Baltimore, MD - "Today, the Board of Estimates was asked to approve a plan for FY2022 rate increases to health insurance premiums for City employees and retirees. This plan increases the cost of health care through payroll deductions for approximately 25,000 health plan participants. Nearly all City unions protested the analysis and proposed cost increase including: AFSCME Local 44, City Union of Baltimore Local 800, IAFF Local 964 Baltimore Fire Officers, IAFF Local 734 Baltimore Fire Fighters, FOP Lodge 3, AFSCME Local 558 Community Health Workers and Nurse Practitioners, and AFSCME Local 2022.

I voted against this increase because I believe there was room for compromise. While I appreciate the efforts of the City’s Finance and Human Resources departments to be prudent, finding a middle ground between the City’s fairly conservative calculations and the cost projection analysis suggested by the unions would have transferred a more reasonable burden onto City workers at a time when our economy is still reeling from the ongoing effects of the pandemic, while still being fiscally responsible."