Politics on the Hudson

The Westchester County Board of Legislators last night  unanimously passed a law that bans deceptive pricing signs at gas stations.

It specifically affects stations that charge different prices for cash and credit card purchases and prohibits stations from misleading the public on those prices, which often differ by as much as 10 cents per gallon.

The bill was sponsored by Legislator Mike Kaplowitz, D-Somers.

Watch his segment below:

More than 23,500 people listened to County Executive Rob Astorino’s telephone town hall Tuesday night, according to numbers released by the administration today.

In this radio-like forum that ran a bit over an hour, Astorino fielded questions on pension costs, changes at the nature centers, the housing settlement with the federal government and other issues affecting people’s property taxes, which are among the highest in the country.

One caller asked for a cap on property taxes for senior citizens while another begged Astorino to keep the nature centers running as they are.

Astorino said those parks would be open and maintained, but not staffed; they would operate like passive parks.

After the session, callers — many who stayed on the line an average of 14 minutes — were prompted to take a poll and answer three questions relating to unions, AAA ratings and property taxes.

While Astorino acknowledged it wasn’t scientific, it’s a good way of getting feedback from the public.

Check out the results below:

• Do you think the county’s unions should contribute toward their healthcare, just like their state counterparts? 87 percent said yes, 9 percent said no and the remainder were unsure.


• Do you think it’s important that the county protect its triple A credit rating by not using money from the reserves to balance the budget? 64 percent said yes, 25 percent said no, the remainder were unsure.


• What is the most important issue to you and your family concerning the budget? 78 percent said no increase in property taxes, 12 percent said safety net programs for the needy and 10 percent said quality of life services like art and environmental programs.

School and business groups, not surprisingly, had different reactions today to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s discussions about changing the tax code and perhaps keeping higher income taxes on the wealthy.

Billy Easton, executive director of the labor-backed Alliance for Quality Education, said the state is suffering from letting the rich get a tax break come Jan. 1—at the same time schools, health care and other services are being cut.

The state will lose at least $4 billion in annual revenue when the higher income-tax brackets on those earning more than $200,000 a year expire.

“There is a choice that needs to be made, and a progressive revenue plan is absolutely essential to protecting our schools, communities, jobs and everything that is important to this state,” Easton said.

Michael Durant, executive director of the state chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said New York is already among the most heavily taxed states in the nation. Keeping higher taxes on the wealthy and on businesses would only hurt the state’s competitiveness.

Durant and Easton said they have not seen any proposal from Cuomo, who hasn’t detailed his plans, so it’s hard to say specifically whether they would support an initiative to change the tax code.

“I have a lot of concerns, but I’m not going to come out and blowtorch this idea without seeing it,” Durant said. He added, “If we’re going to continue to be the highest-taxed state, I’m not really sure that’s going to be spurring any economic growth – because what company is going to want to come in here and who is going to want to start a business knowing that they might be decimated by taxes?”

Cuomo has talked throughout his first year in office about holding down taxes as a way to make the state competitive with other states and to spur job creation. He continued that theme this morning in two radio interviews, saying in one that “If you use the tax code right, it’s a potent economic generator. If you use it incorrectly, you can stifle business.”

As the Wall Street Journal first reported, Cuomo is believed to be considering several options, such as higher income taxes for millionaires but lower than the rate that is set to expire at year’s end.

That way he can claim only millionaires—not those making more than $200,000—are paying higher taxes and, he could argue, even millionaires would still essentially be getting a tax break in 2012 compared to 2009 through 2011.

Additionally, Cuomo might seek to use the additional income—estimated by the Assembly at about $2.8 billion for the next fiscal year if the rates stay the same and just hit millionaires—for economic-development programs or infrastructure projects, which might appease some business groups.

Taking questions during his first news conference in Albany since taking office, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he’s confident the state’s same-sex marriage law will hold up in court.

Schneiderman was asked about a lawsuit filed by the conservative New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, in which the group makes a variety of procedural claims against the same-sex marriage law, including a claim that several meetings held in private with Senate Republicans violated the state’s Open Meetings Law.

In a decision that was made public yesterday, a judge in Livingston County ruled the lawsuit can proceed, taking issue with a variety of procedural steps taken by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Republicans.

“Obviously, we disagree with the court’s interpretation of the Open Meetings Law,” Schneiderman said. “It’s ongoing litigation, expected to go through the appellate process. The important thing to remember … is that the marriage-equality law is validly in place. Same-sex marriages can take place in New York. This does not in any way change the law.”

Schneiderman’s office had asked the judge to throw the suit out, arguing it was without merit. The attorney general said his office is “reviewing the decision” and hasn’t decided whether to appeal the judge’s ruling allowing it to proceed.

“Exactly what we do next has not been determined, but I am confident that this will work its way through the appellate process,” Schneiderman said. “And I’m confident that our position on the Open Meetings Law will be upheld.”

Here’s video of Schneiderman discussing the suit, as well as his relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo:

New York’s 65 and older population is growing at a slower rate compared to the rest of the country, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau, Gannett’s Aaron Scholder reports.

Based on 2010 population figures, the country’s 65 and older population grew at a rate faster than that of the general population. New York’s general population grew 2.1 percent compared to 2000, but its 65 and older demographic grew by 6.9 percent. Nationally, the number of people older than 65 grew at a rate of 15.1 percent between 2000 and 2010.

People 65 and older accounted for 13 percent of the nation’s population, which now stands at more than 308 million people. New York’s 65 and older population accounted for 13.5 percent of the state’s population, or 2.6 million of the state’s 19.4 million people.

Nationally, the South had the largest number of people in the older ages, while the Northeast had the largest percentage of older people compared to its overall population.

However, 53 of New York’s 62 counties exceeded the national percentile of population older than 65.

The data also revealed that the state’s population of people 85 and older grew slower than the national increase of 29.9 percent. New York’s saw a 25.5 percent increase of people older than 85, accounting for 2 percent of the state’s population.

The nine counties that saw a slower 65 and older rate than the national number were Jefferson, Orange, Oswego, Bronx, Kings, Queens, Richmond, Tompkins and Putnam.

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We reported today about the two vacant Assembly seats that will leave perhaps half of Dutchess County without representation on Jan. 1—until Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls a special election for the two seats, as well as ones in Buffalo and Yonkers.

And when Cuomo does call the special elections, there are plenty of interest already in one seat: the one being vacated by Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro, R-Tivoli, Dutchess County.

At least a half dozen potential Democrat and Republicans candidates have had discussions about running for Molinaro’s seat, according to the Dutchess County GOP and Democratic chairs. Molinaro was elected Dutchess County Executive earlier this month.

“There will be people that will be coming through,” said county GOP chairman Michael McCormack.

Among the Republican names mentioned: former Assemblyman Patrick Manning, who held the seat for 12 years before Molinaro beat him in a primary in 2006; Richard Wager, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2008; recently defeated Pine Plans supervisor Gregg Pulver; and Michael Kelsey, a Dutchess County legislator.

Manning said today he’s considering a run.

“I started getting calls after Mark’s win, and I’ve told people that I’m going to enjoy the holidays and figure out in the new year where we are going,” Manning said.

Democratic county chairwoman Elisa Sumner said she’s heard from several people interested in running for Molinaro’s 103th District seat, which covers the suburban towns in Dutchess County and parts of Columbia County. She wouldn’t say who was interested.

In special elections, the parties pick the candidates for the ballot.

Party leaders will also have to pick candidates to run to succeed Assemblyman Tom Kirwan, R-Newburgh, who passed away Monday at age 78. Kirwan represented the 100th Assembly District, which includes parts of Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties.

Former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat from Greenburgh, is scheduled to appear on Fox Business News at 6:45 p.m. tonight with Neil Cavuto.

The topic of the discussion, which Brodsky recently wrote about, will be class warfare, income inequality and the national debate surrounding these issues.

Here’s part of Brodsky’s article:

When the pressure is high enough, we all tend to revert to the dynamics of the playground, for better or worse. American politics seems filled with a kind of “is too/is not,” “so’s your old man” discourse. Now, I try to stay away from that kind of thing, for all the right reasons. But I hereby, temporarily, yield to temptation on an issue that will dominate the politics of 2012.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is extending a public comment period on it’s 1,500-plus-page set of proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, the agency announced at a hearing in New York City today.

The DEC released its proposed rules for comment in September, and a public comment period had originally been slated to close on Dec. 12. But the agency says many people had requested for more time—it was a popular ask at the three public hearings that have been held so far—so they’re extending it by 30 days.

“Many individuals and organizations requested additional time to prepare comments,” DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said in a statement. “We have decided to extend the comment period by 30 days to Jan. 11.”

The move is sure to please environmental groups, which had asked for as many as 180 days to review the document. The extension puts the total comment period in the neighborhood of 120.

Industry and landowner groups, however, have lamented the length of the review process, which was first launched in July 2008.

Ten people across the state have been charged with selling firearms at gun shows without performing a background check on buyers, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced today.

Gun sellers from Erie, Genesee, Orleans and Ulster county were among those nabbed in the sting operation. The attorney general’s office said undercover agents purchased firearms – including three assault rifles—at six gun shows statewide earlier this year.

The sellers were each charged with a class A misdemeanor of “failure to conduct a background check at a gun show.”

Schneiderman’s office also announced it would send subpoenas to gun-show operators compelling them to testify. They are also sending cease-and-desist letters to the gun shows where violations were uncovered to immediately stop the unlawful sales.

“The illegal sale of guns at gun shows endangers the public by giving felons, terrorists and the dangerously mentally ill an open and anonymous marketplace to buy guns without a background check,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

Among the 10 people charged were Dan Kowalczewski of Cheektowaga, Erie County; Christopher Sterling of Alden, Erie County; William Smith of Corfu, Genesee County; Peter Tric of Kingston, Ulster County; and Daniel Heinsler of Waterport, Orleans County.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo this morning refused to rule out whether he will consider raising taxes next year, particularly higher income taxes on the wealthy.

After a year of vowing to let higher income taxes on the rich expire at year’s end, Cuomo said on Fred Dicker’s radio show on Talk 1300-AM this morning that he’s reviewing a variety of options on how to close next year’s budget gap—including changes to the tax code.

Cuomo has talked recently about changes to the tax code as an issue of “fairness” and comes as he faces continued pressure from fellow Democrats and unions to retain higher taxes on the rich. The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that Cuomo is considering higher taxes on the rich and lower taxes on the poor.

“This is an economic problem, not a budget problem,” Cuomo said. “How do you create jobs in the state in a time when you have this national economy and the national current is running against you? What can a state do, what can this state do specifically to create private-sector jobs?”

The governor continued, “What programs would you run? What would you do with debt? What would do you with capital? What would you do with the budget? What would you do with the tax code to generate jobs?”

Cuomo said his budget plan will look at how to boost the economy, not just closing a budget gap.

“You have a budget problem. That’s not the illness, that’s the symptom. The illness is the economy is going south,” Cuomo said.

Asked whether he’ll raise taxes, “You’ll see my budget plan in seven weeks,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo said he has been talking with leading economists and aides about how to change the tax code to benefit the state’s economy.