Lobbying

The morning after lawmakers approved a new, cost-saving pension tier for yet-to-be-hired state workers, much of official Albany was sleeping in following the marathon overnight session of debates and votes.

Drew Zambelli wasn’t in bed.

Zambelli, counselor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leader of his communications team, touted the deal to both Business Council President and CEO Heather Briccetti and to Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathy Wylde.

In emails sent on the morning of March 15, Zambelli sought statements in support of Tier Six’s passage from both the Business Council and PFNYC.

“In case you did not see we did well,” Zambelli wrote to Wylde in an email obtained through the state’s Freedom of Information Law.

“Statements in support on the pension deal would be helpful,” Zambelli wrote a few minutes later to Briccetti that included the plan’s previously released details. “As you know by now we got a good deal.”

It’s not unusual or out of the ordinary for communications staff to ask for statements in support of legislation or initiatives from various groups and Zambelli’s correspondence that morning wasn’t limited to lobbying groups after a flurry of bills – which included legislation expanding the state’s DNA databank and approving the lawmaker-drawn political boundaries — passed the Legislature.

The emails were sent to both Briccetti and Wylde in their capacity as leaders of their repsective business groups, not as members of the Cuomo-aligned Committee to Save New York.

Cuomo has said he doesn’t coordinate with CSNY, a lobbying coalition of business groups that has run advertisements in support of his fiscal agenda, including Tier Six. The group was formed to blunt the expected and traditional push back past governors have received from organized labor’s own advertising campaigns.

Overall the FOIL request, filed for all written and electronic communications between the governor’s top advisers and registered lobbyists between Jan. 1 and March 31 — the height of the state’s budget-making process as well as the lengthy fight over redistricting — yielded very little.

The FOIL sought any communications between registered lobbyists and second-floor staffers including: Zambelli, Press Secretary Josh Vlasto, Communications Director Richard Bamberger, Secretary Larry Schwartz, Deputy Executive Secretary Joseph Percoco and State Director of Operations Howard Glaser.

The response from the governor’s office garnered 14 pages of emails between Zambelli and a scattering of lobbyists.

Still, the emails sent offer a small snapshot view into the governor’s office.

For instance, Zambelli had worked the phones with Briccetti and Wylde in the run up to the pension plan’s approval, emailing them earlier in the week to ask if they were free to talk on the phone. And before the pension deal was passed, Zambelli in February sent a fact sheet pushing the need for overhauling the state’s retirement system to Wylde.

In one note unrelated to pension reform, Zambelli was thanked by Pat Zlogar of Patricia Lynch Associates after a hour-long telephone conference to discuss preneed insurance for funeral services.

The emails and response letter are after the jump. More >

It probably goes without saying that the fate of hiking the state’s $7.25 minimum wage this year rests on what side Gov. Andrew Cuomo takes in the debate.

Rank and file Senate Republicans who haven’t taken a public position on the issue would be especially interested in hear what the governor thinks of the proposal, which polls suggest is extremely popular among voters.

But business groups, concerned that the state is taking one step forward, two steps back on fiscally conservative agenda items, also would like Cuomo to clarify his stance as well.

Last night on the show, Liz spoke with Mike Durant of the National Federation of Independent Businesses and Brian Sampson of the Rochester-based Unshackle Upstate to discuss the measure, which would bump the wage to $8.50 and then tie future increases to inflation.

“The governor hasn’t really shown any indication of where he is yet. It would be very helpful in this whole debate if the governor is going to remain committed to economic development — which I believe he is — to come out and say let’s take care of some other things first,” Durant said.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said at the small business event in Albany yesterday that he was opposed to the increase, but repeatedly declined to say whether he would allow a floor vote on the bill.

Cuomo has said he’s reviewing the economic impact of raising the minimum wage. The Democratic governor has been seen as business-friendly for the first 12-plus months of his administration and the state’s monied interests have formed Committee to Save New York, a quasi state-level Super PAC that backs Cuomo’s fiscal priorities.

CSNY is yet to take a position on the minimum wage hike.