Politics on the Hudson

 Ten New York lawmakers are part of a bipartisan group of 100 House members who want a congressional “super committee” to “go big” and consider all options, including revenue increases, for reducing federal deficits.
The group, which includes five Democrats and five Republicans from New York, sent a letter Wednesday to the Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction asking members to consider up to $4 trillion in spending cuts and revenue raisers over the next 10 years. The committee’s minimum goal is to recommend $1.2 trillion in cuts by Nov. 18.
“To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,’’ the letter states. “In addition, we know from other bipartisan frameworks that a target of some $4 trillion in deficit reduction is necessary to stabilize our debt as a share of the economy and assure America’s well-being.’’
New York Republicans Reps. Tom Reed of Corning, Richard Hanna of Oneida County, Michael Grimm of Staten Island, Bob Turner of Queens and Peter King of Long Island signed the letter.
The Democratic signatories are Reps. Brian Higgins of Buffalo, Tim Bishop of Long Island, Carolyn Maloney of Manhattan, Gregory Meeks of Queens and Bill Owens of Plattsburgh.
Overall, 60 Democrats and 40 Republicans signed the letter, which was spearheaded by Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho and Democratic Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina.
Shuler’s spokeswoman said Wednesday the group plans to seek signatures from more lawmakers in the coming days.

Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, released the following statement after Congress and President Obama reached a budget deal.

“When Congress cuts spending, the American people win.  We still need to do so much more, but this agreement is an important victory for taxpayers.  It’s also important to consider we are limited in our ability to cut spending by the President and the Senate.  Public pressure must continue to be applied to the Senate leadership and the President to stop spending money the federal government simply doesn’t have and to be responsible for the federal budget in the same way families have to be responsible for their budgets.  It’s that simple,” Hayworth said.

The $38.5 billion in 2011 budget cuts agreed to by President Barack Obama  and Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid in order to avert a government shutdown turned out to be too deep for many New York Democrats.

Obama and Reid reached an agreement with Republican House Speaker John Boehner shortly before a shutdown would have begun at midnight Friday.

Eleven Democrats from New York City voted against the $2 billion in immediate cuts that are part of the deal.

The measure approved by the House 348-70 and in Senate by a voice vote was signed into law early Saturday morning by President Barak Obama.  It keeps the government operating through Thursday while imposing $2 billion in immediate spending cuts.

The larger cuts will be voted on by Congress Wednesday or Thursday and will keep the government operating through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year.

 Rep. Jerrold Nalder, one of the 11 no votes from New York City,  said in a phone interview this evening he felt the cuts were aimed at the city because they involved transit, public housing and other programs important to the metropolitan area.

“I don’t like the whole agreement,’’ Nadler said. ”I think the cuts are too big.’’

Nadler said lawmakers didn’t know the programs targeted for the $2 billion in cuts until just before the vote.

High speed passenger rail will be cut by $1.5 billion, capital investment grants by $280 million, public housing operating funds by $149 million and  the university community fund by $25 million.

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx also voted no.

“While it is beneficial to avoid a government shutdown, a deal for the sake of making a deal is often a bad one,’’ Engel said.

The White House budget office issued a memorandum at midnight Friday advising agencies to continue their normal operations in light of an agreement between the White House and congressional negotiators on a 2011 budget deal.

  The New York impact was unclear because many of the details were not immediately announced.

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,  and  House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,  issued a joint statement  late Friday announcing an agreement to cut $78.5 billion from President Barack Obama’s proposed 2011  fiscal year budget.

Republican freshman Rep. Chris Gibson of Kinderhook hailed the agreement. “This includes about $39 billion in cuts from fiscal year 2010 levels, a figure that is over four times larger than any other cut in history,’’ Gibson said in a press statement. 

Another New York Republican freshman, Rep. Richard Hanna of Barneveld, said, ”Importantly, this bill is free of distracting and divisive social policy riders, which I have opposed from the start.’‘ 

The Senate voted by unanimous consent shortly after 11 p.m. on a stopgap budget measure with $2 billion in spending cuts to keep the government operating through Thursday.  The House approved the six-day measure shortly after midnight in a lopsided 348-70 vote.

The six-day spending measure is expected to serve as a bridge to keep the government operating while the budget deal is put into legislative language and voted on by Congress early next week .  

President Barack Obama said the deal means the Washington Monument and other parts of the federal government will be open for business.

But some federal programs are headed for cuts. 

“Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important to them,’’ Obama said. ” And I certainly did that.  Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful. Programs people rely on will be cut back.  Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed.  And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances.’‘ 

Obama indicated earlier this week that negotiators agreed to eliminate Pell grants for low-income college students attending summer school. Obama already proposed that in his 2012 budget request.

Obama also said some of the cuts would be in so-called mandatory, or entitlement spending. But he did not disclose whether the reductions would be in Medicare, Medicaid or other programs.

“Certainly cuts in areas like Medicaid, transportation funding will directly impact the state’s finances, but until we know the details we cannot say with accuracy exactly what the cuts would mean for our state,’’ said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s spokeswoman, Emily DeSantis. 

Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel of the Bronx said the deal slashes the budget too deeply and threatens the nation’s fragile recovery.

“While it is beneficial to avoid a government shutdown, a deal for the sake of making a deal is often a bad one,’’ Engel said. “The one good thing about this agreement is that it includes provisions to pay our military and their families. They make many sacrifices for their country, this should not be one of them.’’

House Republicans have maintained the baseline for the negotiations should be the bill approved in the House to reduce spending from 2010 levels by $61 billion. That bill also contained numerous policy “riders,” such as a measure to end federal funding of Planned Parenthood and stop the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gas emissions.

Boehner announced Friday afternoon that almost all the policy issues had been resolved, but Reid said the hang-up was over federal Title 10 spending on women’s health, which includes funding for Planned Parenthood.

Conservative Republicans want to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion services.  

Planned Parenthood says its federal money is used for women’s health services and its abortion services are separately financed.

Planned Parenthood in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties handled more than 37,000 annual visits by women seeking pap tests, birth control implants, birth control pills, IUDs, free condoms, emergency contraceptives, cervical cancer screenings, breast exams, HIV tests, tests for sexually transmitted diseases and abortions, according to spokeswoman Beverly Katz.

Federal money “all goes for preventative services,” she said, adding that abortions are performed at separate locations.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand joined other Democratic women senators at a news conference Friday attacking Republicans for focusing on abortion.

“Republicans need to wake up,’’ Gillibrand said. “Since the Hyde Amendment of the last 30 years, federal money does not pay for abortions in this country. What they are cutting in this bill are safety nets for poor, at-risk women.’‘

Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, has put out a statement criticizing President Obama’s proposed 2012 budget. His spending plan, she said, is “flawed and bloated.”

“The President’s rhetoric recognizing the seriousness of our fiscal crisis is inconsistent with the budget he released today.  By the President’s own numbers the plan will produce a record $1.6 trillion deficit this year and add $7.2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.  Our unsustainable debt burden is actively hindering economic growth and job creation.  One-third of the ‘savings’ this plan claims are really just tax increases on America’s job creators, the last thing the country needs.   This flawed and bloated proposal stands in stark contrast to what New Yorkers demand – limited government, less spending, and lower taxes to create jobs,” Hayworth said.

More on Obama’s projected savings and cuts can be found here. More on the overall budget picture can be found here. Further reaction by Republicans can be found here.

(Copies of President Obama’s 2012 budget are delivered to the Senate Budget Committee, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite))

There was little expectation today that lawmakers would accomplish much upon returning to Albany after being called back by Gov. David Paterson.

Legislators are returning to the Capitol to take up a host of measures being put forth by Paterson that have little, if any, support among the leadership in the state Legislature.

Speaking in New York City today, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said capping property taxes wasn’t realistic has local municipalities and school districts struggle to keep money in the bank.

“I think at this time when the state is cutting back, it is difficult for us to limit localities, limit school districts as to what they can do to provide for their members, their constituents,” he said.

Senate Democrats, who want to maintain and expand their narrow majority, continue to push for some form of property-tax relief.

“I think it’s incumbent that we finish up this budget process and it’s always been a priority that the final budget include property tax relief,” said Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx.

The governor is also pushing the Legislature to take up a plan to overhaul the SUNY system, which would allow individual campuses to set their own tuition rates with an annual cap and undertake economic development programs.

That plan, too, faces stiff opposition from key lawmakers in the Assembly. (more…)

Gov. David Paterson’s office released a list this afternoon of all the vetoes—an estimated 6,709—from the state budget.

The cuts include $600 million in education aid and an estimated $180 million to $190 million in re-appropriated member items, commonly known as pork. Additional spending adding by the Legislature in a  budget bill last month, about $106 million for the Tuition Assistance Program and community colleges, was also vetoed from the budget.

Paterson’s office formally delivered the vetoes to the Assembly, Senate and secretary of state’s office this afternoon. The vetoes had to be delivered by July 9 in order for them to officially take effect. Spokesman Morgan Hook said Paterson either signed or initialed every veto, which took seven hours over a period of two days. Paterson’s office even set up an Internet feed depicting a marathon veto session with members of his counsel’s office.

Hook reiterated that Paterson is not using the vetoes to gain some sort of concession from the Legislature, such as approving a contingency plan in case $1 billion in Medicaid funding doesn’t come to the state or a plan to overhaul the state university system.

Lawmakers have until Dec. 31 to override the budget.

“We’re not negotiating on these points,” Hook said.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, released a statement expressing disappointment over the vetoes.

“We are saddened that the Governor also chose to renege on commitments of funding support from prior years to non-profits and community-based organizations that run free clinics, care for children and the elderly, offer counseling for crime victims and provide other vital services to New Yorkers throughout the state,” Silver said in the statement.

Here is an inventory of all the spending items that were vetoed, according to the governor’s office:

Final Veto Summary Report

Gov. David Paterson might be nursing a severe writer’s cramp this weekend.

Spokesman Morgan Hook said this afternoon that Paterson is done signing more than 6,900 vetoes.

Paterson began a marathon session on Thursday to complete the process of striking hundreds of millions of dollars from the $135.7 billion budget approved by the Legislature earlier this week. While Paterson made a big show of signing many of the statements—his office invited reporters to watch and then set up a live video feed on the Internet—Paterson most likely used an “autopen” for many of the signing statements.

The governor made good on the veto threat earlier this week when he struck $419 million in education aid from the budget at a news conference on Monday night. Also vetoed this week was about $193 million in legislative earmarks that had been approved in prior budget years, but was due to be re-appropriated.

Hook said the vetoes will be delivered to the Senate and Assembly so that they can formally take effect.  A full tally of what was vetoed from the budget will be available then, he said.

The governor issued the vetoes after lawmakers approved a series of spending bills this week in an attempt to complete the budget, but failed to put together a contingency plan in case the state loses up to $1 billion in Medicaid funding from the federal government.

Sen. John  Sampson, D-Brooklyn, and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli don’t appear to be on the same page.

DiNapoli says the Legislature still must complete the budget, which was due on April 1. Despite passing a series of spending bills earlier this week, lawmakers still have not approved revenue measures which include a plan to expand the hours video-lottery terminals are open and a temporary suspension of the sales tax cap on clothing footwear.

“In the face of fiscal uncertainty, New Yorkers need action,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Stay in Albany and get the job done.”

While the Assembly will be working through the day to get the revenue measures approved, the Senate adjourned in the early afternoon. Sampson, the Senate Democratic leader, said the budget has been passed.

“We have done our job,” Sampson said a news conference highlighting the Democratic Senate’s accomplishments. “We have done the budget. We have an outstanding piece – the revenue plan.”

Also on the table is a plan to set up a contingency plan in case up to $1 billion in Medicaid money isn’t available from the federal government. Sampson, along with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, now say there is a need to approve a contingency plan, which Sampson said can be done without raising taxes or borrowing.

Gov. David Paterson raised the alarm that the money may not come through and said he would veto millions in new spending, pork and education aid if the Legislature approved a spending plan without the contingency in place. The lawmakers did so, and Paterson is striking more than 6,900 items from the budget.

Silver, too, is in favor of some sort of contingency plan after he dismissed the idea earlier this week.

He noted that other states have taken up contingency plans.

“It is not unreasonable to do what so many others have done across the country,” he said.

Gov. David Paterson dug into a big stack of bills to veto today.

He is issuing more than 6,900 line-item vetoes which will eventually strike about $700 million in spending, including aid for education and the expansion of the Tuition Assistance Program. Paterson is also vetoing $193 million in member items, commonly derided as pork, that had already been approved.

“We don’t have the resources to accommodate these programs,” Paterson said. “Admittedly, some of them are good.”

Paterson must sign his name to each veto message while staff from his counsel’s office lines out the spending line. The stack in the governor’s conference room is about three feet high, but that only accounted for about 4,900 or so vetoes, said spokesman Morgan Hook. The veto has not been delivered to the Legislature as of this morning.

The governor has already vetoed $419 million in education spending added by the Legislature earlier this week. Paterson is still trying to get the Legislature to go along with a plan to provide a contingency account in case the state loses up to $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding.

But even if Paterson gets the contingency plan, it is unlikely he will rescind any vetoes.

“I’m not going to sit here and try to kill myself trying to sign 6,900 vetoes as some sort of ploy for negotiations,” he told reporters.