Majority Leader Lorigo submits law to support county employees serving in the military

Erie County Legislature Majority Leader Joseph C. Lorigo has submitted a law to ensure that Erie County employees who are serving our country receive their full county pay while on military personnel leave. Currently, many reservists receive a lower salary during periods of deployment and training.

 

“This law will correct an error within Erie County government. All county employees who are called to serve their country deserve to be taken care of financially during that time by maintaining their rate of pay. The individuals and their families sacrifice a great deal, and I am proud that this law will give them the assurance that they will receive their full pay for the duration of their deployment,” said Majority Leader Lorigo.  “This policy is valid, necessary, and warranted and I expect full support from my colleagues in the Legislature and the County Executive.”

 

Majority Leader Lorigo’s law was submitted to the Legislature on Sept. 17, 2016 and will be subject to a public hearing before being voted on by the 11-member body. He expects full support for the proposal.

 

“This specific change was included in the Legislature’s law to revise the Erie County Charter, which was expected to be on the November 2016 ballot for voters to decide. However, the County Executive failed to act on the Charter Revision law before the deadline and instead announced an Executive Order to provide employees with full pay during military leave. Unfortunately, the County Executive cannot simply decree that such a policy occurs, since it requires an act of the Legislature. Therefore, I have submitted the necessary law that will ensure proper procedure is followed,” said Majority Leader Lorigo.

 

The proposal first came from Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw when the Charter Review Commission first met several months ago. The Commission voted unanimously to include it in their report to the Legislature, which voted 9-1 (Legislator Tom Loughran against), to include in the law that was supposed to be put to public vote.