Hillary Clinton’s campaign will celebrate Mother’s Day in the way many politicians mark major events – with a fundraiser. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton will host a 2 p.m. fundraiser at the Sheraton on 7th Ave. in Manhattan Saturday.

In advance of the fundraiser, the Clinton campaign released a new video in which Chelsea Clinton shares her thoughts about her famous mom on Mother’s Day.

Upstate Empire State Development Corp. Chairman Daniel Gundersen finally made a public statement late today on Gov. Paterson’s plans to fold his position into one statewide economic development chairman.

Paterson’s move leaves questions about Gundersen’s future, yet Paterson said he wants to keep Gundersen, who works out of Buffalo.

Gundersen’s statement essentially suggests he supports whatever direction Paterson wants to go and reaffirmed Paterson’s commitment to the upstate economy. (Yet Gundersen spelled Plattsburgh wrong in the release.)

Here it is:
As Commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development, I share Gov. Paterson’s view that New York must be unified to compete effectively in the global marketplace.
Governor Paterson has visited a number of upstate communities including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Plattsburg to underscore his commitment to Upstate. He has already pledged to keep Upstate a priority of his administration and has strongly demonstrated that commitment with the $700 million Upstate Revitalization Fund included as a part of this year’s budget.
As upstate chairman of ESD, my charge has been to focus on the ailing Upstate economy to create jobs and improve communities and, in so doing, better position all of New York to compete for economic opportunities. Significant improvements have already been realized in these communities.

I look forward to working with the governor on his vision to position all of New York State so that it can compete compete as a leader in the global economy.

It doesn’t look like drivers will be getting a gas-tax break this summer, but would it matter anyway?

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From GNS reporter Dan Osburn:

The state Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that would make hybrid vehicles sales tax-free in the state.

If signed into law, the tax waiver would apply to hybrid gas-electric vehicles, vehicles which get over 35 miles per gallon or vehicles that do not rely on gasoline or diesel, according to the bill.

The bill is intended to encourage the purchase of hybrid vehicles after the tax credit that made them lucrative expired in 2005, according to the bill.

The tax exemption is expected to cost the state $36 million in lost tax revenue for the current fiscal year, and an additional $42 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The same bill is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

Mark Duffy, a spokesman for the Assembly Majority, said he’s “not sure” if the bill will be voted on before the end of the session in June. “It’s still being reviewed by committee,” he said.

Here’s one way to use Spitzer’s legacy to your advantage.

Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, whose district runs through the Hudson Valley into the Albany area, is touting the fact that she was the first member of Congress to come out against former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to provide drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.

“Washington’s lack of response to immigration has left New York in a hole. Kirsten Gillibrand is working to lift us out,” the mailer says.

The mailing from Gillibrand, who is seeking a second term in November, was released today by her Republican opponent, Sandy Treadwell. Treadwell claims that Gillibrand has helped block measures to toughen immigration policies in the U.S.

Gillibrand did come out early against Spitzer’s drivers’ license plan, yet other Democrats in Congress soon followed and also led Hillary Clinton to waver over the issue during the early presidential debates last fall—the first crack in her campaign.

The pressure from Democrats for Spitzer to drop the plan ultimately led him to do so during a trip to Washington—no not that trip.

That infamous rendezvous to the Mayflower Hotel was a few months later, in February. Spitzer resigned in mid-March.

Two of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Congressional colleagues today offered their support for her ongoing presidential campaign. Sen. Charles Schumer, speaking at an Ossining press conference, disagreed with calls from some Democratic party leaders that Clinton should drop out of the race and cede the contest to Sen. Barack Obama.

“I don’t think it’s fair to pressure her to drop out,” said Schumer. “It’s close, and I’m not going to pressure her to drop out. I don’t think it has damaged the party thus far. I think we’ll be a united party and in good shape for the election in November.”

Rep. Nita Lowey, speaking at the same conference on legislation to ban certain plastics from infant products, also spoke in favor of Clinton’s candidacy. She called Clinton “our next president.”

The above comes from my colleague, Robert Marchant.

With hospital-acquired infections affecting 5 to 10 percent of patients, New York is giving more than $1.2 million to hospitals for projects to tackle the issue. Each year, hospital patients across the country contract an estimated 1.7 infections, resulting in some 99,000 deaths, according to state Health Commissioner Richard Daines.

Prevention efforts will target some of the most dangerous hospital-acquired infections, such as MRSA, which is caused by a staph infection; Clostridium difficile, which causes intestinal problems; bloodstream infections; and ventilator-associated pneumonias.

The Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents more than 200 hospitals statewide, is receiving $105,023, and the Greater New York Hospital Association is getting $174,860.

Westchester County Healthcare Corp. in Valhalla is getting $199,991, to reduce hospital-associated bloodstream infections in intensive care and respiratory-care patients. The infections have been found to extend the length of stay and increase costs by up to $40,000 per survivor.

Each applicant had to get collaboration of at least five hospitals to be eligible for the funds.

Leaders of Unshackle Upstate continued their protest today of Gov. David Paterson’s plans to change the co-chairmanship structure of Empire State Development Corp. and referred regularly to his team of “downstate advisors.”

The coalition—which represents more than 45,000 businesses from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Binghamton and Utica—said that upstate would be better served with downstate and upstate chairs rather than Paterson’s plans to make one person head of the entire agency.

Paterson has argued that one person can better oversee the agency for the entire state, but business leaders disagree. We ran a story on the issue today.

“The current structure provides the Upstate region with a government official with the power to hire and fire staff, approve projects and allocate resources – the powers necessary to effectively move the Upstate economy forward,” said Sandy Parker, right, president and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance, a founding partner in Unshackle Upstate.

“To dilute those powers in any way would be a huge step backwards in terms of Gov. Paterson’s commitment to Upstate business owners struggling to stay afloat and the people they employ. How can we have a revitalized economy if Empire State Development packs up its bags and heads home to mid-town Manhattan again?”

The group said in a news release today that under the current structure, Upstate Empire Development has been able to move projects along with greater ease and more speed.

“It’s not about titles, it’s about having the authority to make the deals and decisions necessary to move the economic needle in our fragile region,” said Andrew J. Rudnick, president and CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, and an Unshackle Upstate leader.

They said that last month Paterson visited upstate cities to pledge his support, but now they fear Paterson may be pulling back from his promises after taking over for Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

“For the first time in our history, we had a governor (Spitzer) who gave a State of Upstate Address,” said Darlene Kerr, president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and an Unshackle Upstate leader. “There was so much optimism among upstate business leaders that real change was going to take place. There appears to be a real disconnect on the part of the current administration and its advisors.”

Unshackle Upstate leaders are reaching out to the state senators and assembly members who represent the region asking them to push Paterson to reconsider.

Unshackle Upstate also sent out email messages to the coalition’s 72 partner organizations, encouraging their members to voice their concern directly to the governor and his team o”f downstate advisors.”

It’s talks about her seeking to level “the playing field against special interests and strengthening America’s middle class. ”

And yes, she’s apparently still in the race.

Yesterday, Politics on the Hudson posted an item about a study of corporate campaign contributions done by NYPIRG and other watchdog groups. The item stated that the report found 13 instances where Andy Spano received donations over the $5,000 limit.

However, Bill Mahoney, NYPIRG’s research coordinator e-mailed to say that we at Politics on the Hudson misunderstood NYPIRG’s spreadsheet. The corporations that were listed as giving to Andy Spano did, in fact give over the limit, but Spano’s campaign received only a precentage of those donations.

“He did not receive more than $5,000 from any one corporate source,” Mahoney said in his email.

Politics on the Hudson regrets the misunderstanding.