Port Authority to Consolidate Security, Cut Bonuses and Benefits

Two plans announced Thursday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will respectively save the agency more than $41 million in the coming year-and-a-half and strengthen security by centralizing it under one chief, according to reports.

The agency announced plans to consolidate the responsibility of overseeing security at bridges, tunnels, airports, the PATH system and the World Trade Center site under a new chief security officer after a review by former Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff’s firm, Reuters reported.

The Port Authority Board of Commissioners also unanimously approved bonus and other benefit cuts for its non-union employees, according to Businessweek and other publications.

The move will make it necessary for the more than 2,000 non-union workers affected to contribute to their own health care premium costs for the first time, reports say.

The plan will also prevent those workers affected from bolstering their pension payouts by cashing in unused vacation, according to reports.

CBS Radio has multiple reports on Thursday's announcements.