Politics on the Hudson

They may not have a lot in common, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has the back of Gov. David Paterson when it comes to his 6,900 or so vetoes of new spending and legislative pork.

Paterson struck out $419 million in school aid and plans to veto an additional $300 million in member item projects after lawmakers passed their own budget without a contingency plan in case the state loses up $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding.

Paladino, who called the governor a “drug addict” last week, gave Paterson some credit.

“Governor David Paterson deserves credit for inking up his stamp to veto $419 million in education spending and for pledging to take aim at an additional $300 million in new spending and pork. I would not sign the very first extender and every extender thereafter until the runaway State Legislature stops wasting taxpayers’ money. But better late than never,” Paladino said. “This never-ending budget drama represents the kind of irresponsible government I will change when I become governor.”

Paladino, a developer and business man from Buffalo, is trying to wrest the GOP nomination for governor away from former Rep. Rick Lazio, the party’s preferred candidate by petitioning for a spot on the primary ballot. He is also trying to gain a spot on the November ballot on a third-party line.

Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, said Democrats have failed to answer a basic question: How much spending is in the state budget?

“I think it would take a cross between a wizard and an alchemist to determine where we stand now with the budget,” he said.

Senate Democratic officials have estimated the final budget number at about $136 billion.

And when asked if Democrats would be able to mount an override of Gov. David Paterson’s 6,900 vetoes, Saland said it appeared unlikely. The Senate Democrats would need ten GOP lawmakers to break party ranks and vote for an override.

“I don’t think that can be determined right now,” Saland said.

Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats, said the Republicans are letting the governor veto cuts to education, which would be used to pay down local school taxes in wealthy districts.

“We restored funding for schools and provided property-tax relief,” he said. “Now it’s up to the Senate Republicans to stand up for what they claim to believe in.”

The Senate Democrats aren’t very happy with Gov. David Paterson’s veto of $419 million in school aid and $193 million in pork-barrel projects.

So, in a fit of retaliation, the Democratic leadership is refusing to draft any bills submitted by Paterson’s office—known as program bills—and has tabled his judiciary nominations. The Judiciary Committee was due to take up the nominations of Michelle Ila Schauer as Judge of the Westchester County Family Court; Vincent J. Rizzo as Judge of the Monroe County Court; and Glen T. Bruening as Judge of the Court of Claims.

Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, admitted today after meeting with the governor that it was a tactic in the budget process.

“It’s all about negotiations,” Sampson said. “You have to use whatever tools you have to negotiate.

Press further, he added, “This is about negotiations with all respective parties.”

Sampson and Paterson met privately for about 30 minutes, but didn’t appear to break any new ground. Asked about the cuts to member items, Sampson said lawmakers had more pressing concerns.

“It’s not about member items,” he said. “It’s more important about making sure that we get back that money for education and also for property tax (cap). Those are very key components for our conference.”

GOP lawmakers in the Senate are not pleased that the STAR program—designed to provide property-tax relief for homeowners in the form of a rebate check—has been cut in the state Legislature’s budget.

The exemptions would end for those with homes valued at more than $2 million. Gov. David Paterson supported a 4 percent cap on property taxes each year. The cap, supported by suburban and upstate lawmakers, was not in the final version of the budget.

Republicans blasted the budget for its spending proposals and cuts to STAR.

By increasing spending with no way to pay for it, Democrats have created an unbalanced budget that includes no relief for property taxpayers and continues to cut the STAR property tax relief program by millions of dollars.

This budget does nothing to create jobs. In fact, Democrats voted to eliminate half a billion dollars in job creation tax credits that will jeopardize thousands of jobs, especially upstate.

After raising taxes by more than $10 billion last year, Democrats are adding billions more in tax and fee hikes this year. This disastrous budget will hurt every business, every family and every taxpayer in this state.

The budget taxes too much and spends too much. How much? Even the Democrat Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Carl Kruger, had no idea about the exact size of the budget when it was voted on. Despite this, every Democrat voted for the budget and every taxpayer should be as outraged as we are.

After a tortured budget process where they violated the budget reform law, negotiated in total secrecy, excluded Republicans from the process and rejected every alternative we offered to reduce spending, Senator Sampson and Speaker Silver took matters into their own hands and created an irresponsible, unbalanced budget that Senate Republicans unanimously opposed.

They should not expect or count on Senate Republicans to bail them out of the mess that they have made of this budget and the damage they are inflicting on taxpayers.

The state Legislature is forging ahead despite Gov. David Paterson’s Monday night veto of more than $400 million in restored education aid, and continued vetoes to member items and other new spending approved by lawmakers the same day.

The bill on today’s active list would pay lawmakers all of their back pay from April 1, which they have not been receiving while the budget has remained unfinished. The Senate’s back pay amounts to $4.9 million. The Assembly would be paid $11.9 million. It is possible, however, they will set this bill aside until the revenue measures are approved.

Meanwhile, legislative leaders reacted to the governor’s vetoes. Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, told reporters Monday night that he hoped to work with the governor in the coming days to set up a contingency plan for the possible loss of up to $1 billion in Medicaid funding and a plan that would allow individual state university campuses to set tuition rates.

The Assembly complained the governor’s veto would hurt education.

“The Governor’s decision to veto these bills will mean larger classes, higher property taxes and more expensive tuition for SUNY and CUNY students,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said in a statement.

The Assembly could mount an override, but Democrats in the Senate hold a tenuous majority—32-30—and would have  much tougher go of it.

State lawmakers approved a series of spending measures that would restore $600 million in education aid from the $1.4 billion in cuts proposed by Gov. David Paterson and additional spending for mental health and hygiene.

But now the Legislature must face down Paterson’s veto threat and the vote for revenue-raisers that include a temporary suspension of the sales tax for clothing and footwear, expanding the hours of video-lottery terminals and a controversial proposal to allow the state and local governments borrow from the state’s pension fund.

The plan does not include a cap on property taxes or allows grocery stores to sell wine, the latter would bring $150 million in revenue.

Paterson’s office estimates the Legislature’s budget has a $400 million hole and must take into account the possible withholding of $1 billion in Medicaid funding.

If Paterson makes good on his veto threat, all of the spending passed would be moot. That includes the education aid, new spending and $193 million in member items, also known as pork.

Republican lawmakers also blasted the budget process, calling it irresponsible. Here is Sen. Stephen Saland, R-Poughkeepsie and Sen. Michael Nozzolio, R-Fayette, Seneca County airing their concerns.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was not impressed with this morning’s delivery of Gov. David Paterson’s budget bills that—constitutionally speaking—the Legislature was not required to receive.

The governor’s office delivered the bills—and gave a heads up to reporters—this morning with proposals that include a plant to sell wine in grocery stores and a cap on property taxes. But the Legislature’s joint proposal was to be voted on later today. The Assembly already approved its budget bills, which restores $600 million of the $1.4 billion in education cuts Paterson proposed earlier this year.

The bills were left outside the offices of the legal counsels to both the Senate and Assembly.

Silver dismissed the bill delivery event as a stunt.

“This is an extender bill he talked about Friday but he never delivered it to the Legislature and to make a circus about delivering it is both demeaning to the Legislature and the office of the governor,” Silver said. “This is some attempt by somebody with a great fanfare to change what we’ve put forward.”

One of the revenue-raisers that has a home in both the Legislature’s and Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposals is a plan to halve the deductibles the super rich can claim on charitable contributions.

Currently, those who make $10 million or more can deduct 50 percent of there charitable contributions. Under a plan presented by the governor’s office and backed by the Legislature, the amount of deductibles those people can claim would fall to 25 percent.

Now a consortium of charities is hitting back agains the idea. A bill memo was sent to lawmakers arguing against the reduction. They claim the measure would greatly reduce the number of contributions made by the most generous New Yorkers. The charities include the United Way, American Red Cross, New York State Catholic Conference and the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies.

“Any cap on charitable deductions means some people will be taxed on income they are contributing to advance the common good. Disconnecting the charitable deduction from the tax rate is a step toward abandoning who we are as a nation — one that lifts up and supports those in need. More importantly, as a result of a cap, some people will give less, and those who most need the help will be hurt.”

Here is their full memo:
Char It Deduct Memo of Opp June 28 Rev

Lawmakers from upstate and suburban districts are unhappy that the proposed two-way budget agreement between the Assembly and Senate does not include a property-tax cap, as proposed by Gov. David Paterson.

The Legislature’s plan would restore $600 million in school aid, which the Democratic leadership said could be used to lower local school taxes. Paterson had initially proposed cutting $1.4 billion, but his revised emergency appropriation bill would store $300 million of that.

Democratic senators, who met privately for several hours, were seen storming out of the meeting and said little to reporters when they left.

Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, Jefferson County however, said he has “concerns about the lack of a property-tax cap.

“At this point, we’re working to get the budget closed down in a fashion that, you know, is acceptable that everybody has to vote on,” Aubertine said.

Aubertine said he hadn’t made a final decision yet on voting for the bills as they stand.

“I’m a proponent of the tax cap, that’s not there at the moment,” Aubertine said. “But we’re trying to work it out, trying to find that middle ground.”

Sen. Ruben Diaz angrily left the meeting saying, “Stupid, stupid, stupid” and added that the Democrats have “32 minus 1.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, left his meeting with Democratic Assembly members to say that he was confident the budget bills would pass today.

“I have no reason to believe the Senate will not do the same,” he said of passing the budget.

The Senate and Assembly this morning refused to take up the governor’s budget—or even accept the bills.

Staffers from the governor’s office tried to deliver the final emergency-budget appropriation to the Legislature and were rebuffed, first by Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran and later by William Collins, the legal counsel for the Assembly Democrats.

“We prefer a negotiated agreement rather than a last-minute un-negotiated bill,” Shafran said.

Next, the aides walked down the hall to the Assembly’s offices in the Capitol building. William Collins, the legal counsel for the Assembly Democrats, met them.

“You may leave the bills here,” Collins said. “We don’t accept and do not intend to introduce whatever documents you provide.”

The governor’s office claims the refusal to accept the bills—which lawmakers would not have to vote on—is unprecedented.

“As custom they’ve always accepted the governor’s program bills,” said Jeffrey Pearlman, a lawyer for the governor’s office. “They may not introduce, but the physical sharing is a matter of the co-equal sharing of the branches of government.”

The bills were left on the marble floor feet away from the Assembly chamber.

Paterson’s budget would cap property taxes at 4 percent annually and includes a plan to sell wine in grocery stores. The Legislature’s competing budget would restore $600 million of a $1.4 billion budget first proposed by Paterson.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on at least some of their own budget bills later today. Paterson threatened Sunday to veto $500 million in new spending and $193 in legislative pork if the bills pass without a contingency plan accounting for the possibility of the state losing up to $1 billion in federal Medicaid funding.