Politics on the Hudson

   The state Commission on Public Integrity announced today that it has reached a settlement with former Acting State Police Superintendent Preston Felton over his role in the Troopergate scandal more than two years ago.

   Aides to now-former Gov. Eliot Spitzer were found to have asked the State Police to create documents regarding now-former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s use of state aircraft and ground transportation. The  information was leaked to an Albany newspaper.

   An investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that the aides had conspired to get the information and release it to the media. The aides wanted to show that Bruno—Spitzer’s chief political rival—had misused state aircraft, according to the report.

   Under the settlement announced today, Felton admits that he violated state Public Officers Law “by acceding to requests communicated to him by William Howard, former Assistant Secretary for Homeland security, to create documents and transmit sensitive information concerning Senate Majority leader Joseph Bruno’s use of State aircraft for trips to New York City and his ground itineraries during such trips.”

   Barry Ginsberg, executive director of the commission, said in a statement Felton received the same treatment as his boss and his boss’s boss, both of whom admitted to violating the same section of Public Officers Law.

   “This agreement sends a clear message that a State official may not simply acquiesce to an unlawful request,” Ginsberg said.

   The law doesn’t allow the commission to charge a fine for the violation.

Yonkers Councilman John Murtagh, R-5th District, issued a statement today rejecting suggestions by the Yonkers Board of Education’s attorney that he may be committing criminal coercion by refusing to support bonding for the schools unless the Board of Education opens its books to Yonkers Inspector General Philip Zisman.

The IG dispute led the Board of Education to file a lawsuit asking the state Supreme Court to rule on whether Zisman has any authority to inspect the Board of Education. In a letter dated today, the Board of Education’s attorney David L. Lewis suggests that Murtagh could be violating the law.

“The attempt to use economic blackmail to prevent the Board of Education from obtaining a legal determination is improper in all respects,” wrote Lewis, whose clients include former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

“From hiding the books to ignoring subpoenas to denying the City’s right to know how the taxpayers’ money is being spent, the Board has time and time again demonstrated a breathtaking arrogance” Murtagh wrote in his response to Lewis’ letter. “Now they threaten an elected official simply for doing his job on behalf of the people he represents. This is the sort of thuggery we expect in third world countries and dictatorships but not in our own City. Silencing critics may have worked for Mr. Lewis’ other clients like General Noriega.  It won’t work for the Board of Education”.

Here is Murtagh’s letter: (more…)

   Gov. David Paterson’s deficit-reduction plan has been revised to cut less from education and health care and use federal stimulus money for education that had been set aside for next year, according to his Budget Division.

   The original proposal would reduce school aid by $686 million this school year ($480 million for the state’s fiscal year, which ends March 31). School districts would lose between 3 percent and 9 percent of their state aid. The revised plan would cut $295 million ($206 through the end of the fiscal year), and districts would all lose 1.58 percent in funding.

   To make up the $391 million difference from the original plan ($274 million for this fiscal year), the state would use $391 million in federal-stimulus funds that were going to be used in 2010-11.

   In health care, the original plan would have reduced Medicaid spending by $287 million, which would have had an overall impact of about $740 million due to a loss in federal matching funds. The governor said the legislation would achieve $223 million in savings for the state and would have an overall impact on providers of $282 million.

   Some of the actions that would be needed to achieve this include eliminating 2010 inflationary increases for hospitals, nursing homes and home-care providers; lowering by 30 percent the state’s subsidy of small businesses for costs associated with mental-health parity; and authorizing nurses to increase the supply of prescription medicine for home-care patients from eight days to 15 days, thus lowering the frequency of visits.

   Gov. David Paterson said in a Web announcement this morning that he is submitting legislation to lawmakers that would give him executive authority to make the reductions necessary to close the state’s $3.2 billion mid-year budget gap.

   Paterson and lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement with the governor on how to close the deficit. This is the third week the Legislature is holding special sessions called by Paterson.

   The governor said in a Web address this morning that the executive-authority option “would give me, as governor, a one-time authority to close the current-year budget deficit—to maintain New York’s strong credit rating and keep our state afloat.”

   “I want to make clear that this is not a cash-flow problem that can be fixed with one-shots or creative accounting. This is a lack-of-cash crisis that threatens the financial stability of our state. Unless we take action, the state will run out of money,” he said.

   Under the governor’s legislation, there would be $1.3 billion in payment reductions to education, health care and other areas.

   Members in the Democrat-led Assembly are in private conference to discuss Paterson’s legislation and plan to resume special session at 3 p.m. In the Senate, which has 32 Democrats and 30 Republicans, lawmakers agreed to work together on an agreement. They said they need time to go through Paterson’s voluminous bill.

   Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said there may be some disagreements on cuts, but everyone understands they need to work in a bipartisan manner and reach an agreement within the next several days. He said he would work to have a bill ready to go for a vote on Monday.

   “And (Majority Leader) John (Sampson) and I have had this discussion that battle will come as we approach 2010 (elections), but right now our responsibility is to get a deficit-reduction plan done and to restore the integrity quite frankly of this chamber, and we will get it done,” Skelos said.

   Sampson, D-Brooklyn, and Skelos have both said they would not support any mid-year education cuts, something Paterson has proposed.

   Sampson said there are concerns about making cuts to education institutions, “which have a tremendous impact economically in our communities, but most of all having school districts making decisions during this period of time as to whether or not they can survive and pass those cuts along to our constituencies with respect to property taxes.”

   After originally saying they would take the weekend to complete negotiations and prepare legislation, lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson ended the day Monday without an agreement on how to close the state’s $3.2 billion budget gap.

   “I believe the best way to say it is we’ve had the same stumbling blocks today as we’ve had for the last couple weeks,” Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, Ontario County, said after emerging from a private meeting with legislative leaders and the governor Monday evening.

   Monday marked the start of the third week of special legislative sessions the governor called to resolve the budget deficit. It was unclear Monday whether Paterson and lawmakers would reach an agreement before Thanksgiving.

   “I don’t want to hold people for Thanksgiving, but whatever it takes to make this process work I will consider,” Paterson told reporters at an event in Niagara Falls Monday.

   The governor offered a $3.2 billion deficit-reduction plan. It would cut about $1.3 billion, including $686 million from education and $471 million from Medicaid. That would result in a total Medicaid reduction of $747 million due to a loss in federal matching funds.

   Senate Democrats and Republicans said they oppose mid-year cuts to education. Paterson has said any deficit-reduction plan must include education cuts.

   Senate Republicans are asking for the state to use $391 million of next year’s federal stimulus money to avoid having to cut school aid. They said Paterson first proposed using some of next year’s stimulus funding for education.

   Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said after the leaders meeting that his members agree with the governor that cuts are necessary.

   “Nobody likes to make serious cuts to anything, but the reality is, the fiscal situation, is that you have to make cuts so many of my members are prepared to make the right choices,” he said.

   New York Inspector General Joseph Fisch is recommending that disciplinary action be taken against three supervisors in connection with the “man cave” in one of the state parking garages in Albany. Poor oversight by Office of General Services managers Thomas Casey, William Liston and Dennis Williams contributed to drug abuse and other “transgressions” at the Empire State Plaza garages, according to Fisch.

   Earlier this month, Gary A. Pivoda, 48, of Glennon Road in Latham (an Albany suburb) and Louis Marciano, 50, of Willow Street in Rensselaer pleaded guilty to defrauding the government for allegedly selling and using drugs, watching television and sleeping in the concealed “man cave” between April 17 and July 14, 2009. They were night maintenance employees for the state.

   Fisch’s report today said the three managers did not address repeated complaints about Marciano, who was the cleaning crew boss. Marciano was accused of discriminating against African-American employees and addressing them with racial slurs. Marciano was said to have assigned one janitor extra work to cover for Pivoda, and he gave Pivoda annual “incentive” bonuses totaling $3,000, according to Fisch.

   Pivoda and Marciano, who resigned as part of their plea agreeents, are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4. Pivoda will serve a year in jail and pay $2,076 in restitution. Marciano will receive five years of probation, do 250 hours of community service and pay $1,504 in restitution.

   The Office of General Services has agreed to implement Fisch’s recommendations and take administrative action against employees and supervisors who were derelict in their duties. The agency will require that Plaza managers receive more training, Fisch’s office said.

Man Cave Video from Gannett Albany Bureau on Vimeo.

   Former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s federal corruption trial is expected to wrap up today, and it will be up to the jury to decide his fate. Prosecutors charged he received more than $3 million from businesses in exchange for his political influence at the state Capitol between 1993 and 2006.

   Bruno, a Republican from Brunswick, Rensselaer County, has maintained his innocence. He has noted that the job of lawmaker is part time and legislators are allowed to have outside income.

   The prosecution has argued that Bruno defrauded the state and its residents by entering into and trying to enter into financial agreements with people or companies that had or were pursuing business with the Legislature or state agencies.

   The charges were the result of a three-year investigation into Bruno, who resigned from the Senate last year.

   A Marist College poll released today found that 71 percent of voters think state government needs major changes, and 18 percent think daily operations at the Capitol need minor changes. Eleven percent believe state government is broken and beyond repair, according to the poll.

   “Albany is not a good place for politicians right now,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Poll, said in a statement. “Voters are dissatisfied with how things are being run and want change.”

   While Paterson’s approval rating is 20 percent among registered voters, just 16 percent of them think the Senate is doing an excellent or good job and 48 percent think the it is performing poorly, the poll found. Forty-four percent said they would vote for the incumbent and 42 percent said they would pick a challenger.

   In the Assembly, 13 percent of voters approve of the job members are doing and 47 percent do not. Forty-four percent of voters said they would support the incumbent if the 2010 elections were held today and 43 percent said they would opt for a challenger, the poll said.

   Marist College surveyed 805 registered voters on Nov. 12, Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

   After saying they would take the weekend to complete negotiations and print a bill, lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson are beginning the new week without a plan to close the state’s $3.2 billion budget gap.

   Both the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to go into session at 2 p.m.

   Paterson had harsh words for legislators during a news conference Saturday and in an open letter he released Sunday, emphasizing that New York is running out of time to fix the budget. 

   “Unfortunately, this failure to act has put New York at risk for a number of dire fiscal consequences and raised serious questions among independent financial monitors,” he wrote.

   The governor has warned that the state might run out of money next month if the Senate and Assembly don’t make spending cuts. Potential consequences include furloughs, layoffs, service cuts in pre-kindergarten programs and other areas, and a downgrade of the state’s credit rating.

   The governor offered a $3.2 billion plan to close the deficit, which includes about $1.3 billion in cuts—$686 million from education this school year and $471 from Medicaid, which would result in a total reduction of $747 million because the state would lose federal matching funds.

   But lawmakers don’t want to cut school aid in the middle of the year and want to slash health care by about $100 million, which Paterson said doesn’t work for him.

   The governor proposed reducing the school cuts by using some of next year’s federal stimulus funds for education. Senate Republicans said the state should use $391 million of the stimulus money. The governor argued that using that much would push the problem to a later date and leave a hole in school spending in 2010-11.

   New York State United Teachers, which has 600,000 members, has launched an advertising campaign against mid-year cuts to education.

Just days after touting a poll that he argued showed him within striking range of Rep. John Hall, D-Dover Plains, state Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, today said he’s changed his mind and will now run for the state Senate. Ball this afternoon said he intends to run for the 40th state Senate District, a seat now held by Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson. For his part, Leibell today said it’s no secret he’s thought about running for Putnam county executive. That seat, now occupied by County Executive Robert Bondi, is also up for election next year.

Hall, Ball and Leibell were all together this afternoon at a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Peach Lake sewage treatment plant. Hall knew of Ball’s decision before the event got underway. Leibell said he found out at the ceremony. The state senator said he would make a decision in the coming weeks about what seat he will run for in 2010.

Ball, as you may recall, announced his intention to run for Congress back in May. This week, he released a poll showing him within five points of Hall. The poll was subsequently criticized for not sampling the entire Congressional district. The poll only took in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, not the Rockland and Orange county portions of the 19th C.D. Parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess are, however, in the senate district.

Read Ball’s press release after the break. You can also check out The Hill’s story. (more…)