Politics on the Hudson

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady, has launched an online campaign against a proposed tax on books, songs, albums and movies downloaded from the Internet. The Web site www.stoptheitax.com asks for people to join the cause and donate 99 cents, the price of a song, or more.

As part of his 2009-10 budget proposal last month, Gov. David Paterson recommended closing the “digital property taxation loophole.” Doing so means someone would pay the same tax online as they would in a store. A song on iTunes would cost $1.07, rather than 99 cents. Tedisco said he wants to stop the tax from becoming law in New York and elsewhere in the country.

“The iTax is on top of the Governor’s plans to tax us every time we drink soda or go to a movie or sporting event. Nice, huh???” the Web site says. (Paterson proposed 137 new or expanded taxes and fees, including on movies and sodas and beverages that have sugar.)

Supporters can buy anti-tax merchandise, join a discussion, listen to Tedisco’s YouTube message against the iTax or link to a Facebook page on the issue. (The Facebook page had 12 members as of 4:30 p.m.)

“Downloading music and content from iTunes and other digital services has become as American as apple pie. However, if the iTax passes, it’ll be the day the music died,” Tedisco said in a statement, referencing “American Pie” by Don McLean.

   Gov. David Paterson touched on a range of topics in answering questions from the news media at the National Governor’s Association meeting in Philadelphia this week.

  —On U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has been nominated to be President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state, Paterson said taking time to select a replacement does not deprive New York of seniority in the Senate. Characteristics he wants in a successor include seeing the imagination as being more important than history, and thinking in terms of what is possible rather than what isn’t possible.

   “One thing that any business leader, any government official or any bride or groom every learned is it never hurts to take a little more time in the selection process,” he said.

   Paterson said he has been receiving calls from “concerned citizens that think they can lead.” One person interested in the position waited for him outside an event at a local university (he did not say which one).

  —On the president-elect, Paterson said he was impressed that Barack Obama spent 1.5 hours speaking with governors and there were no restrictions on questions. Obama made a point to speak out to GOP governors and tell them that he thinks disagreement enhances the political process.

   Paterson said he spoke with Obama after the meeting about the economy, and that President Franklin Roosevelt reversed the deflationary problem during the Great Depression through an economic-stimulus package. New York has nearly 100 wastewater-treatment and road and transportation projects that could benefit from federal funds, he said.

  —On Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who ran unsuccessfully for vice president on the GOP ticket, the governor said he spoke with her about oil drilling and natural resources. Palin believes oil companies sometimes squander oil, Paterson said, but he thinks the tax code drives what they do. They’re not always holding oil back to drive prices up, but to get a better tax deal, he said.

   The governor described Palin as “very forthright, very outgoing and very direct.” (more…)

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, took some jabs at his Senate counterpart this morning on Talk 1300 Radio in Albany. Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, have both been criticized for not taking action last week on an emergency budget-cutting plan proposed by Gov. David Paterson.

Paterson called for a special session to vote on his $2 billion in budget reductions and he asked for input from lawmakers. Neither Silver nor Skelos presented ideas to the governor, and they decided against putting Paterson’s plan up for a vote in their chambers.

Silver said on the radio that he was willing to work with the governor and had told Paterson and others that “everything is on the table.” Silver said Skelos “effectively killed” the deal because he said he would need to see Paterson’s 2009-10 proposal before voting on this one. Silver said he thinks Skelos may want to leave everything to Democrats so his party doesn’t get blamed. The Republicans lost the majority in the Senate last month, the first time in more than 40 years, but the GOP is pushing several conservative Democrats to vote for a Republican majority leader and keep the party in power.

Skelos has expressed concern throughout the process that cuts in state funding not affect aid to schools and government and potentially create a need for property tax increases.

   Holiday shoppers aren’t the only ones being warned by financial types to keep a tight hold on their credit cards in a poor economy. In a bulletin, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is reminding anyone with state-issued plastic that there are looming budget deficits and the state is trying to clamp down on spending.

   “The state’s finances are in bad shape. And things will probably get worse before they get better,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “State agencies must carefully monitor all travel expenses, eliminate all unnecessary travel and remind employees that state-issued cards can only be used for appropriate and reasonable expenses.

   “Everyone must play by these rules. If they don’t, my office is watching expenses closely and will take appropriate steps if questionable or excessive charges are identified,” he said.

   DiNapoli said he plans to issue a series of bulletins to help state agencies review and control spending.

   These are some of his tips on appropriate use of state credit cards:

  —They are for use when an employee is on official state business and in travel status, meaning they are more than 35 miles from their official work station and their home. They can expense things like transportation, meals, tolls and unanticipated work supplies (which then become the property of New York State).

  —They cannot be used for personal charges or to purchase meals or other items on days when they are not in travel status.

Lawmakers did not take action last week on a budget-cutting measure that would have made mid-year education reductions of $836 million this school year, as Gov. David Paterson had recommended. The education cuts are still on the table, but Paterson said today he is withdrawing his proposal because “it is unlikely the Legislature will consider them anytime soon.

“Therefore, we would be well into the final quarter of our fiscal year and even further into the school year before any action would likely occur,” the governor wrote in a letter to school board presidents and superintendents. “Unfortunately, this timing renders the proposal impractical for this fiscal year and I am withdrawing it.

But that means the state will need deeper reductions in education spending next year to close the budget deficit, which is $1.5 billion now and is expected to be $12.5 billion for 2009-10 and a combined $47 billion over four years. Paterson is scheduled to release his 2009-10 budget proposal Dec. 16, a month earlier than the tradition release date.

“I acknowledge that your costs are rising, but I believe all levels of government must reduce spending,” Paterson’s letter to school boards and superintendents said. “This year, I have reduced state agency spending by more than 10 percent. In this unprecedented fiscal crisis, school districts, like all levels of government, will have to take a similar approach and find ways to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of their operations on behalf of taxpayers.”

School leaders have said they expected to take a greater hit because the mid-year budget cuts were not approved, and districts have been planning their budgets conservatively.

Paterson’s letter said essentially that there are no sacred cows when it comes to cuts. (more…)

   The State University of New York’s student enrollment has reached a new high this year, despite having a net loss of $210 million in cuts by the governor and lawmakers. The student population at the 64-campus system grew by 12,226, almost 3 percent over last fall, to 439,624.

   In the past decade, SUNY has experienced a 20 percent boost in enrollment.

   “This record enrollment is more evidence that students recognize the educational excellence offered by our SUNY campuses,” Carl Hayden, SUNY Board of Trustees chairman, said in a statement. “In a time of difficult economic challenges for students and their families, SUNY clearly is the right choice for an accessible, affordable and high quality higher education experience.” 

   Earlier this week, SUNY trustees approved a plan to gradually increase tuition each year, with the intent of making tuition more predictable and paying for increased expenses at the school. The last time SUNY tuition went up was in 2003, when it increased 28 percent to $2,350.

   Gov. David Paterson has recommended a tuition hike of $300 a semester, starting in the spring. Trustees have endorsed upping tuition by $310 a semester under the same timetable. The governor will take the trustees’ tuition and budget recommendation into consideration before submitting his budget proposal next month.

   The enrollment growth shows there is a growing demand for access to public higher education in New York, which “must be met with the resources required for the continued delivery of educational opportunities that make SUNY a great public institution,” said SUNY Provost Risa Palm.

   Lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson may have failed to take any action yesterday on the state budget, but outside the Capitol today, East Park was bustling with activity. About 10 workers are putting up a Christmas tree and tethering it to the ground.

   Paterson called the Assembly and Senate into emergency legislative session yesterday, with the intention of convincing members to cut $2 billion out of this year’s budget to take care of the state’s deficit. They couldn’t agree on anything, and a public meeting held by Paterson and legislative leaders was contentious. The governor plans to release his 2009-10 budget proposal in a month.

   The East Park tree is a 30-foot blue spruce donated by Arlene Blazin of Latham, an Albany suburb, according to the state Office of General Services. A 35-foot blue spruce tree that will be erected in nearby Empire State Plaza (across from the Capitol) arrives tomorrow. It is being donated by Frank and Marie Riberdy of Waterford, Saratoga County.

LED lights will be put on the trees in the next week or so, and the spruces will be formally lit Dec. 7, a spokesman for the Office of General Services said.

   About 450 librarians and library supporters rallied against budget cuts at the Capitol Tuesday. Gov. David Paterson has proposed $20 million in cuts to libraries, which the New York Library Association would bring library aid down for the state’s 73 library systems to a level not seen since 1993. State aid to libraries was flat between 1998 and 2006, according to the group. It was reduced from $103 million in 2007 to $100 million in April, then $99 million in August.

   “The library community is outraged by this proposal and the continued targeting of libraries to solve the state’s budget shortfalls. Library aid has already been cut twice this year, in April by 2 percent as part of the adopted 2008-09 state budget and then again at the special session in August by another 6 percent,” Michael Borges, executive director of the association, said in a statement.

   The governor called lawmakers into an emergency session Tuesday to make mid-year budget cuts, but legislators did not take any action. Paterson has warned that the state faces a budget deficit of $1.5 million and growing this year.

    “No other educational institutions have been targeted for a 20 percent cut in state funding. There seems to be no recognition by state budget makers that library usage has skyrocketed over the last year as more people turn to libraries for finding jobs, improving their literacy skills, and for free reading materials and programs for their families,” Borges said.

   The state could could put a big dent in what it pays for funding school districts by changing employee contributions to health-care premiums and public pensions, 80 percent of school-board members said in an informal poll conducted by the state School Boards Association.

   In responding to an e-mail poll, 409 school-board members named the deficit-reduction measure that would have the most impact in their districts, rather than slashing $836 million this budget year, as Gov. David Paterson has proposed to help reduce the state budget. These are the results:

  —39 percent said requiring a minimum health-care contribution in employee contracts.

  —38 percent said requiring employee-pension contributions throughout the duration of employment.

  —23 percent said eliminating salary-step increases under expired contracts.  

   As for what individual school boards could do that would have the greatest effect; 26 percent said joining a health-care consortium; 20 percent said sharing services with other districts; 19 percent said joining a regional transportation agreement; 18 percent said participating in a regional energy-purchasing cooperative; and 17 percent said merging with another district.

   “These results indicate that Governor Paterson and state lawmakers should be trying to help school districts during this time of economic crisis, rather than making devastating mid-year cuts to education,” Timothy Kremer, head of the School Boards Association, said in a statement.

   The growth in personal income taxes continued to decline last month, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s October Cash Report. Business taxes were significantly below what they were last year and are expected to continue dropping off, the report said.

   “The big picture is becoming even more dismal,” DiNapoli said in releasing the report, a day before lawmakers meet in a special budget-cutting session to deal with the state’s $1.5 billion-and-growing deficit this fiscal year. “The numbers continue to fall, and it’s expected to get worse in December and January. The massive losses in the financial sector aren’t over yet.”

   DiNapoli encouraged lawmakers to take action now, rather than wait, as some legislative leaders have proposed.

   Here are some statistics from the report:

  —General fund revenues of $31.3 billion were $44.8 million below the Budget Division’s projections.

  —General fund business-tax collections were $35.6 million in October, slightly higher than anticipated. However, general-fund business tax collections have been reduced by more than $900 million since the fiscal year began.

  —Collections of personal income taxes were $251.8 million for October, $24.8 million below what was projected through October. Total personal income-tax collections of $14.5 billion are $1.8 billion higher than last year at this time. Withholding collections have remained strong throughout the year, but growth appears to be slowing.

  —Total spending of $67.5 billion was $437.9 million below what has been planned. The difference is mainly due to lower-than-expected spending for local assistance programs, and lower-than-anticipated spending for general state charges and capital projects. This was offset by slightly higher-than-expected spending for other state programs.