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Archive for November, 2010
New Faces: Tom O’Mara
Nov 29th - 9:00 pm
Senator-elect Tom O’Mara was put in an interesting position during Monday’s special session. He spent part of the day in his current role as an Assemblyman and the rest of the day was spent on the other side of the capitol, conferencing with the Senate Republicans, whom he’ll be joining in January.
Tom O’Mara defeated his Democratic opponent Pam Mackesey in the race to replace Republican Southern Tier Senator George Winner, who decided not to seek a third term.
Liz Benjamin caught up with the Senator-elect to get his take on the special session and his transition from one chamber to the other.
Squadron: Gov To Blame For Stalled Session
Nov 29th - 9:00 pm
There’s nothing so extraordinary about this lame duck session other than its official title.
As usual, it’s a game of hurry up and wait down at the Capitol, with a lot of back door politicking and very little in the way of deals so far. Hanging over it all is the yet unanswered question of who will control the Senate when the 2011 session begins in January, adding an additional hurdle to getting any bipartisan agreements.
We’ve heard Senate Minority leader Dean Skelos’s take on what’s happening at the Capitol. Monday, Liz Benjamin also caught up with a member of the Democratic conference for his perspective. Sen. Daniel Squadron put much of the blame for the lack of action on the Governor, who he says delivered the budget bill late.
Stalled Senate Session
Nov 29th - 9:00 pm
They came. They saw. They accomplished…not much (at least so far).
Gov. David Paterson’s effort to get the Legislature to make $315 million worth of mid-year budget cuts during a lame duck session was mostly unsuccessful. A few smaller deals were reached. But the big ticket items remain elusive.
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos joined Liz Benjamin Monday from the Senate chamber to give us the latest from his vantage point as well as an update on the three (now two) contested Senate races that could tip the balance of power to the GOP.
Lippman: Show Me The Money
Nov 29th - 9:00 pm
New York’s judges haven’t received a raise for over a decade. A long-standing tradition of tying their pay hikes to the political hot potato of legislative salary boosts has kept jurists’ bottom lines flat. Lawsuits and lobbying has so far failed to uncouple the two, but chief Judge Jonathan Lippman hasn’t given up hope.
He joined Liz Benjamin this evening to plead his case.
Extras
Nov 29th - 6:43 pm
Sen. Roy McDonald says there’s a “strong possibility” the Legislature will return to Albany in two weeks to take up the NYC OTB bailout.
The Budget Blues Boys are bidding farewell to outgoing Assemblymen Bill Parment and Richard Brodsky.
The Senate managed to approve some of Gov. David Paterson’s judicial appointments today.
NYC Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the Rev. Al Sharpton will dance for charity.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr. wrote to legislative leaders in support of the judicial compensation commission.
Sen. Antoine Thompson says it’s “too premature” for him to concede to Mark Grisanti.
Common Cause NY is poised to announce a “citizens redistricting commission.”
Outgoing Assemblyman Michael Benjamin opines on the need for bipartisanship.
Benjamin is a big fan of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
LG Richard Ravitch bid the Senate chamber adieu.
Mayor Bloomberg insisted NYC Chancellor-in-waiting Cathie Black will be in charge, no matter who her No. 2 is.
Bloomberg’s reaction to Black’s waiver: “Today’s decision was the right one for our kids and our schools. It is now time to put politics aside and recognize that it is in the best interest of our children for Cathie Black to succeed as chancellor.” (No link).
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries’ reaction to Black’s waiver: “Commissioner Steiner has done a grave disservice to the children of the New York City public school system…Commissioner Steiner has violated the law and we are prepared to challenge this ill-advised decision in court.” (No link).
Anti-Black teachers will apply to work at Hearst.
Here’s Ravitch discussing his post-Dec. 31 plans. He says he’s going to write, do some research, spend some time with his family and play some golf.
Senate Dems To Gov: DRP Failure Is Your Fault
Nov 29th - 6:43 pm
The Senate Democats are not going to be taking up the $315 million worth of mid-year budget cuts that were the main focus of Gov. David Paterson’s lame duck session today, and they’re blaming the outgoing governor for this loss.
Conference spokesman Austin Shafran released the following statement:
“While Senate Democrats were prepared to take action to bring New York’s budget into balance, the Governor failed to submit legislation in time for thoughtful consideration and review – delivering a final bill two hours after the start of the extraordinary session he called two weeks ago.”
“Budget cuts to health care, education, and social and senior services require thorough deliberation, not a rushed process that hurts the state’s most vulnerable citizens.”
“We look forward to continuing an open dialogue about how best to resolve the extraordinary budget issues confronting New York this year and in the years to come.”
Paladino Owes $6.1 M (Updated)
Nov 29th - 6:08 pm
Failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino (remember him?) spent $3.9 million – mostly of his own money – in the final weeks of his general election battle against Democratic Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and still owes some $6.1 million (mostly to himself).
But don’t cry too hard for the Buffalo businessman. The bulk of his spending was on TV ads, which went to Ellicott Advertising Company – the in-house firm he set up – and earned a cut from – specifically to handle his on-air spots.
UPDATE: Paladino’s campaign manager/spokesman Michael Caputo took issue with my suggestion that paladino made money off Ellicott Advertising, telling me:
“That was set up so Carl could avoid paying extra fees…He interviwed all these advertising firms, they talk about all these big percentage cuts. Instead of doing that, he paid a media placement firm a flat fee and saved a lot of money.”
Below you’ll find Paladino’s final post-general election filing. (Cuomo’s isn’t up yet, but he has said he has somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 million left, and plans to spend it – and whatever he’s able to raise – to wage war against the public employee unions).
One thing of interest I spotted as I quickly breezed through this filing: Paladino returned a $2,500 campaign contribution to former AG Dennis Vacco, who is representing indicted GOP operative John Haggerty in the Mayor Bloomberg/state Independence Party case. Haggerty also worked on Paladino’s campaign.
Black’s Waiver Granted
Nov 29th - 5:22 pm
As expected, state Education Commissioner David Steiner has granted a waiver of educational field experience to Cathie Black, clearing the way for her to become the next NYC schools chancellor.
The decision comes in the wake of a deal struck by city and state officials late last week for a second-in-command with academic experience – Shael Polakow-Suransky – to be appointed to serve as senior deputy chancellor.
Steiner cited Black’s “exceptional record of successfully leading complex organizations and achievement of excellence in her endeavors,” saying this warrants her certification for service as long as she will be supported by a “team of experienced educators.”
A number of Black opponents have threatened to take legal action to try to block her from taking the chancellorship if (and now, when) she received a waiver from Steiner, including NYC Councilman Charles Barron and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklyn Democrats.
Aponte Out
Nov 29th - 4:50 pm
Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson just released a statement announcing the retirement of Angelo Aponte, whose tenure as secretary of the Senate dates back to the pre-coup leadership days of President Malcolm Smith.
“Today, Secretary to the Senate Angelo Aponte announced his retirement,” Sampson said.
“As a friend, colleague, and admirer of the devoted service he rendered to the State, I am sorry to see him depart, but grateful for the opportunity to have worked with a truly extraordinary public servant.”
“Even during the most difficult of circumstances, Angelo remained a friend to members from both sides of the aisle and oversaw an unprecedented modernization of the Senate.”
(H/T CapCon’s Jimmy Vielkind, who Tweeted Aponte’s imminent retirement 20 minutes ago).
Aponte, who served on Smith’s transition team in 2008 after the Democrats wrested control of the chamber from the GOP for the first time in more than four decades, has been a polarizing figure.
He not only was implicated in the state Inspector General’s scathing AEG report, but also became an issue during last summer’s coup, when Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos and his then-ally, Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., accused Aponte of being too heavy-handed, thinking of himself as the “63rd senator” and called for his resignation.
Sampson’s statement appears in full after the jump. No immediate word on who will replace Aponte, but at this point it looks like the GOP might take back the majority, and so that question might be moot.
GOP Leadership Line-Up: Skelos, Libous
Nov 29th - 3:36 pm
A jovial Dean Skelos stepped out from a closed GOP-members only conference this afternoon and joked to reporters: “It’s been a boring couple of weeks, and speculation about who will be, you know, the new majority leader, and I’d like to introduce Andy Lanza…”
The Long Island Republican then stopped kidding and informed the media that, as expected, he had been unanimously re-elected to head the conference – and possibly re-assume the title of majority leader, if all goes as the GOP hopes in the three yet-undecided races.
Skelos also said Sen. Tom Libous, of Binghamton, will remain in the No. 2 post. He joked that he would soon set a record for “being the majority leader three times in two years.” You can listen to the entire press conference here.
“Our conference is unified and we are ready to move forward,” Skelos said in a formal statement. “The election is over and the people want us to get to work and govern.”
“The last two years the taxpayers in this state have been abused – and that has to stop. Everyone has to understand that we must put the taxpayer first.”
“Every member of our conference, including the seven new members, campaigned on the issues of cutting spending, no new taxes and fees and creating jobs – those are going to be our priorities going forward.”
“We are looking forward to working with Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo, Speaker Silver and all the members of the Legislature to achieve these goals.”
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