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Archive for May, 2011
Assem. Lancman Pushing Panic Buttons for Maids
May 31st - 8:54 pm
Following two alleged attacks on hotel maids in Manhattan, Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman wants hotels to provide panic buttons to employees who work alone.
Deutsch Argues Against Tax Cap
May 31st - 8:51 pm
New Yorkers for Fiscal Equality executive director Ron Deutsch is hoping the partial agreement on a property tax cap will not hold up. He says a circuit breaker is the better option for taxpayers.
Track Your Senator On Same-Sex Marriage
May 31st - 7:09 pm
Capital Tonight, YNN, and NY1 are happy to bring you this interactive tool tracking where each senator stands on the controversial issue of same-sex marriage.
By our tally, there are 8 undecided senators. Democrats Shirley Huntley, Joe Addabbo, and Carl Kruger. And Republican Sens. Alesi, Ball, Hannon, McDonald and Saland. There are 28 senators on the record opposing the measure, and 26 supporting it.
Here’s a quick rundown of how you can use this tool. First thing you will see is a graph showing the current balance just mentioned above. To find a specific senator, you can click on one of the maps, Upstate, NYC, or Long Island and click on their respective districts. If you are just looking for the undecided senators, the easiest way to find them is by clicking on “Find Senator”. Then you can click undecided, and pictures of all 8 of them pop up (a quicker link to get here is coming shortly).
Whenever you click on a senators district, or picture, you will see an information tag about the senator pop out on the right. We have put in a short write up about the senators position on the issue. Also, if you click on the Senator’s name, or district number in the pop out box, a new page will open on the senator’s official website.
We plan to update this map throughout the rest of the legislative session and onward if the bill doesn’t come to the floor. Whenever someone says something new about same-sex marriage, or changes their position on the issue, we will change the map.
As always, we welcome criticism. So please feel free to send us comments on this page. Or email us at feedback@capitaltonight.com.
Dozens Of Authorities Could Get Ax
May 31st - 6:12 pm
Be prepared to kiss that parking authority or urban renewal agency goodbye.
The Senate will consider two bills Wednesday that eliminate dozens of public authorities identified as inactive by the Authorities Budget Office.
The bills can be found here and here.
Many of the authorities slated to be abolished are defunct parking authorities for upstate cities like Poughkeepsie and Elmira.
An authority is a quasi-public entity that can operate outside of the normal process for bonding and are created for a special project like economic development. Critics have charged authorities operate as shadow governments will little oversight or accountability.
When campaigning last year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo also called for a reform of the authorities system, writing in a campaign book that:
Run by hundreds of unelected board members, authorities are responsible neither to the governor nor legislature. Many currently operate outside of their original purpose and engage in imprudent practices, such as excessive “backdoor borrowing.”
Authorities reform was a passion project of former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat who launched an unsuccessful bid for attorney general last year. Brodsky championed the authorities reform law, which created the Authorities Budget Office.
The list of authorities due to be abolished is far smaller than the 125 or so recommended late last year in a proposed Assembly bill.
A full list of the authorities slated to be abolished after the jump. More >
Ethics Commission Finds ‘Reasonable Cause’ For Boyland
May 31st - 5:37 pm
The Legislative Ethics Commission released a report today finding reasonable cause that Assemblyman William Boyland, D-Brooklyn, received a lucrative no-show “consultant” job at Brookdale Hospital, according to a reasonable cause report released today.
In the report, the commission found that Boyland “impaired his independence of judgment in the performance of his official duties” by accepting the consulting job and that the lawmaker violated the public officers law.
Boyland was indicted in March for a widespread bribery scheme that also included indictments for Sen. Carl Kruger and lobbyist Richard Lipsky. Both Boyland and Kruger are yet to resign their posts.
Kruger, a Brooklyn Democrat, was accused of accepting cash in exchange for ushering through hospital contracts.
Extras
May 31st - 4:54 pm
Sarah Palin is bringing her “One Nation Tour” to NYC, where she’ll meet with Donald Trump at Trump Tower.
She’ll be heading to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tomorrow.
Palin wants the mainstream media to work for it.
Jonathan Capeheart is skeptical – to put it lightly.
Palin’s not the only person connected (sorta) to the 2008 GOP ticket who’s hitting the road this summer.
State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs isn’t sure about his future.
Streetsblog goes to bat for Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward.
Assemblyman Tom Kirwan wants a permanent State Police barracks in the City of Newburgh.
Andy Humm isn’t willing to let bygones be bygones with Bloomberg.
NYSUT supports the legalization of same-sex marriage.
“Seniority rosters”, which help determine who gets laid off – if it comes to that – have been sent to state agencies.
Naomi Wolf mourns the rise of the “surveillance society” in connection with high-profile sex scandals.
NY-26 was good for the Lapp family of Falls Church, Va.
DCCC Chairman Steve Israel brought lessons learned from NY-20 and NY-23 to NY-26.
Steve Kornacki lets the air out of the Rudy Giuliani 2012 balloon.
Rep. Anthony Weiner tries to put Weinergate behind him. “This is a distraction and I’m not going to let it distract me.” Meanwhile, others see this incident as a cautionary tale or something to….poll on??
Citing Pennsylvania Problems, Fracking Study Delayed
May 31st - 4:29 pm
As the Associated Press reported over the weekend, State Director of Operations Howard Glaser quietly sent a memo to Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens asking that his agency take more time studying the safety of hydraulic fracturing.
The controversial natural-gas extraction method involves using a mixture of chemicals and water to blast through rock. The DEC original was due to release its draft environmental review of the process, commonly known as hydrofracking, in June.
The memo takes special note of the April incident in Pennsylania, in which a natural gas suffered a blowout and spilled thousands of gallons of chemicals.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, meanwhile, filed a lawsuit against the federal government today for refusing to study the safety of hydrofracking.
Gov. Perry Replaces Trump At NY GOP Dinner
May 31st - 4:15 pm
Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who said last week that he’s “going to think about” running for president in 2012, will keynote the Manhattan GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner in NYC on June 14.
Perry is taking the place of Donald Trump, who backed out of the event after announcing he won’t be pursuing a White House bid next year.
Landing Trump was a coup for Dan Isaacs, the NY GOP chairman – particularly since he hasn’t held his post all that long. (He replaced Jennifer Saul in February).
Isaacs was not pleased by The Donald’s decision not to speak, telling the NY Observer’s Azi Paybarah the reality TV star/real estate mogul “has put us in an awkward position.” So, it’s not terribly surprising that the chairman couldn’t say enough good things about Perry.
“The feeling of excitement that Governor Perry will join us at the dinner and address the attendees is palpable,” Isaacs said in a statement.
“Governor Perry is the perfect example that we in New York should be looking to. At a time when New York ranks at or near the bottom among states in every important metric, Texas is leading the way.”
“By focusing on keeping taxes low and fostering a fair legal and regulatory environment, Governor Perry has helped Texas attract business and residents at a time when New York has been hemorrhaging both. As a result, Texas will gain four seats during next year’s congressional reapportionment when New York will lose two.”
Groups Plan To ‘Elevate’ Discussion On Tax Cap
May 31st - 3:08 pm
Anti-property tax cap groups plan to ride the Legislative Office Buildings elevators (they’re apparently not claustrophobic) in order to “elevate” the conversation as they see it on the measure — and push for the so-called circuit-breaker solution.
From their news release:
A diverse array of organizations and elected officials from across NYS will ask our State Leaders to rethink the 2% property tax cap as the answer to our state’s property tax woes. The tax cap will not help the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers that are already paying double digit percentages of their income in property taxes. Tax Caps will also limit local control and severely hamper the delivery of services at the local level. Many of the groups are also urging state leaders to broaden the discussion to include tax relief measures that would link property taxes to individual income in the form of a circuit breaker.
They’ll also be joined by Democratic Assemblymembers Steven Englebright, Ellen Jaffee, George Latimer and Michelle Schimel.
The circuit-breaker would tie property taxes to a household’s income — an option that isn’t likely considering the state’s poor finances.
Anti-tax cap groups, including the state United Teachers, are disappointed in the Democratic-led Assembly’s version of the cap, which keeps the 2 percent ceiling on the growth of taxes, but does include some narrow exemptions for pensions
As for elevating the conversation, it remains unclear if the event will turn out like what took place in the LOB last month, when anti- and pro-cap forces collided.
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