NY's only statewide political program
Nick Reisman
This user hasn't shared any biographical information
Posts by Nick Reisman
Religious Group Backs Marchione Over McDonald
May 15th - 11:25 am
New Yorkers For Constitutional Freedoms, the main lobbying organization opposed to the same-sex marriage law in New York, is backing Saratoga County Clerk Kathy Marchione’s primary against Sen. Roy McDonald.
It’s not too much of a surprise, given that McDonald, R-Saratoga, was one of the four GOP yes votes in favor of same-sex marriage last year.
“Kathy Marchione is exactly the kind of elected official we need more of in Albany,” said Rev. Jason J. McGuire, Executive Director of NYCFPAC. “Kathy has strong conservative principles and is unafraid to stand up for them. Also, she is a proven winner. NYCFPAC is proud to support Kathy Marchione in her race against Sen. Roy McDonald in the upcoming GOP primary in Senate District 43.”
The anti-gay marriage groups have sought to cast McDonald as a “flip-flopper” on the issue, but unlike some candidates who have shied away from promoting their “pro-traditional marriage” views, Marchione says she’s opposed to the measure that passed last year.
“One of the many things that NYCFPAC likes about Kathy Marchione is that she does not flip-flop on important issues. Unlike her opponent, Kathy is pro-life and pro-traditional marriage, is committed to reducing the tax burden on New York families and cutting wasteful government spending,” McGuire said in a statement.
McDonald is expected to have a healthy campaign war chest heading into the September primary. McDonald also enjoys the support of Libby Post, a prominent LGBT advocate in the Albany area.
Assembly To Conference Primary Change Bill
May 14th - 4:41 pm
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he will poll his Democratic conference to gauge their support of a proposal to move the state’s party primary from Sept. 11, he told reporters this afternoon.
Silver, whose district includes One World Trade, indicated he was uncomfortable with holding the primary on the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks.
“September 11th has taken on a certain feeling,” Silver said. “I intend to conference that bill and see if members feel as I do and see if members feel the way I do that we should avoid having a primary.”
There’s been some talk of moving the state’s primary to Sept. 13, a Thursday, and it’s not clear what impact that would have on the state’s political calendar.
The primary for House and U.S. Senate races is June 26 after a federal judge ruled the change in order to comply with the MOVE Act.
“I passed a bill to unify it with a federal primary,” Silver said. “It’s unfortunate that the Senate didn’t agree with us on that.”
Lawmakers in the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly could not agree on a unified primary date, hence a split federal and state primary schedule, at extra cost to local governments.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called the the split schedule “unhealthy” but hasn’t taken a position on when a unified date should be held.
Silver, meanwhile, said there’s been no talk of increasing lawmakers’ pay even as a source warned lawmakers in Fred Dicker’s column today that this year is the Legislature’s last chance before 2017 to garner a rise from their $79,500 base pay.
“I think it’s appropriate (to have a pay raise_, but there’s been no conversation about it,” Silver said.
Cuomo Donates Gay Marriage Bill For Ex-Wife’s Auction
May 14th - 2:23 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has donated his signed, personal copy of the bill that legalized same-sex marriage to auction raising money for The RFK Center For Justice and Human Rights, the organization run by his ex-wife Kerry Kennedy. The highest bid as of this afternoon is $2,250.
The same-sex marriage legislation in New York is Cuomo’s crowning achievement so far as governor. The measure took on heightened significance this week after President Obama said New York’s approval of the law last June weighed heavily on his decision to say he personally support the gay marriage rites.
The bill includes the governor’s signature, frame and the pen he used to sign it.
H/t @thomaskaplan
Siena Poll And Controlling The Senate
May 14th - 12:24 pm
Republicans and Democrats this morning seem to be cherry picking from today’s Siena College poll results.
And there is indeed good news for both conferences.
For the Republicans, voters back the plan to provide sweeping tax cuts and credits to small businesses and a 46 percent approval rating of the chamber where they hold a narrow 32-29 majority — an unusually high number given the Legislature’s historically awful reputation with New Yorkers.
“Despite the fact that New York is a blue state, the Siena poll shows New Yorkers are pleased with the bipartisan results Senate Republicans have delivered,” said Senate Republican spokesman Scott Reif in a statement. “Working with the Governor, Senate Republicans have successfully controlled spending and taxes, and laid the groundwork for the creation of thousands of good jobs. We’re confident that when voters are reminded Democrats raised taxes and spending by $14 billion, and brought dysfunction and disgrace to the New York State Senate in their two disastrous years in the majority, they’ll vote overwhelmingly to keep Republicans in charge.”
But the poll also shows 56 percent of voters preferring to return Democrats to power following their tumultous 2-year term in power.
And voters across the board overwhelmingly back raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50.
“Today’s Siena Poll confirms that, by a nearly 20% margin, New Yorkers believe that Senate Democrats better represent their values,” said Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy. “Whether it is raising the minimum wage, protecting women’s health or standing up for the environment New Yorkers agree with the Senate Democrats’ agenda and prefer that the Senate returns to Democratic control this November.”
The stats on the minimum wage increase are especially stark and comparable to the sky-high approval voters had last year for imposing a cap on local property tax increases. That measure was ultimately bundled together with rent control laws for New York City. Naturally, we are watching this year to see what will be tied to the minimum wage increase.
“It even has support of 58 percent of Republicans,” said Siena College poll spokesman Steve Greenberg. “This is an issue that transcends upstate-downstate, Democrat-Republican. New Yorkers want to see an increase in the minimum wage. You generally don’t see that.”
Cross-tabulations also show 94 percent of Latino voters back the minimum wage increase.
These are eye-popping numbers. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for Senate Republicans to back a deal for a less-generous increase in order to get the issue off the table in an election year, like they did for same-sex marriage.
By the same turn, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver can could hold out and keep the minimum wage issue going in order to expand his own gigantic Democratic conference.
The Democratic-led Assembly may vote on their own minimum wage bill later this week.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has support past minimum wage increases, hasn’t taken a position on the Silver-backed bill. Administration sources said that raising the wage via executive order was looked into, but ultimately it was decided the only route was to go by legislation.
Cuomo is under zero political pressure to do a minimum wage increase this year: His name isn’t on the ballot this November.
Long On GENDA: ‘Serious Risk’ Of Losing Endorsement
May 14th - 11:24 am
This time last year Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long was warning (mostly Republican) state lawmakers who planned to vote for the same-sex marriage bill that they would lose the organization’s coveted endorsement.
This time around, his warning on the proposed Gender Non-Discrimination Act remains strident, but for now at least doesn’t carry the same ultimatum.
“I think someone who votes for the GENDA would run the serious risk of losing the endorsement,” Long told me in a phone interview. “We don’t hold all legislation to the same standard, but certainly if a legislator voted for this they would run the risk of having the local leaders not being too happy with them.”
Long last year went through several iterations of warning Senate Republicans of the consequences of voting for same-sex marriage before finally settling on denying any lawmakers who voted yes the ballot line.
Ultimately four lawmakers on the Republican side in the Senate voted in favor of the bill: Sens. Jim Alesi, Mark Grisanti, Roy McDonald and Steve Saland.
Alesi announced last week he is retiring at the end of the year. McDonald and Saland, whose districts cross party lines, were not given the Conservative Party’s backing.
Grisanti, a freshman lawmaker who is seen as the most vulnerable of the GOP’s conference heading into November, had his district redrawn by his colleagues to lie solely within Erie County, throwing the decision to the local party. That did little to help Grisanti, who was denied the Conservative line.
Earlier this morning the Conservative Party released a bill memorandum to Senate lawmakers opposing the GENDA bill.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he is working on a GENDA measure with lawmakers, but was skeptical a deal would be made this year.
Brennan Center: Public Financing Leads To Diverse Donors
May 14th - 11:08 am
The Brennan Center for Justice released a study this morning pointing to the racial and economic diversity of political donors in a public financing system.
The Brennan Center studied the impact of public financing in the New York City system and found that nearly 90 percent of the city’s census block groups had at least one person who gave $175 or less to a city council candidate in 2009.
More minority groups tend to participate in donating to New York City political races, the study found.
The report also found there is a greater impact of donations from predominantly non-white and poor neighborhoods.
The report comes as a Siena College poll released today shows New York voters are split on the issue. Regionally, the campaign-finance overhaul polls highest among New York City residents at 46 percent.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver introduced a bill earlier this year that would create a statewide version of the public financing system that’s in place for New York City. Senate Republicans say they oppose using taxpayer money for funding political races.
Conservative Party GENDA ‘An Orwellian Thought-Crimes’ Bill
May 14th - 10:01 am
Not surprisingly the state Conservative Party is opposed to the Gender Non-Discrimination Act, reiterating their opposition in a memo to state senators today that calls the proposal “Orwellian.”
From the bill memo:
If this bill is added to the definition already included in “hate-crime” legislation it sanctions the state to equate a person who expresses opposition to transgenderism as the moral equivalent of racist and misogynists, no matter how the opposition is stated.
This bill is an Orwellian thought-crimes bill and assumes that if you disapprove of cross-dressing or transgender behavior you are morally repugnant and should be ostracized in the same manner as members of the KKK or Nazi groups.
It is unfortunate that this bill, while proposing to protect a specific class of people from being victims of crime – albeit they are already protected – in its zeal to protect actually promotes hate – hatred toward those opposed to transgendered behavior.
GENDA is a major priority of LGBT advocacy groups like the Empire State Pride Agenda, which held its lobby day last week in Albany and pushed state legislative leaders in closed-door meetings to consider the legislation.
GENDA has been a long-sought item for the LGBT movement, but was overshadowed by the push for same-sex marriage legalization that successfully passed the Republican-led Senate last year. The Conservative Party drew a stark line in the sand last year on the marriage bill; declining to endorse any candidate who voted yes on the measure.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week said in a Red Room that he was working with the Legislature on a GENDA bill, but was skeptical it would pass this session.
Gillibrand: Gay Marriage ‘A Matter Of Right Versus Wrong’
May 11th - 2:55 pm
As one of her potential Republican opponents this fall criticizes her being a “flip-flopper” on same-sex marriage, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the issue is a matter of fairness for all couples.
Gillibrand, asked by YNN’s Sarah Blazonis to respond to Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long, didn’t address the comments directly or mention the Manhattan lawyer by name.
Instead, Gillibrand said the issue was a matter of “core values of humanity.”
I believe that any couple — any loving couple — in our country who wants to celebrate that love through a commitment ceremony through a marriage they should be able to do that. I strongly support equality. I think all of America’s families should be protected by those federal rights and benefits that accrue to families. So many of our gay friends have children and those children deserve every bit of protection that my children that my children do. So I just think it’s a matter of right versus wrong, it’s a matter of core values of humanity and fairness and freedom and the ability of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Long on Thursday tied Gillibrand to President Obama’s “evolution” on same-sex marriage, saying both want to take the issue out of the hands of the states (though Obama pointedly said it should be an issue left to the individual states).
Long is opposed to same-sex marriage, a stance that she says reflects a conservative reading of the U.S. Constitution.
Doheny Campaigns Sees Opening On Taiwan Trip
May 11th - 2:10 pm
Republican House candidate Matt Doheny’s campaign blasted Democratic Rep. Bill Owens for taking a lobbyist-organized trip to Taiwan calling it “emblematic of everything that’s wrong in Washington.”
The trip, as reported in an exhaustive ProPublic piece first posted last night, found the North Country Democrat took a $22,000 trip that was arranged by Park Strategies, the high-powered lobbying shop headed by former New York Sen. Al D’Amato.
The trip violates House ethics rules passed after the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
From Doheny spokesman Jude Seymour:
“We find ProPublica’s report very troubling. Bill Owens had lobbyist buddies arrange a luxurious Christmas vacation for him and his wife – complete with first class flights and $500-a-night hotel stays.
“Bill Owens’ call to lobbyists – who are also, incidentally, campaign donors – to ‘super-size’ his trip is emblematic of everything that’s wrong in Washington. We ask our members of Congress to represent our interests. Bill Owens would rather take a $22,000 trip to a foreign country with his wife than find ways to fix this ailing economy and get constituents back to work. We can do much better.”
Owens released a statement shortly after Doheny’s campaign responded to the story.
In the statement, Owens said the trip was meant to spur a high-tech manufacturer to bring a plant to upstate New York. Owens said that out of “an abundance of caution” he would reimburse the sponsor for the trip.
Here’s the full statement: More >
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.