Politics on the Hudson

Former state Sen. Nick Spano will plead guilty Friday to federal tax charges, the Journal News confirmed.

Citing sources, the Journal News said Spano, the longtime Republican leader from Yonkers, will plead guilty to under reporting his income during an 8-year stretch. The plea deal was first reported by NBC New York.

Spano, 58, was a major power broker during his time in Albany, serving as one of the top leaders in the Republican-controlled Senate. He served in a competitive district that Democrats targeted.

In 2004, he beat Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins by 18 votes, but then lost to her two years later.

Spano, the eldest of 16 children, was first elected to the state Assembly in 1979 at age 25.

Since leaving office, he parlayed his influence in Albany into his own lobbying firm, Empire Strategic Planning. On the company’s website, it boasts that Spano “remains a major player in New York State government and political circles.”

From the Journal News:

He is expected to enter his plea in federal court in White Plains. The U.S. Attorney’s office would not comment, but in a press advisory issued Thursday night spokesman Herbert Hadad said that “a proceeding of interest in a public corruption matter” would take place at approximately 10:30 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Margaret Smith.

Spano’s attorney, Richard Levitt, declined to comment Thursday night. Spano is accused of underreporting his income, $42,000 in federal income taxes and $10,000 in state taxes, from 2000-2008.

Spano served in the state Senate from 1986 to 2006, when he lost to Sen. Andrea Stewart Cousins, a Democrat from Yonkers. His brother, Michael, is a former assemblyman who was recently elected Yonkers mayor.

Spano is currently head of is now the head of Empire Strategic Planning, a lobbying firm that does business with Albany and Westchester. His long list of clients includes Yonkers Raceway, City Carting Inc., Struever Fidelco Cappelli in Yonkers and the unions for the Westchester County police and correction officers.

Volunteers with Obama for America delivered 56,586 petition signatures to the state Board of Elections earlier today to place President Obama on the New York ballot for the April 24 primary, according to the group, which worked with the state Democratic Party. The number of signatures handed in is more than 11 times what is legally required.

Obama for America also filed more than 1,000 signatures for each of New York’s 29 congressional districts to nominate district delegates. The delegates, who will be elected during the April primary, will represent the president at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina.

“The election in November represents a clear choice for the American people, between continuing the progress the Obama Administration has begun creating jobs and restoring economic security for hard working Americans or the Republican candidates who continue to fight to protect tax breaks for only the wealthiest corporations and individuals, and propose returning to the same failed policies that created the current economic recession in the first place,” Obama for America New York Director Robert Diamond said in a statement.

State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs said Democrats in New York “were eager to roll up their sleeves and work closely with the Obama campaign to get the President on the ballot in New York.

In a decision handed down today, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe is once again disappointed in how New York is handling its elections process when it comes to overseas and military voters.

Sharpe recently ordered that the state hold its congressional primary this year June 26 after state officials failed to reach an agreement on their own that would comply with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment—MOVE – Act. The law requires that overseas and military voters get absentee ballots in enough time to participate in the general election.

New York is on track to have three primaries—the presidential one in April, the June congressional primary and the September primary for state offices. The MOVE Act only applies to federal elections. All members of the Senate and Assembly are up for election this fall. The Democrat-controlled Assembly wanted a June federal primary and the GOP-led Senate wanted it in August.

Sharpe’s ruling last month required the state Board of Elections to submit an elections calendar. However, the agency submitted two—one from the Democratic officials and one from Republicans.

“New York has once again demonstrated its intransigent refusal to comply with a federal mandate protecting the federal voting rights of those serving in the military overseas and those otherwise living on foreign soil,” Sharpe wrote in today’s decision.

The colorful Sharpe noted in his ruling that the submissions “remind the court of Strother Martin’s (Captain, Florida Road Prison 36) admonition to Paul Newman (Prisoner Luke): “What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” The dialogue is from the 1967 movie “Cool Hand Luke.”

The calendar submitted on behalf of Republican commissioners James Walsh and Gregory Peterson and Co-Executive Director Todd Valentine “erroneously interprets the prior order,” according to Sharpe. The submission states the Republicans have not interpreted Sharpe’s previous order requiring a calendar to mean he is requirement “wholesale changes to those statutes in an effort to cure any possible infirmities therein.” The submission is only a partial calendar that applies current electoral law to the new primary date but suggests the agency doesn’t have authority to recommend , the judge wrote.

The calendar submitted on behalf of Democratic commissioners Evelyn Aquila and Douglas Kellner and C0-Executive Director Robert Brehm has been modified based on the court’s prior order, said Sharpe, who chose that calendar. The number of days to circulate designating petitions for federal office would be 28 days instead of 38, beginning March 20. Senate and House candidates would need 25 percent fewer signatures on petitions. (This is a redistricting year, and proposed congressional districts have not been released yet.)

“The court is aware of the public and political outcry caused by its having selected a June primary date and it is also aware of the adverse economic consequences that may result if New York feels constrained to hold multiple primaries,” Sharpe wrote. “However, the court has not ordered multiple primaries and the public deserves to know the history of this litigation.”

New York has “disenfranchised” overseas and military voters since Congress passed the MOVE Act amendment more two years ago, Sharpe said.

This is Sharpe’s order:

Court Decision 2-9-12 Re USA v NYSBOE-1

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration announced a tentative contract agreement this afternoon with about law enforcement members of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association who are not eligible for arbitration. If ratified, the contract would apply to roughly 1,600 members of the union, which has more than 26,000 employees and retirees.

Donn Rowe, president of the union, said members will submit their votes on the deal by March 2.

“With this agreement, Governor Cuomo is recognizing the hard work of our law enforcement members and the valuable service they perform for the public,” Rowe said in a statement.

The state and union worked together for a “fair and reasonable contract that protects the jobs of our men and women in law enforcement,” the governor said in a statement.

Unions whose contracts have not been finalized include the balance of NYSCOPBA, United University Professions and the State Police.

These are some of the terms of the deal:
—No wage hikes for 2011-2013, followed by 2 percent increases in 2014 and 2015.
—Retroactive wage increases of 3 percent and 4 percent in 2009-10. The funds were previously reserved in the state financial plan.
—Nine days of furlough—five this fiscal year, which ends April 1, and four in the next fiscal year. Deductions come from the retroactive pay. Employees will be repaid the value of four days starting at the end of the contract term.
—A $1,000 retention bonus—$775 in the third year and $225 in the fourth.
—A 2 percent hike in health-insurance premium contributions for Grade 9 employees and below; and 6 percent for Grade 10 and above.
—Broad layoff protection. That doesn’t apply to management decisions to close or restructure facilities authorized by legislation, recommendations by the state Spending and Government Efficiency Commission or unanticipated changes in the state’s fiscal situation.

The Children First Foundation has been trying since 2001 to get a “Choose Life” license plate in New York and was dumbfounded when Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday simply announced a new license plate for the New York Giants.

“This is an outrage,” Elizabeth Rex, president of the Eastchester, Westchester County-based Children First Foundation, said today.

Rex said that “The governor was encouraging everyone to help the state by getting a new Giants commemorative plate. It adds insult to injury for those of us who have been waiting for over eight years for our license plates.”

The state Department of Motor Vehicles said earlier this week that the Giants plate is not a new plate, only a modification of an existing Giants Super Bowl plate.

In 2004, the state put a moratorium on the issuance of any new custom license plates, and the Children First Foundation has fought the moratorium in court. In November, Judge Neal McCurn in Syracuse ruled that New York’s argument to block the plates is an infringement of First Amendment rights.

But now New York is appealing.

Rex said Cuomo could “snap his fingers” and lift the moratorium, saying there are more than 100 groups that have sought license plates for their organizations. There was no immediate comment today from the DMV.

New York is expected to receive nearly $790 million in the sweeping federal mortgage settlement today, including $495 million for loan modifications and $136 million in direct payment to the state, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.

The agreement also includes $140 million for homeowners to refinance their mortgages and $13 million to pay victims of wrongful foreclosure.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 46,000 borrowers in New York would benefit from the wrongful foreclosure, refinance and loan modification programs.

“Thanks to the advocacy and support of Americans across the country, we have preserved the right to continue investigating the misconduct that led to the bubble and crash of the housing market,” Schneiderman said in a statement.

For victims of wrongful foreclosure, $1.5 billion is being set aside by the banks; roughly $1,800 to $2,000 per homeowner. New York has about 6,400 victims who would qualify.

Schneiderman estimated that New York has about 118,000 homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. The agreement could mean about $1,150 per “underwater” borrower, if they qualify, about 7,400 borrowers.

New York has about 142,000 homeowners who are seriously delinquent. Schneiderman estimated that 21,000 New Yorkers would be eligible for about $965 each in the agreement.

Schneiderman had fought with the Obama administration over a settlement with the nation’s largest banks that contributed to the mortgage meltdown. The first-term attorney general was among a few states that held out for a tougher settlement.

President Obama last month named Schneiderman to head up a new mortgage crisis unit.

Schneiderman said New York did well in the settlement, even though other states have more distressed properties. The state got the fourth largest amount at $136 million, or 5 percent, of the $2.7 billion pot. Only California, Florida and Texas received more.

The deal allows New York to continue its lawsuit filed Friday against three major banks that accuses them of fraud over the use of an electronic mortgage database.

Industries supported by New York’s Environmental Protection Fund generate roughly $40 billion a year for the state’s economy and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs, the Trust for Public Land, a national conservation organization, and the New York Environmental Leaders Group, said in a report today. The analysis found that every dollar invested in protecting land through the fund reaps $7 in economic benefits in the form of natural goods and services, including filtering air and water of pollutants and flood control.

EPF programs fund the protection of open space and farmland, historic preservation, recreation, parks, recycling and solid-waste management, the report said. Those activities support a range of industries, such as tourism, agriculture, outdoor recreation and protecting drinking water. Job numbers include 130,000 in outdoor recreation activity; 38,000 in forest-related manufacturing and logging; 117,000 for farm operators and laborers; and 32,000 in recycling.

“As we conduct these studies around the nation, we are finding, time and time again, that investments in land conversation, urban development, and environmental infrastructure, yield returns that sustain and stimulate local and regional economies,” Jessica Sargent-Michaud, economist for the Trust for Public Land and author of the report. “The findings for New York’s Environmental Protection Fund show that the stronger the EPF is, the more local economies benefit.”

EPF funding was $134 million in both 2010 and 2011, one-tenth of 1 percent of state spending. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which starts April 1, would continue to spend $134 million for the fund.

“It’s time we started looking at the EPF in a different way; not just as the state’s premier tool to protect the environment, but also as a sound economic investment for a state that is still recovering from the worst recession in three generations,” Carl Meyer, president and chief operating officer of the Solar Energy Consortium, said in a statement. “This report clearly demonstrates that the EPF is a job creator and revenue generator for New York. Enhanced investment in the EPF will only increase those benefits.”

Joseph Bonura Jr., partner, Bonura Hospitality Group, Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel, said the report makes clear that investments from the fund have sustained tourism and jobs, “and we are grateful.”

Republicans say their challenger to longtime Congresswoman Nita Lowey, a Harrison Democrat, is among many to watch across the country.

The National Republican Congressional Committee today announced that Mark Rosen is an ‘On the Radar’ candidate. Rosen is running for New York’s 18^th Congressional District.

“We are looking forward to working with Mark Rosen, who has already proven himself by meeting rigorous benchmarks in the ‘Young Guns’ program that will position his campaign for victory,” said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas. “Mark Rosen’s dedication and experience positions him to advocate for pro-growth policies and fight the failed Democrat status quo in Washington. This will stand in stark contrast to the Democrats’ record of spending, borrowing and taxing that New York families know has failed.”

The NRCC says it’s an important step in the ‘Young Guns’ program, which was founded during the 2007-2008 election cycle by Reps. Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, and and Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

The program is a way of recruiting strong candidates to run. Rosen is among 21 Republican candidates from across the country that were announced by the NRCC today, and one of only two in New York.

New York may be letting the New York Giants have a revamped custom license plate for its Super Bowl victory, but the state is still fighting to keep a moratorium on the issuance of any new vanity plates.

The state Attorney General’s Office quietly filed an appeal in December of a federal court ruling in November that New York’s moratorium on new plates is an infringement of First Amendment rights.

The Children First Foundation has been seeking the “Choose Life” license plate from the state since 2001, saying that other organizations had been able to obtain custom plates for their causes.

But the state has fought the application and in 2004 put a moratorium on the issuance of any new custom license plates.

Below is the state’s notice of appeal. Its actual arguments are due in April.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles and Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced a new vanity plate celebrating the Giants Super Bowl win. But DMV officials said it’s not a new plate, only a reissue of an older plate for the Giants previous Super Bowl win.

On the heels of the Giants plate, Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, today renewed his call for the state to pass legislation tocreate a license plate to commemorate for the victims and heroes of 9/11.

“If the DMV can find a way to issue a Super Bowl license plate, then without question, it’s beyond time for them to provide New Yorkers with a special commemorative plate to honor the real American heroes of 9/11,” Tedisco said in a statement.

In 2006, then-Gov. George Pataki vetoed legislation that would have created 15 new license plates—including a Sept. 11, 2001, remembrance, a “Westchester Way”
campaign to fund tourism and a “Cure Childhood Cancer” campaign.

There are more than 100 other custom-plate applications that have been blocked since the moratorium was put in place, pro-life groups said.

Children First-Form C With Attachments

A decision on high-volume hydrofracking in New York is “a couple of months” away, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told The Post-Standard’s editorial board today.

Cuomo met with the newspaper for about an hour today after he delivered his budget address in Syracuse. He offered his most extensive comments to date on the technique used with gas drilling, saying a decision on whether to move forward with hydrofracking will be “months” away.

(His hydrofracking comments start around the 30 minute mark of the audio clip at the link above.)

“We’re going to have a decision in a couple of months,” Cuomo said. “The debate has been going on for years, by the way, so it’s not like a few weeks this way or the other is going to make a significant difference.”

The governor’s remarks aren’t inconsistent with those made yesterday by Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens, who told a panel of lawmakers a decision was “months, not years” away.

The DEC is in the process of reviewing some 60,000 comments it received on its proposed permitting guidelines for hydrofracking, a technique used in tandem with gas drilling in which a mix of water, sand and chemicals is blasted deep underground to unlock gas from shale formations.

Cuomo said he consciously slowed down the DEC’s review process of the much-debated technique to allow the agency to collect facts and sift through the “emotion” and “fear.” Those in favor of hydrofracking say it would create an economic boom for the deprived Southern Tier; those against say it could have a considerable negative impact on the environment.

“What I have said consistently is there is a lot of emotion on this topic. A lot of emotion, a phenomenal amount of emotion everywhere,” Cuomo said. “Not a lot of facts, but a lot of emotion on both sides—pro or con.

“I purposely said, let’s slow it down and let’s get some information and science and facts, and let’s make the decision on the facts rather than the emotion.

Cuomo said he’s not concerned that gas drillers will shun the state if the delay in issuing permits stretches on. High-volume hydrofracking has been on hold in New York since the DEC’s review was launched in 2008.

“Oh no, they will come. They will come,” Cuomo said. “I’m not going to apologize for an intelligent decision-making process.”