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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.”
Senate GOP In Albany Wednesday
Dec 4th - 11:41 am
Senate Republicans are returning to Albany on Wednesday to “discuss a number of issues,” but no special session of the Legislature has been scheduled, a GOP spokesman said this morning.
“The Senate Republican conference will meet Wednesday at noon in Albany to discuss a number of issues, including our commitment to cutting taxes to create new private sector jobs,” said the spokesman, Scott Reif. “At this time, however, no session has been scheduled.”
Assembly Democrats are due to return Tuesday for a 3 p.m. conference and expect to stay at the Capitol through Thursday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to be in Albany today as he mulls changes to the state’s tax code, which could include cuts to the middle class and large rate increases for the wealthy.
As word spread late last week that the Legislature could return for a variety of reasons — including the tax code proposal — Senate Republicans up until today had not committed on coming back.
The GOP conference has made cutting taxes — and resisting tax increases — a cornerstone of its agenda as they fight to retain majority control of the chamber. Both the conference and Cuomo support allowing a surcharge on those making $200,000 or more to expire at the end of the year.
But the state faces a $350 million deficit in the current 2011-12 fiscal year and an estimated $3 billion to $3.5 billion gap in the coming fiscal year, which begins April 1.
Cuomo has in recent weeks spoken about finding a unique solution to the deficit, which he has termed an “economic” problem.
However, several Republican senators in key swing districts have indicated a willingness to back a tax code change if it meant a large tax cut for some, if not most, taxpayers.
Assembly and Senate staff were said to be haggling over the numbers on Thursday and Friday, in order to hammer out a plan for a special session this week. It’s possible that in order to accommodate squeamish Republicans, a proposal may also include cuts to small business taxes.
Senate, Assembly Propose Flat Legislative Budgets
Dec 1st - 3:48 pm
Senate Republicans today proposed a $91.9 million budget for the chamber’s operations in the coming 2012-13 fiscal year, though officials said there are plans to spend roughly 10 percent less than last year.
“The budget we are submitting is flat but we expect to spend approximately 10 percent less than last year, when we successfully eliminated a $7.7 million deficit left by the previous Democrat majority,” Senate Republican spokesman Scott Reif said.
The Democratic-led Assembly also submitted their $102.3 million budget earlier, keeping their spending flat for 2012-13 as well.
Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy’s office budget is also staying flat at $274,635.
Both chambers are certainly mindfull of the PR disaster it would be to increase spending for the chambers, which includes everything from office furniture, trips and staff salaries. The issue of spending has been especially potent on the Senate side, where Republicans said they inherited a $7.7 million deficit from when the Democrats where in the majority.
It’s an overall reduction from the $100 million spending during the last fiscal year. Republicans are fighting to maintain their narrow 32-30 majority, a challenge in a presidential election year for a state with high Democratic enrollment.
To reduce spending, Republicans have closed regional Senate offices and tightly monitored the control of per diem cash, which included giving Democratic Secretary Angelo Aponte $15,000 for renting an Albany apartment.
(Democrats, recall, went through a similar exercise when gaining the majority in 2009 for a single term, finding that ex-Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno used a command-center like van to get around.) Upon regaining the majority, Senate Republicans did grant themselves pay raises, but they point out that salaries in top-paying positions overall have been reduced.
Senate GOP Divided On Tax Code?
Dec 1st - 9:47 am
Democrats are cheerfully blasting out a quote smartly recorded by The Times’ Thomas Kaplan in this morning’s story on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s consideration of revamping the state’s tax code. It comes, naturally, from Republican Sen. Greg Ball.
“If the governor forced the discussion about actually aggressively going back and redoing the tax code with a complete overhaul, that’d be extremely helpful, especially in creating a more hospitable environment for working families and the real job creators,” the senator, Gregory R. Ball of Putnam County, said.
Ball released a statement earlier this week expressing some sort of support for a new look at taxes, though the offiical Senate Republican line is no new taxes, ever.
Recall that Sen. John Bonacic, a Republican from Orange County, briefly introduced his own version of the millionaires tax this year before it was quickly bottled up. He expressed regret in March that it wasn’t included in the final budget.
Pro-millionaires tax Democrats point to the lack of actual rich people in Republican-heavy upstate, while the concentration of millionaires is in New York City, predominantly represented by Democrats. The GOP holds a two seat majority.
Also, Ball hasn’t ruled out launching a primary against Rep. Nan Hayworth, who represents what has become a swing district in the last several years.
Keep in mind a few things: as noted earlier, Ball has tendency to publicly consider backing liberal causes (ie gay marriage) before backing off. It remains to be seen if he’ll call for religious protections in the tax code bill.
And, at the same time, Ball’s statement to Kaplan carefully skirts around phrases like “tax increase” and “millionaires tax.” Still, it only serves to remind just why Republicans backed Mary Beth Murphy last year in the Senate primary.
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