Politics on the Hudson

   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…)

   Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx, one of the “Gang of Three” Democrats who have refrained from endorsing a majority leader in their party, may be warming to the idea, the Associated Press is reporting. Diaz has invited Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, to his house for Thanksgiving dinner.

   But Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, also has been invited to the festivities, according to the AP. If the conservative Democrats backed Skelos, he could continue to be in charge of the Senate, even though there are more Democrats than Republicans.

   Smith has been the heir apparent to the majority leader post after Democrats won control of the Senate for the first time in more than 40 years, but several conservative Democratic senators have been holding back. Diaz has said he would not back Smith for majority leader unless he pledged not to bring a vote on gay marriage to the floor.

   Diaz and the two other senators, Carl Kruger of Brooklyn and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada of the Bronx, recently recommended that the state hold a referendum on gay marriage.

   Sen.-elect Hiram Monserrate of Queens originally was part of the group but pulled out a few weeks ago to back Smith.

   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.

   The Campaign for Fiscal Equity could pursue reopening its court case or new litigation if state lawmakers and Gov. David Paterson implement the governor’s $836 million in cuts this school year to elementary and secondary schools in the state, Geri Palast, CFE’s executive director, said today.

   The reduction would hamper the state’s four-year plan to provide equitable funding in under-served districts statewide by boosting state education aid by more than $7 billion. (This is the second year.) The increase in funding was the state’s answer to a longstanding lawsuit filed on behalf of New York City schoolchildren. (CFE filed that lawsuit in 1993 and it wasn’t fully resolved until a few years ago.)

   The courts decided that all children in New York deserve a “sound basic education.” Lawmakers and the governor implemented a plan to boost funding to cover the whole state, although the courts prescribed that New York City schools receive a minimum increase of $1.93 billion over the four years plus inflation, Palast said.

   “Certainly, if the numbers were to fall below the court minimum we would certainly be able to go back to the court under the current case, and … we’re looking at all options,” she said. “I think our first choice is to try to resolve this with the governor, not in a litigation situation.”

   There is a potential for new litigation if the New York City numbers don’t work out or there is no solution worked out with Paterson and legislators, Palast said.

   She and other education and community advocates spoke out Monday against planned budget reductions to education. Under the Paterson proposal, the average classroom would lose $6,371, with some districts set to lose as much as $12,000 per classroom, according to an analysis by the labor-backed Fiscal Policy Institute. (more…)

For those craving more information on how what happens in Albany trickles down to your community, the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials has launched www.StopTheTaxShift.org. Its purpose is to educate policymakers, the media, the public and, more specifially, New York’s overburdened real property taxpayer.

With New York’s fiscal crisis, mayors and other local officials are preparing to fight back any potential threats to state aid they receive. Last week, members of the New York Association of Counties and the County Executives Association cautioned that reductions in state aid could negatively affect communities and result in property-tax hikes. Gov. David Paterson has asked lawmakers to hold a special budget-cutting session in Albany next week. New York faces a $1.5 billion shortfall this year, which is expected to grow, and $12.5 million in 2009-10.

“New York is at a crossroads,” Cohoes Mayor John McDonald, president of the Conference of Mayors, said in a statement. “Will our leaders repeat the near fatal mistakes of the early 1990s, when local aid was slashed, and from which many communities have never recovered? Or will the governor and state legislators take the right approach and protect municipal property taxpayers from the devastating effect of cuts in AIM (municipal aid) funding?”

Features on StopTheTaxShift.org include a blog by “Joe Taxpayer” and a “Mandate of the Week” section.

Word came over the weekend that Sen.-elect Hiram Monserrate had parted with the so-called “Gang of 4” Democrats and pledged to support Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, as majority leader and help Democrats keep their majority. But Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx just said in a statement that there was a “handshake commitment” between the four Democrats that they would not take any action until after they meet tomorrow, and they would make any decision public after that meeting.

Diaz also said he could not back any leader who would bring a vote on gay marriage to the floor for a vote. The Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a gay-marriage bill two years ago, but Republicans have not let it come up for a vote in the Senate.

Juanita Scarlett, a spokeswoman for Smith, said the Senate’s priority is the economy. “Senator Smith has said he will govern by the consensus of his conference,” she said, adding that he wants to change Senate rules to allow more legislation to be debated on the floor, even bills he doesn’t support.

Democrats won enough seats (32) last week to take control of the Senate for the first time in more than 40 years, but members of the “Gang of 4”- turned -”Gang of 3” have been holding back support for Smith and left open the possibility that they could be won over by Republicans wanting to keep the majority. Republicans won 30 seats. The other two members of the breakaway group are Sen. Carl Kruger of Brooklyn and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada of the Bronx.

This is part of Diaz’ statement:

“If Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate has made a decision in Puerto Rico to endorse Senator Malcolm Smith, that is his decision. I have not made a decision yet and hope the others have not either. I have not comitted myself to anybody, and my position as an ordained minister and a pastor will not allow e to support any would-be leader that will bring gay marriage to the Senate floor.

“This is nothing new. Mr. Smith and all my colleagues have known my position for more than a year. That does not make me a Republican. Where is it written that in order to be a Democrat you have to suport gay marriage? And where is it written that if you do not support gay marriage you are not a good Democrat? I have always been a Democrat. I remain a Democrat, and I will continue to be a Democrat. A Democrat who rejects gay marriage and abortion based upon my beliefs.”

In its mid-year economic and revenue-forecast report, the Senate Republican majority said the governor’s Division of Budget consistently overestimates future-year budget deficits. In the past three years, the executive has overestimated the out-year gaps by an average of $5.7 billion, according to the report by Global Insight.

Although recent events in the financial markets are likely to have a negative impact in the second half of the fiscal year, which ends March 31, state general fund receipts are $138 million higher than projected in the Budget Division’s first-quarter update and spending was $203 million lower, the report said. But Gov. David Paterson doubled the three-year deficit projection (through 2011-12) from $26.2 billion estimated three months ago to $45.5 billion, the GOP report said.

The Senate forecast said the general-fund spending for Medicaid will be less than predicted by the governor. Republicans estimate it will be $8.95 billion this year and $10.59 billion the following year, $265.8 million less than the Division of Budget projection.

Also in the report:—Tax collections are estimated at $61.6 billion this year and $61.1 billion in 2009-10.—Employment is expected to increase by 0.3 percent in 2008-09 and decline by 1.1 percent in 2009-10.—The 4.6 percent growth in personal income this year was primarily a result of economic-stimulus checks from the federal goverment. Income will grow at a slower pace the following year, at a rate of 1 percent. (more…)

Here are a few more details on how Tom Golisano’s Responsible New York did in Tuesday’s elections. Golisano, a billionaire who founded Paychex Inc. and ran for governor three times, poured millions of dollars into the political action committee. The PAC said it backed candidates in a non-partisan manner to remove Albany “from the grips of special interest.” It backed Republicans, Democrats and Conservatives.

                                              backed    won     %

Challengers v. incumb., Nov. 4..21……….1……4.76

Challengers v. incumb., primary..3……….3……100

Races with no incumb………………..3……….0………0

Incumbents………………………………94…..94…..100

   The Coalition to Save Marriage in New York issued a news release today that congratulated voters in California, Arizona and Florida for passing marriage-protection amendments. 

   With Tuesday’s results included, about 30 states prohibit same-sex marriage in their constitutions. Gay marriage is allowed in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The California Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the state had to recognize same-sex legal marriage, but Tuesday’s vote changes that.

   “The voters of California, Arizona and Florida have spoken clearly by passing constitutional amendments that uphold the traditional, opposite-sex definition of marriage. These victories are an answer to prayer,” the Rev. Duane Motley, executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, said in a statement. His group represents the interests of evangelical Christians and belongs to the coalition.

   Michael Long, head of New York’s Conservative Party, is also quoted in the release. The party is a member of the coalition.

   New York recognizes marriages of same-sex couples made outside the state. The Democrat-controlled Assembly has passed legislation that would allow same-sex marriage. The bill has not been introduced in the Senate, but that is expected to change. Tuesday’s election put Democrats in control of the chamber, rather than Republicans, for the first time in more than 40 years.

   Kevin Cathcart, Lambda Legal’s executive director, said in a statement today that his organization is disappointed but not discouraged by the losses. “We don’t think they predict the future—in fact they are the last gasps of the past. At Lambda Legal, we have seen our share of great victories and difficult setbacks in our 35 years, and we keep fighting,” he said.  (more…)

   Here are some new campaign finance/election stats from the New York Public Interest Research Group. About 40 Assembly and Senate incumbents lost their general elections between 1982 and the present:

1982 – 3
1984 – 6
1986 – 1
1988 – 3
1990 – 3
1992 – 2
1994 – 4
1996 – 2
1998 – 0
2000 – 1
2002 – 5
2004 – 4
2006 – 1
2008 – 4 (possibly 5 if a Queens senator who is leading in a tight race loses).

   NYPIRG tracked spending disparities through the 11 day pre-general campaign-finance filings for Senate and Assembly.

  In the Senate, nine incumbents outspent challengers by 10:1 or greater. Thirteen outspent challengers, but by a margin of less than 10:1. Challengers outspent incumbents in four cases, and there were five races no incumbents ran in. Fourteen incumbents did not face challengers.

   In the Assembly, 40 incumbents went unchallenged. Twenty-three incumbents outspent their challengers by a margin of 10-to-1 or greater. Six challengers outspent the incumbents, and six races had no incumbents running.