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MacKay: McDonald Will Be A Senator For A ‘Very, Very Long Time’
Mar 12th - 8:41 am
ICYMI: State Independence Party Chairman Frank MacKay was in Saratoga County this weekend to publicly declare his early endorsement of Sen. Roy McDonald, who has been losing support among local Republicans and Conservatives of late and may face a primary challenge from Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin.
It’s possible this early endorsement isn’t actually so early if the Senate and Assembly get their respective acts together and move the regularly scheduled Sept. 11 state primaries up to coincide with the court-ordered June 26 US Senate and congressional primaries – or relocate all the primaries to some mutually agreed-upon date in July or August.
That hasn’t happened yet, though, despite multiple calls for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to flex some muscle and make it so.
We also still don’t know if McDonald will actually have to duke it out for Rows B and C anyway, since McLaughlin has yet to formally announce his candidacy.
MacKay, a close ally of Cuomo, has already provided an “early” endorsement to another of McDonald’s GOP colleagues who crossed the aisle to vote “yes” on the governor’s gay marriage bill and is now paying the price for it on the right: Sen. Mark Grisanti, who lost the Erie County Conservative Party nod to Democrat (yeah, well, it’s WNY politics, remember) Chuck Swanick.
Here’s what MacKay had to say about McDonald; he was quite effusive in his praise of the former Wilton town supervisor:
“We’ve always endorsed Senator McDonald. The question would be: Why did we endorse Senator McDonald early?”
“I think because he’s one of the most independent men out there, certainly the most independent public official, I feel, in this area. I think he’s fantastic. He’s taken some very tough stances on some tough votes, and he’s hung in there…So we’re here earlier than we’ve ever done.”
“…In politics, if there’s one thing I’ve learned is, if you’re not happy with the way things are going, wait. In ten minutes, everything could be completely different. Let’s see how everything plays out.”
“I think as far as other people’s endorsements, we certainly can’t speak to that, but the senator has a tremendous amount of support…I think he’s going to be a senator for a very, very long time. I think people will back him more and more as we go.
PEF Prez Brynien Robos On Pension Reform
Mar 12th - 8:23 am
A reader wrote in to reporting receiving a robocall around dinner time last night from PEF President Ken Brynien about a “budget fight back” rally planned in Albany Thursday.
The quick-thinking reader saved the message and transcribed it. The script is as follows:
“Hello this is PEF president Ken Brynien.”
“I’m calling to ask you to join us at our rally in Albany at noon on Thursday, March 15th to demand respect for your job, fight against Governor Cuomo’s devastating budget proposals and to preserve retirement security for yourself and future public employees.”
“If you would like to participate, please contact your regional PEF office, or go to pef.org for more information. Help us make sure that the governor and legislature hear us loud and clear, this budget must be changed. Thank you.”
Some union leaders – including Brynien himself and AFSCME Council 82 retiree Gary Tavormina – have suggested that opposition to Tier 6 would be worth a government shutdown.
But others, like CSEA’s Danny Donohue, don’t believe things will get that far out of hand.
It looks like some kind of pension reform is pretty much inevitable at this point, even though neither the Senate nor the Assembly included it in their one-house budget bills and Cuomo has insisted it will be part of the final budget deal.
Fred Dicker reported this morning that union leaders are privately conceding pension reform is likely, though they don’t want to call it “Tier 6″ and hate the 401(k)-style option Cuomo has already said he’s “flexible” on.
In the case of Brynien and Donohue, Dicker says, the public opposition to pension reform is motivated less by policy differences and more by their own respective political agendas – an internal power struggle in the case of the PEF leader and a desire for AFSCME’s top job on Donohue’s part.
Here And Now
Mar 12th - 7:42 am
It’s going to be a busy day down at the Capitol.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is scheduled to meet with the NYS Catholic Conference delegation, in Albany for its annual lobby day led by newly-minted Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in the Red Room at 11 a.m.
The event is closed-press, but since it was announced by the governor’s office, it will be staked out by reporters who will catch participants coming in and departing.
Last year’s meeting between Dolan and Cuomo was fraught with tension as the governor was in the middle of his high-profile, and ultimately successful, push to legalize same-sex marriage. In fact, it was initially unclear whether the two would meet at all.
Dolan told the DN he feels the church got “burned” by the Senate Republicans, who said the gay marriage bill didn’t have a prayer of passing, but also added: “We got a little stung, and it could be as much our fault as anyone else’s.”
This year, the church’s top priority for the Church this year is blocking the Women’s Health and Wellness Act, a bill that would strengthen abortion rights in New York.
Also today, the Senate and Assembly are expected to pass their respective one-house budget bills, officially starting the march toward an early budget – perhaps the earliest in modern memory.
The proposals were released over the weekend, and proposed moving proposed moving $200 million the governor wants allocated to schools through competitive grants back into general aid.
At the NYS School Boards Association conference in Albany yesterday, Budget Director Bob Megna was shouted at by audience members while he presented Cuomo’s budget.
On the $200 million, Megna said: “The governor still thinks the right way to do it is through performance grants, because it’s getting the money to the districts that need it the most and are performing the best, but we’ll have to look at what they put out.”
Budget talks, particularly focused on pension reform, are taking place along with redistricting negotiations, leading some to believe they’ll be linked in a big ugly-type deal. LATFOR released its Senate and Assembly redistricting language – but no maps – late last night along with constitutional amendment language.
No House maps, though, which seems to leave things in the special master’s hands, unless an 11th-hour agreement can be reached, which would require a message of necessity from Cuomo.
The three-judge panel that appointed US Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann special master over redistricting has asked legislative leaders to submit an update on their progress with the Senate and Assembly lines by Thursday, which is also Mann’s deadline for her own final proposal.
Upon their return to Albany, lawmakers will be greeted by a giant, cigar-chomping inflatable pig named “1 percent,” compliments of AFSCME. The goal is to counter the pro-Cuomo, business-backed Committee to Save NY ad campaign in favor of Tier 6.
And now, some headlines…
The Assembly Democrats’ budget rejected Cuomo’s proposal to raise the retirement age of public workers and offer a 401(k)-style option in Tier 6, but pension reform talks are underway and “pretty intensive,” according to Majority Leader Ron Canestrari.
Labor opposition to pension reform is fueled by internal rivalries and political aspirations among key union leaders, but most privately concede some changes are inevitable, though they probably won’t call it “Tier 6.”
Cuomo, who promised to have the most transparent administration in NY history, is often late filling FOIL requests and threw out his AG schedules even though the TU had a long-standing request to view them.
The Weekend That Was
Mar 11th - 5:58 pm
Rep. Charlie Rangel could face a primary challenge from Sen. Adriano Espaillat, depending on how the redistricting dust settles.
“We are forming a committee that will explore the possibilities of what a predominantly Latino district would look like and whether there is support for a candidate who represents us,” Espaillat said.
“While it’s premature to target one particular district, given the fact that final district lines have not been settled, launching this exploratory committee is an important step in making sure we are ready, when the final district lines are established.”
Espaillat’s exploratory committee includes District Leader Maria Luna and Global Strategy Group President Jefrey Pollock.
If Espaillat runs for Congress, there would undoubtedly be a heated intra-party battle for his Senate district, which is very heavily Democratic and unlikely to flip to the GOP.
Another potential Rangel opponent, Clyde Williams, hasn’t officially announced his campaign yet.
….But he founded very much like a candidate in this interview with Roberto Perez.
Under the special master’s plan, veteran Suffolk Rep. Steve Israel could end up representing more of Nassau than his home county, while longtime Nassau Rep. Peter King could see his district become predominantly Suffolk.
The list of Republicans eyeing a potential challenge to Democratic Rep. Kathy Hochul is growing, and so far includes: Ex-AG Dennis C. Vacco, Iraq War veteran David Bellavia, Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb of Canandaigua, Sen. Patrick Gallivan, former Erie County Executive Chris Collins and Erie County Legislature Minority Leader John J. Mills.
New York’s municipalities are under water, financially. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner says: “Unless Albany changes its policies, we will be dead.”
Led by community kingmaker Gregory Davidzon, the Russians of Brooklyn hope to exact redistricting revenge on the Senate GOP by backing NYC Councilman Lew Fidler against David Storobin in the upcoming March 20 special election for ex-Sen. Carl Kruger’s seat.
An increasing number of Republican women are starting to agree with Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward on the GOP presidential options.
Japan is remembering the tsunami and earthquake that rocked the island country on March 11, 2011.
Erie County GOP Chairman Nick Langworthy hosted the three would-be challengers to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand this weekend and plans to choose one of them to endorse before the end of the week.
Cynical About Redistricting? Join Bill Owens’ Club
Mar 10th - 1:08 pm
It’s hard not to get really jaded if you’re even casually following the redistricting battle playing out in Albany these days.
Think about how frustrating it is to watch the back and forth between legislative leaders and Gov. Andrew Cuomo – all the back-room dealing, the double-speak, the self-interested deal-cutting. Basically politics at its worst.
Now, imagine how members of Congress feel as they twist in the wind with their political fates in the hands of state lawmakers.
Members of the New York delegation have adopted different strategies to deal with redistricting. Some hired pricey lobbyists to plead their respective cases in Albany.
Others are taking a more hands-on approach, personally calling their local lawmakers to check up on their progress – sometimes placing multiple calls in a single day.
Rep. Bill Owens, whose NY-23 district is likely to change significantly when this is all over, particularly if the special master maps stand, says he has adopted a “a watching-and-waiting scenario, not a conversational scenario.”
But that doesn’t mean this redistricting process hasn’t jaded him. Asked yesterday for his opinion on when the Legislature might come to a deal on the congressional maps – assuming they’re even able to do so – the North Country Democrat replied:
“I would expect them to be finalized about an hour before the court of appeals renders its decision next week.”
(I think Owens means the special master, since she’s facing a March 15 deadline for her final redistricting proposal. Whatever the finished product is might very well be the subject of one or more legal challenges and perhaps make it up to the state’s highest court, but that’s getting a bit ahead of ourselves).
Robach Offers Insight Into Tweaked LATFOR Lines
Mar 10th - 7:49 am
ICYMI: Republican Sen. Joe Robach revealed yesterday that the the changes to the LATFOR-drawn Senate and Assembly maps are indeed complete, and he has been informed that the University of Rochester has been moved back into his district.
“The one big change that I’m hearing is going to occur from people speaking up going through the process of the committee hearings; it sounds like the U of R is going to be put back into my district,” Robach told YNN Rochester’s Casey Bortnick.
“Not that we wouldn’t advocate for the U of R, which is…Rochester’s biggest employer, anyways. But I am glad to have it geographically in my district – somebody who’s from here, rather than someone from Erie County. I think it makes all the sense in the world.”
The first Senate GOP proposal broke Monroe County into six different pieces, including three in the city of Rochester alone.
U of R (go Yellowjackets!) would have been represented by Robach’s Buffalo-area colleague, Republican Michael Ranzenhofer, whose district was to have stretched from Erie County to Monroe County.
This upset Rochester Mayor Tom Richards and U of R President Joel Seligman, who argued the university and its medical center should have local representation.
We’ve been hearing for some time now that the changes to the original LATFOR plans were complete. Actually, the Assembly’s proposal appears to have been done for at least a week, and has been in bill drafting an awfully long time, if you believe Assemblyman and Democratic LATFOR co-chair Jack McEneny.
Robach said he had learned of the change in his district at a meeting held before he left Albany last week, explaining:
“There are going to be some small alterations. Monday we’ll probably be seeing more hard lines, and we’ll probably actually be voting on them next week. I went to a meeting before I left Albany about the commission, they’re getting ready to do the lines to vote on them.”
We’ve also been hearing for several weeks now that a vote on the legislative lines is imminent. Conventional wisdom is that won’t occur until there’s a final deal on an accompanying constitutional amendment that would change the process for the next round of line redrawing in 2022.
We haven’t seen any amendment language yet, though drafts have been shared with good government groups. There was supposed to be a conference call yesterday in which Cuomo administration aide Jeremy Creelan briefed goo-goos on the amendment, but it was cancelled after word leaked to the press.
This whole redistricting mess is likely to culminate next week, since March 15 is the special master’s deadline to release her own tweaked House maps.
The Legislature would have to act before then on its own congressional plans if it wants to supersede her – if a deal could be reached, that is, which had not happened as of last night.
Extras
Mar 9th - 5:40 pm
Southampton Town Councilwoman Bridget Fleming is preparing to challenge Republican Sen. Ken LaValle. Can this former ADA in ex-Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau’s office break the GOP stranglehold on Long Island?
A state investigation has concluded that a series of a dozen earthquakes in the Youngstown, Ohio area was induced by a deep injection well disposing of waste water that’s a byproduct of hydraulic fracturing.
The AFL-CIO agreed to back off its anti-pension reform ad campaign after receiving a call from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
County committee elections could be a casualty of the redistricting/early primary mess.
A redistricting reform conference call that was to feature Cuomo aide Jeremy Creelan was cancelled after word of the call leaked to the press.
A state Supreme Court judge agreed to dismiss the Senate Democrats’ lawsuit challenging the Republicans’ plan to create a 63rd seat because the issue is “not ripe for the court’s review.”
Critics of the NYPD’s Muslim surveillance tactics are speaking out because it “gets you publicity” to do so, according to Mayor Bloomberg.
Senate Education Committee Chair John Flanagan has been named the 2011-2012 State Leader of the Year by the NYS School Boards Association. He’ll be receiving his award at the NYSSBA conference in Albany this weekend. (No link).
One of Rep. Nan Hayworth’s Democratic opponents, Richard Becker, got blasted by a local GOP leader for “district shopping.”
How long before the Senate Democrats turn on Cuomo in connection with redistricting?
RedState headline: “The Party That Brought Us Dede Scozzafava Wants to Stop Ann Marie Buerkle.”
Timothy Cardinal Dolan will be in Albany Monday for the annual NYS Catholic Conference Lobby Day. He’s scheduled to meet with Cuomo.
US Senate hopeful Joe Carvin’s finance committee includes Michael A. Carvin, the Jones Day redistricting lawyer for the Senate; and Timothy C. Mara, VP of player evaluation for the NY Giants and father of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” star Rooney Mara.
Former NYT Co. Chief Executive Officer Janet Robin’s exit cost the company $23.7 million – more than it earned in the past four years.
George Demos launched a website devoted to attacking his NY-1 GOP primary opponent, Randy Altschuler.
How do you calculate the average pension benefit in NYS? The Empire Center questions the unions’ tactics.
Source: Pelosi Gets Involved In NY Redistricting
Mar 9th - 4:02 pm
Concern that the special master’s congressional maps will cost Democrats seats in true blue New York has spurred House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to get involved in the state’s redistricting battle.
According to a high-level Democratic source with knowledge of Pelosi’s efforts, the minority leader has placed calls to both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, urging them not to let the proposal released by US Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann earlier this week become law.
Her argument is twofold, the source said. First, as the first woman to serve as speaker of the House, Pelosi is concerned that “the bulk of people who get hurt – the main Democratic casualties in the court map – are women, namely Reps. Kathy Hochul and Louise Slaughter.
(Rep. Nita Lowey’s district also takes a big hit in Mann’s plan, but she’s still considered safe, and GOP Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle is also in danger, but that’s House Speaker John Boehner’s problem, not Pelosi’s).
“Every male Democratic member of Congress has a path to run – even in a difficult district – and still win election, but the court’s maps are a real hit to women,” the source said. “They take out Hochul. She’s out of range, and doesn’t come back. Her district is gone. Louise Slaughter goes down to like a 53 percent district, so she’s a casualty…He’s also hearing from women’s groups that if (he) does nothing and lets map go into effect he’s got a concern from them.”
Pelosi is also pointing out that if Cuomo indeed has presidential aspirations, presiding over a Democrat-dominated state that loses Democratic House members in a presidential election year because he declined to get engaged in the House redistricting process will not play well with party insiders. And the fact that New York is the home state of DCCC Chairman Steve Israel, who is fighting to win back the majority, losing seats in his own backyard would simply add insult to injury.
The Illinois Democratic governor fought it out for the Democrats,” the source noted. “Even in Missouri a Democratic governor fought it out for Democrats. All over country, Democratic governors have gotten involved and fought for their congressional delegations, and in New York State, a Democratic governor in a Democratic state allows a court map?”
It remains to be seen, however, whether all this is getting through to Cuomo, who so far has been more focused on LATFOR’s legislative lines and wrangling a constitutional amendment deal out of the Senate and Assembly than in meddling with the House lines. As the source said:
“He’s hearing it, yes. Is he listening to it? That remains to be seen…He understrands in theory. He understands the court map would hurt women, would hurt the New York delegation’s clout in Congress, and I think he’d like to see it resolved.”
You could argue that Cuomo dipped a toe in the roiling House redistricting waters through the efforts of state Democratic Party Chairman Charlie King to broker a deal between the warring Manhattan and Bronx Democratic chairs, Keith Wright and Carl Heastie, over the future of Rep. Charlie Rangel’s district. But a source familiar with how those talks went down insists King was not acting at Cuomo’s behest.
What Does Vito Lopez Know…
Mar 9th - 8:20 am
A slightly panicky reader forwarded a memo sent by Brooklyn Democratic Chairman Vito Lopez this week to members of Congress, the Senate and the Assembly in his borough, urging them to get their checks in to his party HQ now to reserve their spots on joint designating petitions.
“As of this writing, it seems likely that the first day to circulate designating petitions isTuesday, March 20, 2012,” Lopez wrote.
“That is two weeks from today. It is therefor necessary for you to respond immediately in order to facilitate the timely processing of your petition requirements.”
This caused some confusion on the part of the reader, since it seems to suggestion there will be a joint primary date, too. Except – as far as we know – that’s not, in fact, the case.
The US Senate and House primaries will be held on June 26, as mandated by Judge Gary Sharpe.
So far, legislative leaders haven’t been able to agree on moving the state primary date from Sept. 11 to correspond with the June date, despite the fact that good government advocates, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and local officials have urged them to do so, noting every additional statewide contest costs an additional $45 million to $50 million that the counties – not the state – have to shoulder.
(And remember, there’s already the April 24 presidential primary to contend with, not to mention village elections and several legislative specials on March 20 and school budget votes on May 15).
The Assembly Democrats have proposed legislation that would move the state primary date to June 26, but the Senate Republicans don’t support it.
Cuomo has said one primary date would be preferable, but he hasn’t put any muscle behind forcing the Legislature into agreement. Just yesterday, after his cabinet meeting in the Red Room, the governor said the following: after the goo-goos called yet again
“I have said repeatedly that I believe there should be a unified date…We’re doing everything we can to save money for local governments, we’re working very hard to get mandate relief.
“Why you would gratuitously want to impose a $50 million cost on local governments just because you can’t agree on a single election makes no sense to me. I’ve said that to them publicly. I’ve said that to them privately. ”
“Their politics is wining the day now, but I don’t think it makes any sense from he taxpayers’ point of view. I’m not going to dictate their politics to them. But I have been advocating strongly for a single election date. Just pick it.”
Note that the governor said “a single election date,” not June 26, specifically.
There is some wiggle room in Judge Sharpe’s ruling, I’m told, and this week some quiet talks were taking place at the Capitol about possibly moving both the state and federal primaries to sometime in the first two weeks of July – a compromise that both sides would probably hate equally.
So far, however, there’s no agreement.
Here And Now
Mar 9th - 7:15 am
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in the NYC “area” with no public schedule.
How is a good redistricting plan like pornography?
Cuomo declined to offer a definition of what “hyper-partisan” and “hyper-political” might mean. Those are the words he has used to describe any redistricting plan he would veto.
The Cuomo administration has a new history-based tourism plan for the NYS Thruway, but no timeline to implement it.
DC37′s Lillian Roberts, who was critical of “cowboy” Cuomo on CapTon this week, kept up her line of attack on his Tier 6 plan, saying it was modeled on “George W. Bush’s defeated plan to privatize Social Security.”
Cuomo hasn’t ruled out doing a pension reform deal outside the budget, but he’s not afraid to go the extender route to get his way, either.
Cuomo called Tier 6 a “vital part” of his budget plan.
The Journal News deemed pension reform “essential” to the state’s fiscal health.
The Post-Standard picks up our stories (with no credit) on Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle’s possible challenges to fellow Republicans if re-election in her own district ends up an uphill challenge after the redistricting dust settles.
Former Assemblyman Michael Benjamin says it’s the Legislature’s own fault if they get stuck with the special master’s plan.
AG Eric Schneiderman got support for his I-STOP bill from his 2010 rival, GOP Staten Island DA Dan Donovan.
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