NY's only statewide political program
Sheldon Silver
What A Difference Five Years Makes
Feb 1st - 2:44 pm
Reports that the Senate Republicans have their collective heart set on keeping the state primary date of Sept. 11 rather than on June 26 in conjuction with the federal contests (as determined last week by US District Court Judge Gary Sharpe) set off the hypocrisy alarm for longtime political consultant Jerry Skurnik.
Skurnik emailed earlier today to remind me that in 2007, the governor and legislative leaders – at the time that meant Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Gov. Eliot Spitzer – delayed the Sept. 11 primaries by one week, pushing them back to Sept. 18 to avoid having them fall on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
NYT columnist Clyde Haberman wasn’t a fan of this decision, arguing that it was a disruption of democracy and therefore a victory for the terrorists. He reported:
“Lawmakers reached this conclusion in virtual lock step, some no doubt fearing the potential wrath of 9/11 families. The State Senate voted for the delay unanimously. In the Assembly, the vote was 136 to 9, the tiny minority consisting of 6 Democrats and 3 Republicans.
“Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader, called it ‘critically important that we reserve Sept. 11 as a day when the world looks back and remembers the many heroes who lost their lives.’ But couldn’t we remember and vote at the same time? Some might even say that democracy’s normal processes would honor those heroes while telling the terrorists in a powerful way where they can go.”
“‘Yes, you can make the case for that,” said John E. McArdle, a spokesman for Mr. Bruno. “But I think there was a consensus all the way around that it was preferable to go this route.’”
“Much the same was said by Dan Weiler, a spokesman for Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker. He was asked for Mr. Silver’s reasons for seeking the postponement. As relayed by Mr. Weiler, the speaker’s response was, ‘We felt it was the appropriate thing to do.’”
Apparently, Sen. Dean Skelos, who voted in favor of the change along with the rest of his conference back then, is no longer concerned about the possibility of having the primary coincide with what has become a day of remembrance now that he’s majority leader.
Skelos said he’ll be discussing the primary problem with the Assembly, and insisting that having three contests is “not my druthers.”
Silver said he’d prefer to avoid the three-primary route. Ditto for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But no far, neither Democrat has said which date they’d prefer.
The primary cannot be moved until all sides agree.
Minimum Wage Bill Stands On Its Own, Silver Says
Jan 31st - 5:39 pm
Don’t expect the measure to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 linked to anything like the Tier VI pension proposal, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said this afternoon.
“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” he said. “That would kind of be absurd. I dno’t know where the Senate is on that. It’s not something that really should be tied. It stands on its merit. It has a moral imperative and it has a practical imperative. People who work 35 hours a week should not be poor.”
At first blush, it’s easy to see how the two could be linked, given business groups’ support for the less-generous pension tier for new state workers and the support the minimum wage bill has from unions.
But the pension plan as submitted by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in the budget itself, while the minimum wage measure, for now, is a standalone item introduced yesterday.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos told reporters this morning that he hadn’t reviewed the Assembly proposal, but said in general minimum wage increases are “job killers.”
Recall though that everyone insisted last year the property tax cap and rent control laws were never coupled, only to be tied together after legislative leaders and Cuomo reached a deal.
Silver Shrugs Off Three Primary Possibility
Jan 31st - 12:37 pm
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver does not seem terribly perturbed about the prospect of having three separate primaries – federal, state and presidential – despite the fact that he and his Democratic colleagues have indicated a preference for moving the state contests up to conform with Judge Gary Sharpe’s mandated June 26 date for the House and US Senate races.
During an interview this morning with The Captiol Pressroom’s Susan Arbetter, Silver reacted to a DN report that Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who had been pushing for an August primary, now has his heart set on maintaining the regularly scheduled Sept. 11 state races, despite the fact that to do so would cost an additional $50 million. (And that’s on top of the $100 million combined cost of the April 24 presidential primary and June 26 federal primaries).
“I’d like to see the primary, you know, in June on the same day,” Silver said. “It would cost localities more money to run another primary in September. However, you know, it’s (Skelos’) perogative not to pass legislative to conform to the judge’s decision and have the state primary run in September.”
Silver also doesn’t share the anxiety expressed by LATFOR co-chair Assemblyman Jack McEneny and others that Sharpe’s ruling is difficult – if not outright impossible – to adhere to, given the confines of the redistricting process and the political calendar. Said the speaker: “I believe in the power of federal judges, and if they order something to happen they will provide the remedy to make it happen.”
Silver declined to comment on the Senate Democrats’ lawsuit challenging the GOP’s proposal to add a 63rd Senate seat, saying it will be up to the state attorney general to make that determination. (I find this confusing…because the AG has to decided which side to defend? Can’t he recuse himself and kick the issue to outside counsel, as has been done by past AGs when two branches of government duke it out in court?)
The speaker said negotiations with the governor on a potential constitutional amendment that would overhaul the redistricting process in time for the 2022 elections are “not actually taking place” at the moment, adding: “They’re in spurts; they start, they stop. It’s for ten years from now, really, to have a major impact, so, you know, the people of the state will have the opportunity to weigh in on the final product.”
That said, Silver insisted he’s completely on board with the idea of taking the partisanship out of the redistricting process.
“We had no problems redistricting and bringing our Assembly Republican colleagues in and talking to them about what their desires are and giving their desires some weight in the process,” the speaker said. “And I think that’s what is the key to everything: Taking the partisanship out of it and making it a nonpartisan plan, or a bipartisan plan, providing equal access to both parties in each house.”
Silver ‘Delighted’ By Primary Date Ruling
Jan 27th - 6:29 pm
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is cheering the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe to declare June 26 the primary.
Democrats in New York had generally pushed for a June date, aruging that August would result in low voter turnout. Republicans, however, say the June date would condense the state’s political calendar.
“We are delighted that Judge Sharpe considered the opinions of the New York State Election Commissioner’s Association, good government groups and the New York State Assembly when setting a date for the New York’s non-presidential primary. The date, June 26th is a rational, workable date that will help ensure voter turnout.”
The ruling only impacts the political primaries for House seats and the U.S. Senate, setting up the possibility of three primaries. That means the Legislature needs to come to a deal or we’ll have primary madness in 2012.
Memories, Sweet Reform Memories
Jan 26th - 3:50 pm
Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch’s New York Uprising reform operation sent over a highlight reel of various state lawmakers and candidates all fervently pledging their support of independent redistricting during the height of the 2010 campaign season.
That was then. This is now.
The people under the most pressure are the Senate Republicans, all of whom signed Koch’s three-pronged pledge (it also included budget and ethics reform), only to turn around and pass a constitutional amendment that would overhaul the process in time for the 2022 elections but leave it in all it’s partisan and un-independent glory this year.
The Senate Democrats are, unsurprisingly, crying foul.
You know who looks really smart here? All those Assembly Democrats who took their cues from Speaker Sheldon Silver and refused to sign the pledge. At least Koch can’t point at them and declare them “enemies of reform.”
Silver Says Teacher Evaluation Plan ‘On Target’
Jan 17th - 4:43 pm
The ultimatum of linking teacher evaluations to $805 million in school aid as presented by Gov. Andrew Cuomo sits well with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Silver, the Sphinx-like leader of the Democratic majority, usually plays his cards close to the vest on hot-button topics like this one.
But Silver was open to the idea in a post-budget address scrum.
“Well, I think it was on target,” he said. “It gives the incentive to both sides in the collective bargaining process to come to an agreement. The school districts and the unions should be concerned about the loss of funding. School districts from a funding perspective and unions that represent the teachers will lose jobs. I think as a result of that you will see a lot of agreements across the state and I think that’s fine.”
Silver’s support for the idea would be key in order for the budget to move forward and gain the support of the progressive wing of the Assembly Democrats.
As envisioned by Cuomo, the teacher evaluation plan is actually a two-phase proposal.
First, the state Education Department and the teachers unions must resolve a lawsuit over the evaluations or Cuomo will insert his own plan into the 30-day amendments (taking advantage of the broad powers the governor has over the budget in New York).
The word is that SED and the unions are not that far apart on resolving the suit, making this hurdle a possibly easy one to overcome.
In the second phase, school districts must implement the evaluation plans or stand to lose the money retroactively come Jan. 17, 2013.
“The equation is simple at the end of the day. No evaluation no money, period,” Cuomo said in the budget address. “If we are serious about education we really have no choice.”
Cuomo Signs Iran Divestment Act
Jan 13th - 4:19 pm
Governor Cuomo has signed the Iran Divestment Act that easily passed both the Assembly and Senate earlier this week after an agreement was reached between Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos last year.
The bill takes effect in 90 days and will prohibit companies who invest with Iran’s energy sector from receiving state or local government contracts. The Office of General Services will compile a list of companies who are not eligible because of their ties to the Middle Eastern country.
“This new law ensures that companies that invest in Iran’s energy sector do not do business with the State of New York,” Governor Cuomo said. “I thank Majority Leader Skelos and Speaker Silver for their leadership and hard work on this important law.”
And here is what Skelos and Silver had to say in the press release.
Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos said, “This new law will make sure that New York does not allow companies that invest in Iran’s energy sector to receive state contracts. By putting in place this important legislation, we are standing together to denounce Iran’s attempt to build nuclear weapons that would pose a grave threat to America, Israel, and our other friends in the Middle East. I thank Governor Cuomo for signing this bill into law.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “It is no secret that Iran is the patron of terrorism in the Middle East. This tyrannical regime has been linked to terrorist activities ranging from assassinations and hostage taking to bombings and hijackings directed against Israel and the West. By divesting the state from any business with corporations who fuel Iran’s terrorist activities and pursuit of nuclear weapons, we are doing our part to make the world a safer, more secure place. I commend Governor Cuomo for swiftly signing this measure into law.”
The Bloomberg-Silver Team Up
Jan 12th - 3:48 pm
Once upon a time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to get all sorts of things past in Albany like congestion pricing and a West Side stadium for the Jets.
Each time he was thwarted by the Legislature and blame was heaped on Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
But, oh, how politics works!
Bloomberg finished up his State of the City address this afternoon and certainly the lede tomorrow will be his calls for a minimum wage increase, just as Silver pushed for on Jan. 3 before Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State address.
Silver released this statement in response:
“I applaud and thank Mayor Bloomberg for joining our call to increase the minimum wage. As I have said, it is wrong to expect anyone – let alone working families – to be able to afford the cost of living today and invest in their future on a salary of $7.25 an hour. Increasing the minimum wage would benefit more than 14 percent of our workforce. Mayor Bloomberg’s commitment to helping the more than 1.2 million low wage workers in New York climb the ladder of financial security is welcome news.”
As Liz noted earlier, this comes after the relationships between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the two men have each become strained for different reasons.
Silver said in his speech that he wanted to fix the broken “ladder” to economic stability and equality for working New Yorkers.
Interestingly, Bloomberg employed a similar metaphor today: “But there’s one thing that in all fairness hasn’t gone up: the ability of those at the bottom of the economic ladder to pay for those essential needs.”
Update: Assembly spokesman Mike Whyland points out that for all the past Silver-Bloomberg contretemps, the two have come closer over the years over issues like microstamping for bullets, the bill to expand livery cab service outside of Manhattan along with other policy goals. That’s fair enough, but the minimum wage bill is easily the most significant legislation they have every agreed on.
Update X2: Bloomberg spokesman Mark Botnick also calls to point out that Bloomberg and Silver also worked closely on similarly significant issues like the charter schools issue and both times for mayoral control. So color me educated.
The Silver-Easton Lovefest
Jan 11th - 1:12 pm
ICYMI: The Alliance for Quality Education is forwarding around a YouTube video of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver at the organization’s rally day at the Capitol yesterday, an event that was scheduled extra early to get the jump on what is shaping up to be a tense legislative session where education policy is concerned.
AQE Executive Director Billy Easton heaped praise on Silver, calling him “one person who’s not only been listening for as long as you can imagine to the needs of schoolchildren across the state, but has been reflecting that voice back and speaking it out in the halls of decision-making” and the “originator of pre-kindergarten.”
Easton also praised Silver’s Democratic majority conference, saying its members have long been “champions of education” who stood with AQE on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and on the push to make the state’s wealthiest residents pay higher taxes.
Silver was greeted by prolonged cheers and a standing ovation. He returned the favor to Easton, praising him for having the “leadership and the courage…to stand up for fairness and equity in education funding, standing up for fairness and equity in our tax structure because I’m fairly certain that it was not students who made those terrible gambles that caused this economic hardship.”
As was reported yesterday, Silver then took the fight to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saying he “respectfully” disagreed with the governor’s claim that students in New York don’t have anyone looking out for their well-being, insisting the “most powerful lobbying groups for our students is their parents…when it comes to our state government, no group of leaders has been a more effective lobbying group for the children in our classrooms and for young children needing early education than have the members of the majority of the New York State Assembly.” (This is at about the 8-minute mark).
As you’ll recall, Cuomo said during his State of the State address that he would be the self-appointed “lobbyist” for public school students this year, taking on what he perceives to be the bloated bureaucracy in the education system.
Easton has often drawn criticism from the Cuomo adminstration, which sees him as a shill for the teachers union. (NYSUT does provide funding to AQE, but it is not the group’s organization’s sole funding source).
Cuomo fired back at Silver, blaming the Assembly for the current impasse between the teachers unions and school districts over the creation of teacher performance evaluation systems.
“The Assembly-led legislation in 2010 protected the teachers union at the expense of the students and instituted a system that was destined to fail,” Cuomo said. “Despite the powerful interests working to protect the status quo at the expense of our students’ success, this state must become a national leader in student performance.”
Cuomo Pens Letter To Skelos, Silver On Convention Center
Jan 10th - 3:59 pm
In an open letter sent to the legislative leaders, Gov. Andrew Cuomo this afternoon expanded on his proposal to build a convention center in Queens adjacent to the Aqueduct Racetrack, saying that the investment will pay off in 20,000 permanent and temporary jobs and a $4 billion investment in the state.
In the letter to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Cuomo says the project is “linked” to the Javits Center redevelopment. He reiterates his claim in the State of the State address that the Javits Center in its current state has aged to the point of being uncompetitive.
The Aqueduct project is linked to the Javits Center redevelopment as the New York Metropolitan area needs a convention site and if we do not plan to develop one as an alternative to Javits, then Javits would need to continue to operate. As I stated in my State of the State message, the Javits Convention Center is too small to be a competitive exhibition facility, and redevelopment of the current Javits site has exciting possibilities for the West Side of Manhattan and beyond. I also believe the redevelopment of Javits will render significant economic benefit to the State of New York which is essential during these challenging fiscal times.
The governor also admits that large-scale convention projects often are money losers. But he says there are no state dollars involved in the construction and that the project relies on Malaysian-based Genting New York to provide the necessary cash infusion.
Opponents to the project point out that many conventions centers lose money. That is a true point. Most governments weigh the issue of building a convention center with public money as a “loss leader” for the net economic gain of additional tourism dollars, etc. That is a debatable proposition. However, that is not the case here. The state is not building anything. We are not spending public money on a convention center. Genting, a private entity, will take the risk of economic success. I have never been a casino or racino proponent, but we are here now and the question is how to best maximize the economics and protect our citizens.
Cuomo’s letter is indeed a rosy description of a project that is sure to be a complicated one for New York City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg was not an immediate fan of the proposal and the surprise announcement only fueled the perception that the mayor and governor don’t get along.
The full letter is after the jump. 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.