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Battle For WFP Line In 58th SD
Jun 18th - 3:36 pm
A decision is expected from WFP leaders within the next several days on who to back in the 58th SD – a district that is fast becoming one of the top battlegrounds in the war for control of the Senate.
This is another one of the legislative races on which the WFP took a pass when its members gathered in Buffalo for the state convention earlier this month.
(A decision in another of those races, the fight for Sen. Eric Schneiderman’s seat, was announced today, with the line going to Assemblyman Adrian Espaillat).
Two Democrats in the race – Sen. Bill Stachowski and his primary challenger, Erie County Legislator Tim Kennedy – are pushing very hard for Row E.
Each has a powerful surrogate. Rep. Brian Higgins is in Kennedy’s corner, while Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson is lobbying on behalf of Stachowski and recently placed a call to the local WFP chapter chair to implore him to stick with the incumbent.
(The locals have recommended doing just that, but it’s not unheard of for them to be overruled at the state level).
The WFP has not ruled out putting a placeholder on the line until after the September primary, a party source confirmed. (This is becoming something of a habit for the labor-backed party). A decision is expected Monday.
UPDATE: A WFP source says there is no fixed date for a decision in this race.
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Sampson’s Bad News Day (Updated)
Jun 18th - 12:38 pm
There are probably few people in Albany happier that today is Friday than Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, who is the subject of a double whammy of news coverage today.
The first hit came from The Post, which reported the IG’s investigators believe Sampson leaked an internal memo to the politically connected AEG, assisting the firm in landing the first Aqueduct racino contract.
(As you’ll recall, the contract deal has since been scuttled due to widespread belief the process was tainted and re-bid while the IG probe is still continuing).
Sampson reportedly believed the memo wasn’t confidential. The IG begs to differ.
The second story has received less attention, since it appeared in the subscription-only Crain’s Health Pulse (you can get it here if you’re a subscriber), but could ultimately prove more problematic for Sampson.
The headline alone speaks volumes: “Sampson intervened to boost sister’s agency.” An excerpt also appeared in the Insider. Here’s a taste of that:
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Johnson, Skelos Welcome Cuomo To Tax Cap Party
Jun 18th - 11:48 am
Sen. Craig Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos wasted no time in reacting to AG Andrew Cuomo’s call this morning for Gov. David Paterson to put a property tax cap into a budget extender bill to force lawmakers to go on the record regarding the controversial proposal.
From Johnson:
“Great minds think alike. Andrew Cuomo’s embrace of my call to include a tax cap in the next budget extender is even more evidence that he is just what this state needs at this very critical time.”
“I once again call on Governor Paterson to heed our call and secure a legacy as a friend to property taxpayers on Long Island and across New York state.”
And from Senate GOP spokesman John McArdle:
“We’d like to remind the Attorney General that we passed a property tax cap almost two years ago when we were in the Majority and had he weighed in then with Assembly Democrats, perhaps it would be law today.”
WFP For Espaillat
Jun 18th - 10:28 am
After initially taking a pass on endorsing Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat for the 31st SD seat Sen. Eric Schneiderman is vacating to run for AG, the Working Families Party has announced its support of the Manhattan Democrat.
“Adriano has a consistent legislative record of results on the issues that matter to working families in our community,” said WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor.
“Whether it is making sure our schools get their fair share of funding, our seniors get the services they need or workers have the right to join a union, denouncing immigration abuse. Adriano Espaillat has always been there for working families when it counts.”
The Education Of Marty Golden’s District
Jun 18th - 8:24 am
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence members will be “educating” Sen. Marty Golden’s Brooklyn constituents about what they believe is the Republican lawmaker’s “anti-cop” position on microstamping.
The group will be handing out this strongly-worded flyer – also known as “Lesson #1″ – during rush hours in Golden’s district over the next several business days, according to NYAGV Executive Director Colin Weaver.
The flyer accuses Golden, who is a former cop himself, of being a “puppet” of the gun lobby and urges his constituents to call on him to “stand with law enforcement and vote ‘yes.’”
Golden, as you’ll recall, took a fortuitous phone call during the slow roll call on microstamping earlier this week. The Democrats yanked the measure from the floor when it became clear it was headed for certain failure – apparently by just a single vote.
Golden told me during a “Capital Tonight” interview that he would have voted “no” had he been in the chamber. He would not reveal what pressing “business” had caused him to step outside at such a crucial moment.
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GOP Wayback Machine (Updated)
Jun 17th - 4:00 pm
File this one under: The dangers of cutting and pasting, a cautionary tale.
The Senate GOP is trying was planning on trying this afternoon to attach a hostile amendment to Sen. Liz Krueger’s bill creating a
non-partisan legislative budget office.
UPDATE: Apparently, the Republicans caught their own mistake. The amendment was handed in and then immediately withdrawn, thus never making it to the floor.
It’s quite clear that the GOP lifted some of the language for its amendment directly from legislation that created the Congressional Budget Office back in 1974.
How do I know this? Well, check out P. 4, which talks about the creation of a nonpartisan legislative budget office that would be headed by a director who would be “appointed by the Speak of the House of Representatives and President pro tempore of the Senate.”
(I think Nancy Pelosi might have enough on her plate in Washington, D.C. without having to worry about policing things up here in Albany).
Not surprisingly, the Senate Democrats pounced gleefully on this gaffe, with one majority source noting snarkily:
“This proves the Senate Republicans haven’t had an original idea since Watergate. Maybe some of them carried this amendment in their briefcases when they got to the Senate, but we need new ideas to fix the old problems they left us with.”
Golden: I Would Have Voted ‘No’ On Microstamping Anyway
Jun 17th - 1:22 pm
Just to close the loop on the whole microstamping mess…during an interview that aired on “Capital Tonight” yesterday, Sen. Marty Golden revealed that had he been in the chamber, he would have voted “no.”
The Brooklyn Republican would not tell me what pressing “business” he had to conduct when he took the well-timed phone call that brought him out of the chamber at the exact moment the slow roll call vote was underway.
Some believed Golden was purposefully absent to avoid casting a vote that would be a direct “screw you” to one of its biggest supporters (not to mention the Senate GOP’s biggest individual donor), Mayor Bloomberg. But the senator rejected that suggestion, saying:
“I don’t think the phone call had much to do with anything. Had I have been on the floor, I would have voted ‘no.’”
Golden said he continues to consider Bloomberg a “close friend,” and insisted his relationship with the mayor has not been strained by his stance on microstamping. Golden also maintained the mayor would continue to be supportive of the Senate GOP, to which he has contributed more than $1 million since 2003.
As of late Thursday afternoon when we recorded this interview, Golden had not spoken to Bloomberg in person, but did speak to members of the mayor’s staff.
He didn’t want to discuss the details of that discussion. He did, however, confirm the “passionate” exchange that took place behind closed doors between Sen. Tom Libous and Bloomberg during a GOP conference before the vote.
You can watch the entire interview with Sen. Marty Golden by clicking here.
Senior Prescription Drug Cost Relief Not Likely To Happen This Year
Jun 16th - 5:45 pm
The State Senate passed a number of bills designed to improve the quality of life for New York’s senior citizens.
One of the bills would increase eligibility levels for the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage, or EPIC, program from $35,000 to $50,000 for individuals and from $50,000 to $75,000 for married couples.
“Now more than ever we need to make sure we need to put money back into senior citizens pockets to ensure seniors can live safely and with dignity,” said Senate Deputy Majority Leader Jeffrey Klein, who sponsored the bill.
A senate majority spokesperson says the program would cost about $1.5 million to implement, but that cost would be offset—assuming Congress closes the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole.”
Sampson: I Have To Convince The Gov To Borrow
Jun 16th - 1:58 pm
Here’s Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson after the quickest leaders meeting in history earlier today, proclaiming his love of refinancing tobacco bonds and insisting that he’s simply going to have to convince the borrowing-averse (at least today) governor to change him mind about them.
“Well, everyone has seen in my budget resolution that we passed: I like my tobacco bonds,” Sampson said.
“So, you know, let’s don’t take that off the table yet. It’s called negotiation. Everything is everything is negotiable. Well, I mean, I have to convince the governor, that’s all. We will continue, the governor said certain things are off the table. I have to push to make sure certain things are on the table.”
“This has to be a three-way negotiation, especially if we’re going to resolve this on or before the 28th of June. So that means I have a lot of work cut out for myself.”
Sampson continued to insist that providing property tax relief remains a top priority for his conference.
Klein On The Defensive
Jun 16th - 12:33 pm
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Jeff Klein, one of several Democrats targeted by a recent AFL-CIO leaflet campaign for leaving a “trail of broken promises” to labor unions, is hitting back with a mailer that highlights his support for public education.
Klein also was reportedly targeted by a round of robocalls in his district recently. Although he’s not in any danger of losing his seat (I’m not sure he even has a challenger at this point), he is not at all pleased to be in labor’s crosshairs.
UPDATE: I stand corrected. Klein does have a Republican opponent, Frank Vernuccio, who was among the first batch of candidates to sign on to former Mayor Ed Koch’s New York Uprising PAC reform pledges.
The mailer mentions a “teachers union,” but doesn’t specify whether that means NYSUT or UFT, that is “attacking Senator Klein because he put kids first rather than boosting their pensions and increasing their salaries,” adding:
“But Senator Klein is making you and your family the priority in Albany. He is fighting tirelessly for education funding that our schools and kids need while preventing teacher layoffs.”
Among the many beefs organized labor has had with the Senate majority is its support for increasing the charter school cap to improve the state’s chances in Round II of the “Race to the Top” funding.
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