NY's only statewide political program
Albany
The Avella-Stavisky Problem
Mar 19th - 4:58 pm
Sen. Tony Avella has decided not to go the independent route like Assemblyman Rory Lancman and NYC Councilwoman Liz Crowley and instead heed the Queens Democratic Party’s wishes for Assemblywoman Grace Meng to run in the newly-created NY-6.
Avella, a freshman Democratic senator from Queens, just formally announced his re-election bid in a press release, saying:
“Two years ago I ran for Senate on a platform of reform and good government in this district and while we have accomplished a great deal during my first term, we still have a long way to go to reform Albany.”
In 2010, Avella won a hard-fought battle against veteran Republican ex-Sen. Frank Padavan, (who, as it turns out, is now mulling a run in NY-6).
He came in as part of a reform-minded class that included Sen. Mike Gianaris, Sen. Adriano Espaillat, Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Sen. David Carlucci, who is now a member of the IDC. Also a freshman: Queens Democratic Sen. Jose Peralta, who was elected in a special election to former Sen. Hiram Monserrate’s old seat.
By deciding to seek re-election rather than run for Congress, Avella potentially puts the Democrats in a bind. As you’ll recall, the Republicans’ first Senate redistricting map drew three sets of Democrats into head-to-head contests: Peralta vs. Gianaris, Eric Adams vs. Velmanette Montgomery and Avella vs. Toby Stavisky.
The tweaked Senate map approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo uncoupled all but one of those pairs, keeping the Avella-Stavisky match-up. I called Avella this afternoon to ask if he would run even if that meant primarying his colleague. He didn’t seem thrilled to be answering the question, repeating several iterations of the following answer:
“Whatever happens, happens…The 11th Senatorial District is basically 80 percent of my old district. It’s the district where I live. I’m running in that district.”
Cuomo Robos For Barrett In 103 AD
Mar 19th - 3:42 pm
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has had a busy day of robocalls.
As Liz blogged earlier this morning, the governor cut a robocall for Democratic hopeful Chris Fahey, an aide to Rep. Brian Higgins who is running in the 145th AD.
Now he’s also got a call out for Democrat Didi Barrett, who is running in a mid-Hudson Valley special election to fill the seat once held Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro.
Hello, this is Governor Andrew Cuomo. I’m calling to ask you to vote for Did Barrett on Tuesday, March 20, in the special election for state Assembly. Didi Barrett will bring a fresh perspective on the issues we face. She is the partner I need in the Assembly to help lower taxes on homeowners and small businesses and create good-paying jobs — local jobs for mid-Hudson families. We’ve made great progress to getting New York back on track, but if we’re going to keep moving the state in the right direction we need Did Barrett in the state Assembly. Thank you and please remember to vote Did Barrett in the special election, Tuesday March 20.
Barrett should be familiar to most political watchers, given that she ran an unsuccessful campaign to oust Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie.
Though he won by a relatively good margin for an incumbent, Barrett briefly put a scare into Republicans, necessitating some SRCC attacks over a redistricting email to supporters.
Barrett was previously endorsed by Sen. Chuck Schumer. She faces Republican Richard Wager, a one-time Congressional hopeful in the NY-20.
DNA Bill Not Your Typical Albany Deal, Cuomo Says
Mar 19th - 2:28 pm
A bill that would expand the state’s DNA database, altered to accomodate concerns from Assembly Democrats over defendants’ rights, wasn’t subject to the usual Albany deal making, Gov. Andrew Cuomo insisted toay at a news conference.
Cuomo made his distate for the horsetrading that has historically consumed past attempts to expand the database.
This time, the measure was approved along with a flurry of other bills including the Tier Six retirement plan for future state workers, a new teacher evaluation and an overhaul of the redistricting process that were all approved in the middle of Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
But Cuomo said that while the redistricting and the package of additional measures seemed to be running on parallel tracks, DNA bill wasn’t subject to what in Albany parlance is known as “poision pills” — unsavory amendments to bills that scuttle legislation.
“My point was this bill hadn’t passed for seven years because in the past one of the things that would happen is a bill is moving through the process and other things get added to it which would not necessarily be relevant to that bill,” Cuomo said. “And then it gets bogged down and there’s division, there’s opposition to other items and nothing happens. That happened to this bill for seven years. We were trying to keep this bill on the topic, which was about DNA and relevant to DNA on both sides.”
The Republican-led Senate approved the expansion in February, but the legislation did not include components that would protect defendants accused of a crime. The revised measure that Cuomo signed into law today will allow defendants in some cases to obtain DNA testing before trial in order to demonstrate innocence. There are also limited provisions for defendants to obtain DNA evidence after trial and conviction.
NARAL Plays Abortion-Rights Card In 103rd AD
Mar 19th - 1:04 pm
NARAL Pro-Choice NY forwarded this mailer, sent on behalf of 103rd AD candidate Didi Barrett, seeks to capitalize on the so-called “Republican war on women” that Democrats and their allies have been trying to keep alive at the national level.
“In a time when so many politicians would rather play politics with women’s lives than look for practical solutions to the issues plaguing our communities – such as increasing health care disparities and high rates of unintended pregnancy – Didi Barrett will be exactly the voice we need in Albany,” said NARAL Pro-Choice NY representative Andrew Stern.
“Didi will not be afraid to stand up for women and against the right-wing attacks that threaten to rob women of control over their own reproductive health.”
The mailer, which was sent to “thousands” of households in the district for which Barrett will face off with Republican Richard Wager in a special election tomorrow, makes mention of the Reproductive Health Act – a bill that would strengthen and expand abortion rights at the state level. It was introduced in 2010 and passed the Assembly Health Committee last year, but has been stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently had a bit of a brain blip on the RHA, but then subsequently reaffirmed his support of the measure. The act topped the list of issues Cardinal Timothy Dolan and his fellow bishops discussed with Cuomo during a visit to Albany last week, even though the governor’s spokesman, Josh Vlasto, insisted it would not be on the table.
I would expect to see a lot more discussion of the RHA as the election season progresses. Women are a key voting bloc, and the Democrats are trying to energize them this year – particularly when it comes to the re-match for control of the Senate, where the minority has been beating the women’s health drum for months now.
DiNapoli On Tier Six: ‘No Quick Fix’
Mar 15th - 1:13 pm
Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says his office is still reviewing the Tier Six bill that passed early this morning (it did get released at 3 a.m. afterall!), but he said it’s clear there’s no immediate savings for local governments in the bill.
DiNapoli added that he was pleased the “inadequate 401k-style plan” was jettisoned from the proposal.
“There is no quick fix to addressing rising pension contribution rates driven by the financial market meltdown in 2008-09,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Despite strong investment returns and two new pension tiers in less than three years, these rates will likely continue to increase in the near future. New York has one of the strongest, most sustainable pension funds in the country because it has been managed and funded responsibly over the years. As State Comptroller, it is my job to ensure that this continues.”
The comptroller has sparred with the popular governor over the plan, while Cuomo has said DiNapoli’s role in the process of passing the pension bill, legislatively speaking, was irrelevant.
The dust is still settling on Tier Six this afternoon. PEF and CSEA are holding demonstrations outside the Capitol today.
The Civil Service Employees Association this morning released a blistering statement in response as well.
“Tier 6 shoved down the throat of state legislators fixated on their own self-preservation, will be devastating to 99 percent of New Yorkers,” union President Danny Donohue said. “This deal is about politicians standing with the 1 percent – the wealthiest New Yorkers – to give them a better break while telling nurses, bus drivers, teachers, secretaries, and laborers to put up and shut up.”
Senate GOP, Dems Continue Squabble Over Debate
Mar 15th - 12:47 pm
This morning’s protest by Senate Democrats by walking out of the chamber was blasted this afternoon by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who said the minority conference “acted like little children” in leaving the floor.
“I think it was childish,” Skelos said. “They do not know how to govern. They do not know how to be a part of government. That was not a serious debate. when Senator Gianaris says to Mike Nozzolio have you no shame? That’s an insulting a member. When Senator Gianaris concludes a debate saying take the bill and shove it, that’s not an indication that you’re serious about a debate.”
Skelos, R-Nassau County, told reporters after today’s session wrapped up that Sen. Mike Gianaris, D-Queens, insulted his conference by concluding a debate on redistricting by saying they could take the lines and “shove it.”
“Senator Gianaris was totally insulting as a member of the Senate to another member and they all had an opportunity to explain their votes,” Skelos said. “If they did that, that would have brought us to about four hours. So they opted to have a little fit, leave, like Democrats do in Texas and other states when they’re not happy when things are going and they were wrong. Each one of them could have gotten up and explain their votes.”
Democrats walked off the floor during the wee hours of Thursday morning after they accused majority Republicans in the Senate of cutting of their alloted debate time. Democrats wanted to fully debate the redistricting bill, which included newly drawn and revised lines for state Assembly and Senate districts, as well as a constitutional amendment overhauling the process in the long term.
Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, released a statement this morning that blasted Republicans.
“What we witnessed last night is a continued assault on the principles of democracy, open government and substantive debate. Our State Government is once again an embarrassment to the concept of fair representation. Senate Republicans stifled debate on the floor of the Senate on the most crucial pieces of legislation. But it was not just a Legislative Conference that was silenced. It was the voices of working men and women, government reformers and all New Yorkers who care about a functioning democracy that represents everyday people.”
The lines passed 36-0 after the 32-member GOP conference and the four-member IDC voted in favor of the bills.
Democrats in the Senate have bitterly opposed the amendment, saying it provides only the veneer of an independent redistricting process in time for 2022. But good-government groups like Citizens Union and the League of Women Voters have backed the amendment, pointing to provisions that prevent lawmakers from having too broad a hand in drawing their own political boundaries.
Skelos, meanwhile, also insisted that the Tier Six pension bill and the redistricting compromise was not lined, contrary to Democratic assertions.
“There was no linkage on anything,” Skelos said, adding that this wasn’t the traditional process of putting policy measures into one big bill. “Members had the opportunity to vote yes or no on each of these major policy decisions individually.
Working with a popular governor like Cuomo hasn’t hurt Senate Republicans, or so it would seem. The conference is holding on to a 32-29 majority and worry a presidential election could tip the balance for the Democrats.
“We have a lot of strength in New York state,” Skelos said. “Whether people are Republican, Democrats or independents, it’s beginning to resonate working with the governor bipartisan basis, we’re going to have differences of opinion, we resolve them and we’re moving the state forward.”
.
Cuomo: Vote ‘Yes’ Next Year On Redistricting Amendment, Or Commit ‘Political Suicide’
Mar 15th - 11:04 am
During Round I of his radio victory lap following the Legislature’s passage of a redistricting, pension reform, DNA expansion, gambling package late last night/early this morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo heaped praise on lawmakers for again bucking Albany’s dysfunction to approve his top policy agenda items.
“The dysfunctional was the aberration,” Cuomo told the NY Post’s Fred Dicker on Talk 1300. “This is what government should be doing…Government is about action; it’s not a debating society.”
“…I think legislators heard the message, and I think at the end of the day, the legislators did the right thing. At the end of the day there’s a different dynamic, and government is working and the legislators want to keep it working.”
Cuomo rejected any suggestion that he compromised too much to get this deal, or screwed organized labor – particularly when it comes to pension reform. He called that “politics,” adding: “You have to take it all with a grain of salt..sometimes two grains of salt.”
The governor said he’s “very happy” with where the state ended up on pension reform, even though the final deal achieves about $80 billion over the next 30 years – down from the $113 billion estimated in his original proposal. He reiterated his claim that if the Legislature had not acted, there would have been mass layoffs at the local government level and tax increases for New York property owners.
On redistricting, Cuomo admitted that the Senate and Assembly lines are “far from perfect,” and he “did not accomplish what I hoped to accomplish during the campaign,” which was creation of an independent redistricting commission in time for this year’s line-drawing extravaganza. He again insisted that his hands were tied after the Legislature refused to heed his call for reform that would take effect now instead of ten years from now.
Cuomo said he understands former Mayor Ed Koch’s frustration with the Legislature – again, he took no responsibility for the situation – saying: “He feels betrayed. They betrayed him. I get it.”
Cuomo side-stepped the question on Koch’s disappointment with his plan to sign LATFOR’s Senate and Assembly lines, (assuming he’s going to; Dicker didn’t actually ask that question). He said he initially planned to keep his veto pledge, but that option became “less appealing” after he saw the special master’s plan for the House lines, which he deemed more or less the same as the Legislative-drawn congressional maps. (This point is debatable).
Had the legislative lines been punted to the special master, Cuomo reasoned, there would have been no opportunity for redistricting reform via the constitutional amendment and back-up statute passed last night/this morning, and that would have been a “terrible defeat.”
Cuomo predicted that the next elected Legislature will give second passage to the constitutional amendment, effectively rendering the statute moot, because not to do so would be “committing political suicide.” If the Legislature does indeed act as the governor believes it will, the public will be able to vote on the redistricting amendment next fall.
The governor refused to reveal his thinking on where the seven non-Indian casinos approved in the gambling constitutional amendment, saying only that he cares very much about the process that will play out next year.
Cuomo didn’t want to get tied down to predictions about an early budget and easy end to the legislative session, although he did admit what remains to be done is “far and away less controversial” than last year’s budget fight. “There’s still work to do on the budget,” he said. “But I think surely most of the contentious work has been done.”
Here’s Your 3 A.M. Pension Bill
Mar 15th - 3:20 am
Posted online just after 3 a.m., here’s the full pension overhaul bill that creates a new, less generous retirement tier, caps overtime accural toward pension calcualations and increases the retirement age to 63.
Both the Senate and Assembly expect to take the measure up sometime this morning.
It’s 82 pages and 25,568 words long.
The DNA Bill
Mar 14th - 7:09 pm
Here’s the agreed-to expansion of the DNA database bill, which lawmakers are expected to vote on this evening.
It appears to give some more access to defendants — a key sticking point for Assembly Democrats.
Sampson: Don’t Link Tier Six To Redistricting
Mar 14th - 4:47 pm
There should not be a deal linking Tier Six to the proposed compromise on redistricting, Senate Minority Leader John Sampson said today in a statement.
“Rumors are swirling that, in true Albany fashion, the awful redistricting provisions have been tied to the creation of Tier VI. If this is true and both are allowed to move forward, we will be disenfranchising minorities while simultaneously eliminating retirement security for working families in a classic Albany backroom deal. Senate Democrats will not be party to these cynical maneuvers.”
Legislative leaders in the Democratic-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate have insisted that there is no linkage between the two issues.
It appears that we are in store for a very long night at the Capitol as lawmakers privately negotiate a variety of issues, including an amendment on overhauling redistricting, the Tier Six proposal and an exapnsion of casino gambling.
But deals are being made left and right with nearly every outstanding issue being hammered out this afternoon, as Ken Lovett and Glenn Blain just reported.
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.