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Teacher Evaluation, Appeal Deals Amendments
Feb 16th - 6:57 pm
Get ‘em while they’re hot.
So far, we’ve only seen the education-related 30-day amendments. Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said this afternoon that other amendments would:
- Make technical changes to the solar equipment tax exemption for the leasing of equipment and the Green Jobs/Green NY programs, and add fiscal notes related to the creation of a Tier VI pension benefit for newly hired employees.
- Make modifications to the Excess Medical Malpractice Liability Coverage Pool to conform eligibility requirements to the intent of the program and allow the Pool to operate within the funding level reflected in the Executive Budget.
- Insert language to restore the farm vehicle hours-of-service exemption while maintaining compliance with the Federal motor carrier guidelines.
- Duplicate in the appropriation bill the language already contained within the Executive Budget affecting preschool special education and summer school special education.
Here’s the amendment – released five hours before the midnight deadline – that includes the teacher evaluation system deal struck by SED and NYSUT and announced with great fanfare this afternoon by leaders of the teachers unions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Education Commissioner John King:
…and here’s the amendment that includes the appeals process for NYC teachers.
This was a major sticking point between the UFT and the Bloomberg administration. Cuomo said this afternoon that with this out of the way, he didn’t see why the two sides wouldn’t be able to come to a deal on other outstanding issues, but the mayor’s decision to continue his push to close, reorganize and reopen 33 NYC schools is likely going to be an obstacle. The UFT says it’s reviewing its legal options.
All the amendments will be posted here “shortly,” according to Vlasto.
After DiNapoli Crticism, Let NY Work Pushes Tier VI
Feb 9th - 10:29 am
A coalition of local government groups and business organizations issued a lengthy, quote-filled news release this morning touting Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed Tier VI plan.
It’s not unusual that Let NY Work, the umbrella group pushing for mandate relief, is backing the plan, given that is expected to provide $79 billion in savings over 30 years. But the news release comes after criticism of the governor’s budget proposal and Tier VI was voiced by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli over the last several days.
The plan is only for new employees, raises the retirement age and provides the option of allowing workers to enter into a defined contribution plan similar to a 401(k) in the private sector, an idea that DiNapoli has been especially skeptical toward. The comptroller has also defended the state’s pension system overall, noting that it is fully funded and not in a crisis.
“The Tier VI retirement proposal advanced by Gov. Cuomo is a fair and balanced approach to containing pension costs in New York,” said Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate. “It is fair for the taxpayers of this state to be relieved of a tremendous burden and it is fair to future workers. Not only will they have a choice of a retirement plan, but what they contribute will be based on their pay and they will share the risk/reward with their employer. What more could be balanced and equitable for taxpayers and future employees?”
Labor groups, who strongly supported DiNapoli in 2010, have also come out against the plan, saying it could hurt recruitment.
Asked about DiNapoli’s critique in Syracuse on Wednesday, the governor never mentioned the comptroller by name. But he did say Albany politicians are trying to continue “the status quo.”
Cuomo proposed a Tier VI plan as a standalone bill last June, but the measure went nowhere. Inserting the measure into his $132.5 billion spending plan provides for a better chance of its passage this year, given the power the governor has over the budget process.
Update: Eric Sumberg, DiNapoli’s press guy, reminds me that Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan in today’s Times Union slammed 401(k)-style plans. He notes that, “Unshackle doesn’t represent every viewpoint in the upstate areas.”
Siena On NYers: Pay Raises, No; Convention Center, Yes
Feb 6th - 6:55 am
Today’s Siena poll finds New Yorkers overwhelmingly reject the concept of giving taxpayer-funded pay raises to anyone in state government – even Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who continues to get high marks for his agenda and job performance.
More than two-thirds of voters polled oppose a pay increase for state legislators, nearly three-quarters oppose a raise for the governor and more than three-quarters rejected raises for commissioners of state agencies.
None of the aforementioned elected officials and top government appointees has received a raise since 1999, when the Legislature struck a deal with then-Gov. George Pataki to exchange charter schools for salary bumps.
The exact numbers on pay raises: For lawmakers 31-67; the governor, 25-74; and commissioners, 19-78.
More than two-thirds of voters support Cuomo’s push for a new pension tier for future government employees and more than 70 percent endorsed his plan to link school aid increases to the adoption of an enhanced teacher evaluation process.
They also reversed course on the governor’s call to build the nation’s largest convention center at Aqueduct in Queens, giving the idea strong support (61-33) when told it will be privately funded and won’t them a dime.
This is a win for Cuomo, who publicly called out Siena for its last poll showing New Yorkers opposed his convention center plan, 38-57, saying it hadn’t posed the question correctly.
Cuomo continues to be viewed favorably by nearly three-quarters of voters. About two-thirds say h’s providing the leadership New York has lacked for too long, and that his proposals will help New York’s fiscal condition and create new jobs.
There’s also good news in this poll for President Obama, whose favorability rating has hit its highest point in two years.
Obama’s polling in Democrat-dominated New York at 64-34, up from 59-38 last month and 52-45 percent in August.
His job performance rating is 49-51, up from 46-53 last month and 36-63 in August. Currently, 58 percent of New Yorkers say they are prepared to re-elect the president and 36 percent prefer “someone else.” That’s up from 55-40 last month and 47-45 in August.
On the GOP side, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are running neck-and-neck with New York Republicans, 31-29, about two months from the April 24 primary. That’s in spite of the former House speaker’s unusually high unfavorable rating – 67 percent – compared to his opponents.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has a 52-20 favorability rating, and 53 percent of voters are prepared to re-elect her while only half that number – 27 percent – would prefer someone else.
Two of her fellow statewide elected officials, AG Eric Schneiderman and state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, have some work to do in the name recognition department, 63 percent and 58 percent of voters, respectively, say they don’t know enough about them to form an opinion.
Krueger: Executive Budget Is One Big Trial Balloon
Jan 26th - 8:32 am
ICYMI: Sen. Liz Krueger joined me on CapTon last night several hours after grilling Budget Director Bob Megna over the administration’s effort to expand its budgetary power by sneaking language into its spending proposal that would allow ex post factor relocation of cash from one agency to another.
State lawmakers cried foul after the NYT revealed Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2012-13 budget proposal included a 130-word paragraph – repeated “hundreds” of times – that would give the executive the authority to shift money between state agencies after a budget deal had been reached with the Legislature.
Krueger said Megna could not explain exactly why or how those words got into the governor’s budget proposal, and acknowledged the whole issue needs to be revisited.
I told her the situation reminded me of the administration’s effort to grant Martin Act investigatory powers reserved for the AG to a new financial department (now headed by former Cuomo aide Ben Lawsky) through language included in the governor’s first budget proposal.
Cuomo’s replacement in the AG’s office, Eric Schneiderman, was understandably displeased by this turn of events. Cuomo’s office said the provision had been inserted into the budget “by mistake” and was removed.
I asked Krueger, the ranking minority member on the Senate Finance Committee, if the 130 words were, in her opinion, a trial balloon by the administration to see how far the governor might push the budget power envelope. Her response:
“I actually think the executive proposed budget is, by definition, a trial balloon on lots of things.”
“We set it up so that there’s 30-day amendment opportunities, so the governor actually can put it out, hear from the public and then decide to make changes…The whole budget is, in fact, a process, a dynamic process.”
Local Medicaid Cost Creates Potential Budget Sticking Point
Jan 20th - 8:19 am
ICYMI: Sen. Patrick Gallivan told me on CapTon last night that he has no plan to drop his push for a full state takeover of the local share of Medicaid just because Gov. Andrew Cuomo offered counties half a loaf in his budget proposal.
Gallivan said he expects his bill, which has bipartisan support and some 70 co-sponsors, will be approved by members of the Social Services Committee (which he chairs) next week.
“The budget’s not done yet,” the freshman WNY GOP lawmaker said. “The governor introduced it; it’s a starting point for discussion.”
“We, of course, will work to provide some more immediate relief rather than waiting until the second quarter for counties of 2013, and a greater amount, a quicker takeover of the increase of the local share – a freeze.”
After Gallivan et al first debuted their bill last year, Cuomo flatly rejected it.
The governor said state doesn’t have sufficient funds to fully assume the county portion of Medicaid – something only a handful of states have – not even under the slow, phased-in approach over eight years that Gallivan championed.
In his budget, Cuomo proposed taking over the growth in the counties’ share of Medicaid costs – a move that he says would save them $1.2 billion over five years.
Later on in the CapTon interview, Gallivan called Cuomo’s partial takeover plan a “good place to start.”
That sentiment was echoed by his colleague, Sen. Jim Seward, who told Gannett’s Jon Campbell earlier this week:
“(Cuomo) opened the door, but I’d like to be much more aggressive than the governor has suggested in his budget when it comes to Medicaid.”
What A Difference A Year Makes
Jan 18th - 1:07 pm
We here at CapTon largely refrained from posting reactions to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget address yesterday, if for no other reason than there were just too darn many of them, and someone was sure to be offended and/or upset about getting left out.
However, I think the following statement from Robert J. Reidy, Jr., executive director of the NYS Council of School Superintendents, is worth noting:
“Last month, Governor Cuomo demonstrated strong leadership in assuring the state would have revenue to follow through on an $805 million increase in School Aid, as promised in the two-year appropriation enacted last year. The aid proposal he presented today would provide schools with the best starting point they have had in recent years.”
“The Governor is right to prioritize helping high need districts, but we would like see more of the increase for all districts targeted to general operating aid.”
“The Governor is also right that New York cannot afford to lose $1 billion in federal education funds because of a stalemate over new evaluation procedures. Superintendents have done their best to implement a law which the Governor has said, ‘was destined to fail.’ Without a better state framework, threatening districts with a loss of aid will not produce better evaluations.”
“We welcome the Governor’s ‘Tier VI’ proposal on pensions. For most of the past decade, surging pension and health care costs have forced school leaders to make hard choices between cutting programs or asking voters to approve local tax increases. Now, with the tax cap, there will be only one choice, unless the state acts to help restrain those costs.
“We look forward to working with the Governor, Assembly and Senate to assure that schools get a budget and mandate relief that allows schools to give students the best learning opportunities we can.
Reidy’s statement isn’t noteworthy for what it says, which is all pretty standard and not surprising in the least, but rather for what it does NOT say.
Recall Cuomo’s 2011-12 budget address in which he singled out superintendents – particularly Syosset’s Carole Hankin, whose more than $500,000 in salary and benefits is the highest in the state – as a prime example of wasteful spending by school districts.
Cuomo subsequently proposed a superintendents salary cap linked to student enrollment and topping out at $175,000 (except for the NYC schools chancellor, who at $212,614, earns considerably more than that). About one-third of the state’s more than 650 superintendents earn more than $175,000, according to Cuomo, who said his pay cap would save $15 million.
At the time, NJ Gov. Chris Christie was seeking his own, $175,000-a-year superintendents cap, which ended up being implemented (and also sparking legal challenges).
Cuomo’s proposal, on the other hand, went nowhere. The governor didn’t really push for it, and hasn’t mentioned it since.
His main target this year is also in the realm of education. But although Cuomo has railed against he belief that the public education system has grown to become more about protecting the administrative bureaucracy and less about educating kids, the focus of his wrath has been the teachers unions and not – so far, anyway – superintendents, who I’m sure are breathing a sigh of relief.
Picking Their Battles
Jan 18th - 7:57 am
ICYMI: Budget Director Bob Megna said on CapTon last night that the Cuomo administration decided not to include revenue generators like Wine in Grocery Stores or the legalization of MMA in the budget out of a desire to avoid “controversial” items that could be seen (at least in the case of WIGS) as tax increases.
Megna didn’t rule out the possibility that these and other potential money-making proposals might be brought to the table during the budget talks, nor did he say the administration wouldn’t consider them.
“I think it’s up to the Legislature to decide what items they want to bring into negotiations with the executive,” the budget director told me.
“But we felt, again, this gets to the whole very clear and concise budget message, where we did not feel the need to put sometimes controversial revenue increases on the table or one-shots on the table or gimmicks on the table because we felt we could balance…by keeping agency spending flat and being careful with local assistance spending.”
“So, we didn’t feel the need to go down the road to do things that have been controversial, have potentially considered tax increases and that are sometimes kind of one-time benefits. So, we tried to stay away from that kind of stuff and do a very straightforward budget.”
Cuomo didn’t exactly shy away from fights in his executive budget proposal, but he also was very selective about picking them.
His main targets are again the teachers and public employee unions – much like last year – while more traditional budget foes like, say, SEIU 1199 and the GNYHA, who have a lot of cash at their disposal to wage air and ground wars against the governor and potentially pull his sky-high poll numbers down aren’t even in the ring.
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.”
Siena Poll: Voters Support Most Of Cuomo’s Agenda
Jan 16th - 9:30 am
On the eve of his second budget proposal, voters support nearly all of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposals laid out in his State of the State address earlier this month, a Siena College survey found.
But voters are less than enthusiastic over plans for Genting to build a massive casino and resort in Queens, possibly foreshadowing a difficult slog on the issue.
“The governor has overwhelming support for his proposals for an education commission, campaign finance reform – which would include a system of public campaign financing and lower contribution limits – and public-private partnerships for capital investments in the state’s infrastructure,” Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg said.
“There is weaker support for a constitutional amendment to authorize non-Indian casino gambling in New York, and for investing a billion dollars in Buffalo.”
The poll found that the governor’s plans to create a commission for teacher evaluation and improvement holds the broadest support – about 82 percentage points.
Similarly, Cuomo’s call for an overhaul of campaign-finance laws is favored by a margin of 74 percent to 20 percent.
Private investment in return for the rebuilding of infrastructure also polls well, with 73 percent support the notion.
Expanding casino gambling in New York is more lukewarm, but still has a majority of support, by with 53 percent to 42 percent backing a constitutional amendment.
And as usual, Cuomo continues to enjoy wide approval from voters. His favorable rating stands at 73 percent to 20 percent.
Though the governor in his public statements has praised lawmakers for approving his agenda, the Legislature doesn’t seem to have much luck in gaining approval from voters – not the best news heading into an election year.
Perhaps the best news for Cuomo in the survey is that for the first time in six years, a majority of New Yorkers think the state is on the right track, the poll found.
“The Cuomo glow does not seem to have rubbed off on the Legislature,” Greenberg said.
“There is little change among voters in their views of the two houses over the last six months, although both houses are viewed noticeably more favorably today than they were a year ago.”
“While 23 percent of voters say they have more
confidence in the Legislature today than one year ago, 20 percent have less confidence and a majority of 55 percent has the same level of confidence in the Legislature.”
The Siena College survey of 805 voters was conducted Jan. 8-12. It has a margin of error of 12.5 percentage points.
Iannuzzi: $800 Million Is ‘A Place To Get Started’
Jan 12th - 1:00 pm
ICYMI: NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi told me last night on CapTon that he considers the four percent education funding increase Gov. Andrew Cuomo has pledged to include in his executive budget proposal next Tuesday a floor and not a ceiling.
What’s more, the teachers union, which I think it’s fair to say is in the opening battles of what could become a prolonged war with Cuomo over funding allocation and the teacher performance evaluation systems, is counting on BOTH the Assembly and Senate majorities to push the governor to increase aid this year.
And yes, the union will not be shy about reminding lawmakers they’re all up for re-election this fall – and in new district to boot.
“I expect education to be a battle. It always is,” Iannuzzi said. “I mean, no one wants to walk away from four percent. But four percent, $800 million, is a half a billion dollars less restored than the the cuts from last year. So, $800 million is a place to get started. There’s a lot more than has to be done.”
“And then the question becomes: How is that earmarked? How much is going directly to a classroom? You could probably take $250 million of that and just write it off to transporation. You take another $50 million that the governor talks about in terms of his competitive grants. You’re now down to talking about $500 million dollars. How are you dividing that? How are you using that. How much more do you need if you really want to address the achievement gap that goes on in the classroom?”
“…I would expect that my allies in the Assembly Democratic conference and in the Republican Senate will push for more because they understand the needs of their constituents…And we will probably remind people that it’s an election year as well.”
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