NY's only statewide political program
Archive for February, 2011
Jerry Goldfeder
Feb 28th - 9:00 pm
Election Attorney Jerry Goldfeder discusses the state’s byzantine election laws, and talks about Governor Cuomo’s proposed bill to change the state’s special elections.
Last In, First Out Fight
Feb 28th - 8:59 pm
Senator John Flanagan is pushing a bill that would eliminate the education policy known as Last In, First Out. He talks with Liz Benjamin about the controversial bill.
Extras
Feb 28th - 7:18 pm
ADDED: The Assembly Democrats’ protected revenue for 2011-2012 is considerably lower what both the governor and Senate GOP have estimated.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver met with Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the governor’s office today and came out talking about the need for “compromises, a lot of compromises.”
Cuomo’s relationship with labor is…complicated.
Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, a Cuomo ally, voiced concern about the governor’s 2 percent property tax cap absent mandate relief.
Former LG Richard Ravitch is writing a memoir.
Lawyers are not happy with the Medicaid task force plan to sharply limit medical malpractice lawsuits.
Eliot Spitzer moved into Kathleen Parker’s office.
The Susan B. Anthony List plans to make Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle the centerpiece of a new national campaign taking on Planned Parenthood.
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch, who believes he’s on the “cusp of victory” in Albany on independent redistricting reform, said Sen. Chuck Schumer is “dead wrong” on this issue.
Koch will robo against “enemies” of reform.
The Senate honored slain Poughkeepsie Police Detective John Falcone.
Lots of potential 2012 GOP contenders are headed to New Hampshire in March.
The governor signed a bill that lets villages use lever voting machines through 2012.
The plaintiffs filed a brief with the state’s highest court in the so-called “pork lawsuit.”
The Wisconsin AG is being pressured to join AG Eric Schneiderman’s lawsuit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
RIP former Assembylman Judge Leonard Yoswein.
More amusing video from former guberntorial contender/2012 GOP presidential hopeful Jimmy McMillan.
Ex-LG Contender’s E-mail Potentially Hacked…Or Wiped (Updated)
Feb 28th - 6:31 pm
Chautauqua County Executive Greg Edwards, who ran as gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino’s running mate last fall, informed recipients of his so-called Monday Morning Memo (I’m not on that e-mail list, unfortunately, so this was forwarded to me by YNN Buffalo) that his personal Gmail account might have been hacked over the weekend.
UPDATE: Google announced today that a glitch impacted e-mail service for some 150,000 accounts, effectively deleting all e-mails, attachments and chats. Google engineers are working to get that information restored.
Less than .08 percent of Gmail users were reportedly impacted – apparently, Edwards was one of them.
“At some time between 9:30 p.m. Saturday and 7:30 a.m. Sunday my personal e-mail on G-mail was accessed and all of the history on my account and all of my e-mails disappeared,” Edwards wrote.
“While at this moment I am unable to determine if this is an error by G-mail, or if my account has been hacked, I decided to be proactive and notify all the recipients of the Monday Morning Memo of this event.
My MMM is run off our County Server, but many of you correspond with me on my personal account and I wanted to advise you of the following:”“Over the last three months, three of my contacts had their e-mail accounts hacked, and shortly thereafter I received what looked like an e-mail from them that just attached a Website address. In each case when I opened the site it was what appeared to be a company trying to sell Canadian pharmaceuticals like Viagra and Cialis.”
“I contacted each of the victims and told them that I suspected that they had been hacked and they all confirmed that someone had accessed their e-mail accounts. These victims then sent an e-mail to all on their contacts to let them know they had been victimized by hackers.”
“Please be advised that I will never send you an e-mail with just a Website contact. If it happens that you get such an e-mail with my address, note the information on the e-mail, delete it and send me the information so that I can take action to address such a problem.”
“I will be working with my three friends to make sure that our Attorney General knows of this epidemic to attempt to generate an action against the people responsible.”
AFL-CIO Deems LIFO Bill ‘Wisconsin Model Of Politics’
Feb 28th - 5:49 pm
We’ve mused a lot on CapTon in recent weeks about why fight between public employee unions and Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t risen to the same level of outright war that we’re seeing out in Wisconsin.
The general response from everyone I’ve put that question to is that Cuomo hasn’t gone nearly as far as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, in antagonizing the unions by preserving their main raison d’etre: Collective bargaining.
But now AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes is suggesting that the administration might actually cross that bridge if it supports a bill proposed by Sen. John Flanagan, a Long Island Republican, that would do away with the “last in, first out” rule of public school teacher layoffs.
The bill is expected to come for a vote in the Senate Education Committee tomorrow and it’s a top priority of Mayor Bloomberg, who is scheduled to make a special trip to Albany to lobby on its behalf.
Denis Hughes, the president of AFL-CIO (which, by the way, endorsed Cuomo last year), called Flanagan’s bill “a blatant assault on the principles of collective bargaining, and an attack on working men and women throughout this state who are represented by labor unions,” adding:
“I want to make it abundantly clear to our elected officials that they cannot use the Wisconsin model of politics here in New York, and that the New York State AFL-CIO will not tolerate attempts to silence the voice of working people.”
“…This bill is the result of a lengthy and coordinated campaign against the rights and benefits of all workers over the last several years, particularly against the rights and benefits of public employees. This has led to systematic attempts to dismantle collective bargaining rights, seniority, pensions, health insurance and civil service rights under the guise of ‘the fiscal emergency.’”
I think it’s fair to say at this point that education aid and “reform” has officially replaced health care as the flashpoint in this year’s budget battle.
I’m Sorry, Who Are You Again?
Feb 28th - 5:29 pm
Ouch. State Democratic Party Executive Director Charlie King, who was hand-picked for his post by then-gubernatorial frontrunner Andrew Cuomo, releasing a stinging statement rebuking the 42 Democrats who put their names to a letter that suggests the governor is no longer holding true to progressive ideals.
“I read the breathless AP story about 40 local Democratic officials who disagree with Governor Cuomo’s budget,” King said. “I looked at the list and recognize only some of the names and I am the Executive Director of the Democratic Party.”
“The lack of state legislators on the list would have been the more fair and important story to report.”
“On any issue, given the nature of the Democratic Party you should be able to find hundreds of differing opinions given the thousands of Democratic elected officials in the state. The New York State Democratic Committee recognizes the State’s fiscal crisis and stands strongly in support of Governor Cuomo’s budget.”
Um. To be fair, I did point out the fact that there was nary a state lawmaker to be found on that letter….but, whatever.
NYC Councilman Robert Jackson, who has not been shy about expressing his dismay with Cuomo’s budget – particularly when it comes to his proposed education spending cuts – released his own statement in the wake of the letter (which he spearheaded), insisting it had not been intended as an attack on the governor.
Senate GOP Finds $438 Million (Update)
Feb 28th - 5:05 pm
The Senate Republicans released their revenue forecast for 2011-2012 today, and estimate the state will have $438 million more than Gov. Andrew Cuomo projected for the coming fiscal year.
After you subtract $23 million for the current fiscal year (a number that does not, for the record, fit with state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s projection of an up to $1 billion hole in the current budget), that leaves a two-year General Fund surplus of $415 million.
UPDATE: The comptroller’s office reminds me that the $1 billion deficit was based on the November numbers. Since then, the governor has released updated numbers that addressed that hole via $405 million unclaimed revenue, (mostly via a spin-up in utility payments) and $589 million worth of lowered – and undefined – spending projections. DiNapoli’s budget report explains this in depth on P. 3.
The Senate majority’s numbers come from the “nationally recognized fiscal consultants” IHS Global Insight.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said he would like the found money to be used to either support the state’s reserve funds or to provide tax relief. It should not, he said, be spent willy-nilly. Here’s what Senate Finance Chairman John DeFrancisco has to say:
“I’m very pleased that we had the Consensus Forecasting Conference today and the Legislature is right on schedule in following the 2007 Budget Reform Act.”
“We should have the revenue forecast completed by tomorrow which will lead to joint Senate-Assembly public conference committee meetings in mid-March. This process bodes well for an orderly budget process and hopefully a timely budget.”
The Senate GOP said it plans to act within two weeks on its budget proposal that will be submitted to public budget conference committee negotiations with the Assembly and used during continued discussions with the governor.
Paterson Remembers Dr. Daines
Feb 28th - 4:58 pm
Former Gov. David Paterson released the following statement about the late former state Health Commissioner Richard Daines, who died at the age of 60 over the weekend:
“I was shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the sudden death of Dr. Richard Daines. My heartfelt and sincerest condolences go out to his family and his former colleagues at the Department of Health.”
“Dr. Daines embodied what it means to be a public servant, and his passion for improving the health and well-being of all New Yorkers was evident to everyone he came in contact with. His determined advocacy for programs and policies that put health first – and popularity and poll numbers at a distant second – is his legacy, and one for which he can be proud.”
“There is an epidemic in this country and in New York; one that puts our children at disproportionately higher risk than adults. Childhood obesity, diabetes and heart disease were unheard of just decades ago, but have now become a sad and accepted truth, particularly in poor and minority families.”
“But Dr. Daines did not accept this, and he fought against powerful special interests to change it. I am proud to have fought by his side, and I believe that the public dialogue we helped start is leading to meaningful change.”
Indy Dems’ Medicaid Reform Plan
Feb 28th - 3:40 pm
The Senate Independent Democratic Conference is pushing for the state to begin taking action on a law that it maintains could save $61 million in Medicaid costs over four years.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Klein and signed into law last December by then-Gov. David Paterson, would essentially allow individuals to apply their life insurance policy to longterm care.
“Most people face the option of depleting their resources or not having any money in the first place and they immediately go on Medicaid,” said Klein.
“With this new law, we’ll forego the need to have to go on Medicaid right away.”
Klein estimates only 400 thousand New Yorkers have longterm care insurance while nine million purchase life insurance policies. He says this is the main reason is longterm care is significantly more expensive.
“It’s giving people a choice,” said Klein.
“If people choose to leave their money to their beneficiary from their life insurance policy they can do so.”
The idea is one of the 79 recommended in the Medicaid Redesign Team’s report, but the Indy conference is calling on the State Insurance Department to implement the new law so costs savings can be realized sooner rather than later.
The four-member IDC also issue yet another report today, which appears in full after the jump.
DiNapoli: Mandate Relief Task Foce Must Heed Local Calls
Feb 28th - 3:14 pm
Here’s state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli chatting with reporters after speaking at NYCOM’s annual winter legislative meeting in Albany earlier today, saying the Cuomo administration and its Mandate Relief Task Force needs to heed the call to couple a property tax cap with burden-lifting measures at the local level.
Unlike the Medicaid Relief Task Force, which held public hearings all over the state, the governor’s hand-picked Mandate Relief group (under the leadership of Paterson administration holdover Larry Schwartz) hasn’t met nearly as publicly or as often.
Its report due to be released tomorrow is being billed as a first step rather than a penultimate document.
Local officials have been increasingly worried since the governor first said early on this year that he didn’t see the need to formally couple his 2 percent property tax cap bill, which has already passed the GOP-controlled Senate, with any mandate relief legislation.
Take Capital Tonight and the State of Politics blog with you everywhere you go with our iPhone app! The mobile application features our blog posts, interviews, and a report news tool to send us your political news tips.