from 17.2% in the previous year.

“This increase reflects what we hear from men and women all cross the state—the system is broken; more and more New Yorkers are losing their jobs in this tough economic time and are finding themselves without affordable health care options,” said Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society, on behalf of Health Care For All New York.

Among the 2.72 million New Yorkers without insurance in 2008, 2.65 million were under age 65.

Since non-citizens are more than three times as likely to be uninsured as citizens, there are thousands more New Yorkers who are not included in those numbers.

Among the 16.6 million New Yorkers who did have insurance last year, 12.57 million were covered by private insurance. Most of them (11.34 million) received that insurance through their employers.

The New York figures mirror national trends, where employer-sponsored coverage continues to decline, somewhat offset by an increase in people covered by public programs. But as the census data is from 2008, the worsening economy will likely accelerate that trend this year.

“With this economy, we can expect employer coverage will continue to erode,” said Danielle Holahan, the United Hospital Funds’ co-director, Health Insurance Project.

The good news in Thursday’s census data was that more kids in New York have insurance coverage. The number of uninsured children fell to 7.3% in 2008, from 9.2% of the total in 2007. The state has made a commitment to investing in coverage for children, and its expansion of Child Health Plus has lead to a decrease in the number of uninsured children.

Nationally, the number of people with health insurance rose to 255.1 million in 2008, from 253.4 million in 2007. The number of uninsured rose to 46.3 million in 2008 from 45.7 million in 2007. Between 2007 and 2008, the number of people covered by private health insurance fell to 201 million from 202 million.