As we mark the second anniversary of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “Less is More” parole reform law, the disquieting realities it has unleashed cannot be ignored.
Pitched as some kind of humanitarian advance, the measure has been anything but for parole officers stuck under the Public Employees Federation’s (PEF) umbrella.
Hostage crises? Check. Assaults? You bet. Heck, even shootings and robberies. Welcome to the dystopian nightmare PEF has unleashed.
Now, let’s chew on the union’s radio silence for a minute. Far from standing up to this dumpster fire of a law, the union has been bankrolling the very politicians who pushed it through.
If the consequences weren’t so tragic, it would almost be comical watching the spectacle of PEF President Wayne Spence — a former parole officer himself — play both sides of the coin.
PEF’s position on ‘Less is More’ has been inconsistent, to say the least. Before the legislation was passed, they opposed it. Yet, once it was enacted, they supported specific components, such as earned time credits for parolees who stick to their parole plans and faster revocation proceedings. And now? Now PEF is calling for amendments to the very law they partially endorsed.
Spence talks a good game about threats to parole officers while doing zilch internally to counter the mess he helped create.
And let’s talk fear tactics. PEF is churning out myths like a factory assembly line warning members they’ll be jobless if they exercise their God-given right to stop paying union dues.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Foundation’s outreach emails are getting buried in spam folders. Yet despite the shenanigans, 20 percent of all union opt-outs in New York this year are ex-PEF members.
That’s not just a number, it’s a wakeup call signaling that folks are fed up with PEF’s double-dealing.
We’re more committed than ever to giving public employees the lowdown they need to choose freely. Every time a public servant opts out of union dues, it’s a win for liberty and a strike against fearmongering.
The heat’s been turned up in New York, and it’s only going to get hotter. Thousands are waking up to the fact they don’t have to shell out cash to perpetuate a system that’s failing them.
The Freedom Foundation is here, standing tall as the go-to source for the straight talk workers deserve.
