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Gov: ‘We’ll Abide’ By Furlough Decision, Ask For Pay Lag
May 28th - 12:40 pm
Gov. David Paterson said his administration will not appeal US District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn’s decision granting a preliminary injunction to block his furlough plan, and said he will again ask public employee unions to accept a pay lag instead of moving straight to layoffs.
“We will abide by the decision, but it’s interesting that the judge did not go along with public employees who tried to tell the court there is no financial crisis,” the governor told reporters (including NY1′s Grace Rauh) after delivering the commencement speech at Bronx Community College.
“It’s hard to impose furloughs if Legislature wasn’t with us. Yet the Legislature put the savings we would have gotten from furloughs in their budget. So let the Legislature now figure out how to come up with that money.”
Asked about the possibility of layoffs, Paterson said his administration is “still looking for $250 million in workforce reductions” and “will go back to the drawing board” to try to find it.
Judge Sides With Unions On Furloughs, Raises (Updated)
May 28th - 11:13 am
US District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn has reportedly come down on the side of the public employee unions in the furlough lawsuit, ruling that Gov. David Paterson cannot insert his day-without-pay language into budget extender bills.
Kahn also rejected the Paterson administration’s argument that there would be no long-lasting harm to state workers’ 4 percent raises now because they would eventually get the money back, saying to do so would “constitute substantial contractual impairments.”
In addition, the judge cited the Senate resolution that deemed the furloughs unconstitutional even as they were passed, writing:
“In the absence of any showing of legislative consideration or tailoring, it is unreasonable to impose such an impairment through emergency appropriation bills, particularly when there is a unified legislative voice denying the very reasonableness and necessity of the enactment.”
“…ORDERED, that each and every Defendant, pursuant to Federal Rule of Procedure 65, is enjoined from submitting, enacting, or implementing emergency appropriations bills containing the furlough and wage provisions challenged in these actions.”
Here’s the decision:
WFP Placeholder Might Exploit Cuomo’s ‘Weakness’
May 28th - 10:32 am
The Working Families Party is still scrambling to find a placeholder candidate for governor in advance of its June 5 convention, and is looking for someone who will not only attract 50,000 votes but also might exploit the fact that the statewide Democratic ticket lacks diversity, a source with knowledge of party leaders’ thinking said.
“They’re looking for someone of color,” a source confirmed. “The idea is to make the most of (AG Andrew Cuomo’s) perceived vulnerability if he doesn’t take the line.”
Although Cuomo has signaled he might be willing to accept the WFP line at a later date, the likelihood at this point is he will not be signing on with the labor-backed party when its members gather in Buffalo due to a concern about the ongoing US attorney’s investigation.
WFP leaders feel there’s hypocrisy in Cuomo’s willingness to accept the state Independence Party line despite an investigation by Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr.
Cuomo insisted GOP consultant John Haggerty is the target of that probe, not the party itself, although the WSJ’s Michael Howard Saul raises doubts about claim in a report today.
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Paterson On Cuomo’s Message: ‘Absolutely Right’
May 28th - 8:48 am
Gov. David Paterson today gave a big thumbs-up to AG Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to re-brand the Democratic Party and reform Albany, saying he’s “absolutely right” to embrace the fiscally conservative proposals he hasn’t had the juice to push through the Legislature himself.
“I think to some degree what he’s trying to say – and I think he’s absolutely right – is that we want a party that responds to the times,” Paterson said on 810 WGY.
“There are too many people walking around, they don’t like the tough decisions so they pretend we don’t have a crisis.”
Paterson applauded Cuomo’s call in his nomination acceptance speech (which the governor was not on hand to hear) to equalize education spending among low-income and wealthy districts and dedication to issues that have long been Democratic touchstones.
But the governor said Cuomo also understands the state can’t continue to spend money it doesn’t have.
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NYSUT To Senate Dems: Bird Brains!
May 25th - 4:48 pm
Round II of NYSUT’s mail campaign against the Senate Democrats ups the ante considerably, comparing the majority members to ostriches with their heads in the sand when it comes to education spending cuts.
Round I was fairly tame in comparison, calling on lawmakers to “Stand up for Kids,” with pictures of a sad-faced little girl sitting at her desk.
The teachers union is on the warpath over the Senate’s refusal to restore the $1.4 billion worth of cuts Gov. David Paterson proposed in his executive budget (way back when).
The targets of this latest round of mailers remains the same: Darrel Aubertine (he’s featured in the piece pictured here), Craig Johnson, Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein, Dave Valesky, Joe Addabbo, Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., Shirley Huntley and President Malcolm Smith.
NYSUT is really flexing its political muscles these days.
It recently raised the possibility that it won’t endorse anyone in the gubernatorial race due to a considerable difference of opinion with AG Andrew Cuomo’s platform, which includes increasing the number of charter schools and a property tax cap.
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Cuomo’s First Union
May 23rd - 10:14 am
Before he had even formally announced his candidacy for governor yesterday, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 President Bruce Both offered a formal endorsement of AG Andrew Cuomo, calling him “a man of action, not just empty rhetoric.”
The 23,000-member union has a habit of getting in very early with candidates in hopes of maximizing its investment and gaining maneuvering power in a field dominated by bigger labor heavyweights like SEIU 1199, CSEA and the AFL-CIO.
Both’s pre-speech statement ended up hitting on a theme of Cuomo’s event, which featured Jon Bon Jovi’s blue-collar anthem “Work for the Working Man.” The union president said the AG “as been an unwavering supporter of working men and women,” adding:
“Through his policies, he has shown us all he goes well beyond talking the talk. Andrew Cuomo walks the walk.”
“…We live in difficult political times and New Yorkers are crying out for leadership, direction and hope. That call will be answered by Andrew Cuomo as the next Governor of New York State.”
Air UFT Slams The ‘Blame The Teachers Crowd’
May 21st - 1:23 pm
The United Federation of Teachers will launch a TV ad tomorrow that marks the next step in its campaign to get lawmakers to restore the $1.4 million funding cut proposed by Gov. David Paterson in his 2010-2011 budget.
The 30-second spot, entitled “Happening” and produced by Shorr, Johnson and Magnus Strategic Media, is also a response of sorts to the ads the pro-charter movement has been running that blame the teachers unions for blocking legislation that would raise the charter school cap.
The ad will air through May 28 local broadcast stations as well as cable television networks in the NYC metro area, and will be seen during a number of popular shows, including: NY1’s Inside City Hall, Early Today, the Late Show with David Letterman, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Extra, Good Day New York, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and various morning and evening news broadcasts.
Here’s the script:
“What’s happening inside our public schools? Class sizes up. After-school programs gone. Great teachers threatened by layoffs.”
“And now, the ‘blame the teachers crowd’, and the Wall Street Hedge Funds behind them, are spending millions, playing politics with our kids.”
“All of us – parents, teachers and community members – need to stay focused on what really matters. Blocking education cuts so we can protect all schools and all children. Join us. Stop the cuts and save our schools.”
It’s Electric
May 20th - 4:30 pm
Two labor unions, 32BJ and SEIU Local 200 United, are poised to launch an on-line advertising campaign in hopes of pushing a bill through the Legislature that would force public utilities to pay prevailing wages and provide health care benefits to their contract employees.
Ads like the one pictured here will start showing up on political blogs tomorrow, and will link to a Website that goes a bit more in depth into the topic. Currently, any company that receives a state contract is subject the prevailing wage law. But public utilities are exempt from that requirement.
A bill that would end that exemption and establish criminal penalties for violations is moving in the Senate.
This week, the measure was voted out of two committees – Labor (Monday) and Codes (Tuesday). The Finance Committee is expected to discuss the bill next Tuesday, and, assuming it is similarly treated there, a floor vote will likely soon follow.
The Assembly has not yet taken up the bill, but will likely do so soon.
The whole prevailing wage issue is a big one for the left-leaning labor unions and the WFP and was the focus of a fight last year regarding the development of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx.
WFP Affiliates Push Schneiderman For Row E
May 20th - 3:18 pm
Key stakeholders in the Working Families Party have sent a letter to fellow committee members on behalf of Sen. Eric Schneiderman, calling him the “only choice” to receive the labor-backed party’s endorsement in the AG’s race.
The letter is signed by Citizens Action’s Karen Scharff, 1199′s George Gresham, 32BJ’s Mike Fishman, 52nd AD District Leader Dorothy Siegel (treasurer of the WFP since Mike McGuire resigned amid the whole DFS mess), and the Long Island Progressive Coalition’s Lisa Tyson – all of whom have endorsed the Manhattan Democrat’s statewide bid.
“Eric is, and always has been, a proud member of what Paul Wellstone called ‘the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party,’” the group writes.
“He’s not afraid to stand up for unions, for the rights and dignity of working people, for the critical role of the public sector in providing a social safety net and reining in the excesses of the market.”
“And he’s always been a vocal opponent of discrimination of any kind, whether it’s against people of color, women, gays, lesbians, and transgender people, immigrants, seniors or people with disabilities.”
The group plays up the whole “true progressive” angle very hard, which has become something of a hallmark of Schneiderman’s campaign.
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‘Who Do They Think They Are?’
May 20th - 9:25 am
Gov. David Paterson this morning traded indirect barbs with PEF President Ken Brynien, all but accusing the labor leader of lying on the airwaves while defending labor’s refusal to go along with furloughs, wage freezes and other cost-cutting proposals.
Both Brynien and Paterson were guests on WOR’s John Gambling Show.
The PEF president went first and rejected the governor’s repeated claims that public employees have rejected efforts for them to share the burden of reducing the state’s $9.2 budget deficit.
“We are sharing,” Brynien insisted. “The workforce has been trimmed by thousands over the last few years. All of our people are doing more work with fewer hands to do it.”
“The governor said in his own office, staff were doing more work with fewer hands so they were getting promotions. Nobody else is getting promotions. We’re doing more with less. I don’t understand why he’s not sharing the sacrifice in his own office.”
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