Politics on the Hudson

The New York State Young Democrats convened in Albany May
18-20 to elect a new Executive Board, marking what the organization says is “a
renewed commitment to building a sustained Democratic movement in New
York and engaging young Democrats statewide.”

The new Executive Board officers and caucus chairs are:

President: Glenn Oldhoff (Westchester)
Executive Vice President: Joseph Coe (Rockland)
Treasurer: Jon Reznick (Manhattan)
Secretary: Michael J. Murphy (Queens)
National Committeeman: Jahi Lafayette (Westchester)
National Committeewoman: Jugba Santi (Brooklyn)
Legal Director: Jenifer Rajkumar (Manhattan)
Downstate Region Vice President: Benjamin Yee (Manhattan)
Hudson Valley Region Vice President: Christopher Smith (Rockland)
Central Region Vice President: Jenni Royer (Broome)
Chair of Council of Presidents: Amanda Pizzuti (Brooklyn)
Caucus of Color: Rachel Walton (Queens)
LGBT Caucus: Katherine Brezler (Westchester)
Women’s Caucus: Angelica Katz (Queens)
Labor Caucus: Eric Katz (Westchester)
Jewish Caucus: Sam Hudis (Manhattan)
Rural Caucus: Jamie Duchessi (Montgomery)

“It’s my great honor to serve as president of the New York State Young
Democrats,” said Glenn Oldhoff. “Together, we’ve taken the first steps
toward a revitalized Democratic youth movement in New York state. Now,
we’ll continue that progress and work to build new chapters from the
North Country to the South Shore. We stand united to elect Democratic
leaders statewide and support the Democratic vision for our state and
our nation.”

“We look forward to working with the new caucus leadership that
provides voices for marginalized communities,” said Joseph Coe. “We
are committed to working with our partners in government to help
secure social justice and equality for all New Yorkers.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he doesn’t expect a minimum-wage deal this session.

“Do I think it is likely that we’re going to have a resolution on minimum wage this year? No. Not because I would not like to see one. I very much would like to see one. I don’t think it’s possible,” Cuomo said on the Capitol Pressroom this morning.

“We hope for the ideal and we live in the real, right?,” he continued. “I don’t think at this time in the realm of the possible because the Senate has a heartfelt position in opposition.”

Cuomo has faced criticism that he isn’t pushing hard enough for a minimum-wage increase. But the main holdup, Cuomo said, is Senate Republicans, who have been opposed to it.

A friendly heads-up for all of you motorists out there: State Police and local law enforcement will be on the lookout for those driving without a seatbelt over the next two weeks as part of a beefed up enforcement campaign.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced the campaign late last week. Similar to texting-while-driving enforcement campaigns during the holiday seasons, it’s funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The beefed up police presence kicks off today and will run through June 3, according to Cuomo’s office.

“It only takes a few seconds to fasten a seatbelt or to secure a child’s safety seat, and this campaign encourages all New Yorkers to take a moment to buckle up and save a life,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Here’s how New York’s seatbelt law works: Front seat passengers 16 and older can face a fine of $50 if they aren’t wearing their belt. Drivers are fined up to $100 and hit with three points for each passenger under 16 not wearing a seatbelt.

The last seatbelt campaign was last May, when State Police issued 19,636 tickets.

Former Sen. George Winner, R-Elmira, who headed the Senate Investigations Committee, told Gannett’s Albany Bureau last week that he said he didn’t see similarities between Troopergate and the leak of confidential information by JCOPE about Sen. Thomas Libous.

But he said prosecutors should pursue the Libous case to see if a crime was committed.

“Here, there appears to be a criminal issue of whether or not the confidentiality was breached, which is a misdemeanor under the statute,” Winner said. “That’s the duty of the district attorney to look at.”

Soares office hasn’t responded to whether it will look into the case.

From our weekend article:

Winner said Troopergate required a legislative response because it dealt with a host of issues, such as use of state aircraft and the power of the state’s inspector general.

In the Troopergate case, the inspector general ultimately recused herself because she reported to the governor’s office. She also declined to give Cuomo’s office subpoena power—which Cuomo’s office was critical of at the time.

Winner said Albany County District Attorney David Soares should investigate JCOPE. Soares’ office had no immediate comment on Friday.

Soares investigated Troopergate, but his reports were widely panned. Soares never put Spitzer under oath, and a first report found no criminal wrongdoing. Soares, a Democrat, later released a second report that found Spitzer may have lied that he wasn’t involved in Troopergate.

The new state ethics law established a misdemeanor charge for revealing confidential information from within JCOPE. The misdemeanor applies to any JCOPE employee or commissioner who “intentionally and without authorization releases confidential information received by the commission.”

The law calls for “any breaches of confidentiality” to be investigated by the state inspector general. The IG’s office did not respond to calls for comment.

Ellen Biben, a former top Cuomo aide in his attorney general office, was named inspector general when Cuomo took office in 2011. She’s now the executive director of JCOPE.

Catherine Leahy Scott is acting inspector general. She was an assistant attorney general under Cuomo.

Statement from Ron Levine, Communications Director for the County Executive.

This is it – verbatim:

Response to Carlucci Personal Attack Piece.

“Senator Carlucci has placed politics above the interests of Rockland County residents and has not shown an ability to lead, which has been demonstrated by his total inaction and disinterest in working in a bipartisan manner with the County Executive and the leadership of the Rockland County Legislature. Instead he has resorted to personal attacks and caustic rhetoric. Sarcasm is not a solution. The Senator simply has no plan.”

In the latest back-and-forth between state Sen. David Carlucci and Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef, Carlucci has issued the following statement on Vanderhoef’s proposed contingency plan:

“Yesterday, the County Executive proposed an $8 million dollar gimmick to an $80 million dollar problem. Hardly well thought out, and with no support from the county legislature, this ill-conceived plan would enact troubling new measures for Rockland residents. Vanderhoef’s plan will implement an outrageous new energy tax on families who are simply trying to heat their homes in the cold winter months. What’s next – a tax on breathing? Scott Vanderhoef now has a new tax increase for every day of the week – plus one for good luck.

“It’s clear that the County Executive is not serious about ending the fiscal mismanagement that has betrayed our taxpayers for too long. They have resorted to more of the same tax and blame policies that have gotten us into this mess, instead of working to bring the unions, the legislature, and department heads together to find greater efficiencies and cost-cutting measures.

“I will work with anyone, of any party, to put the county’s fiscal house in order without raising taxes on residents. However, I will not and cannot be a part of making Rockland County the tax capital of New York State.”

One day after the state Senate’s new district maps appeared to clear their final legal hurdle for 2012, the state Assembly got the green light today from the federal government to proceed with its new districts.

The U.S. Department of Justice gave the Assembly maps what is known as “pre-clearance” today, according to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. That means the maps will officially be in effect for the 2012 elections, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Here’s the statement from Silver:

“The United States Department of Justice has pre-cleared the Assembly’s redistricting plan. This action validates the Assembly’s efforts to craft fair and responsible districts based on the input from many individuals and organizations at two dozen hearings held across the state over the past year. Securing pre-clearance means the 2012 election cycle will move forward using the new district boundaries passed by the Assembly and Senate and signed into law by the Governor.”

By law, the Justice Department reviews the state’s once-a-decade redistricting plan to ensure compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act. It already gave clearance to the state Senate maps earlier this year.

Juvenile arrests and criminal activity were down 17 percent outside of New York City last year, according to newly released data by the state Office of Children and Family Services Division of Criminal Justice Services.

According to the data, instances of juvenile crime dropped from 14,864 outside of New York City in 2010 to 12,325 last year. Within New York City, formal arrests were down 3 percent in 2011, while felony arrests dropped by 11 percent, according to the New York Police Department.

Meanwhile, juveniles held as state detention facilities dropped last year, as well. Outside of New York City, there was a 10 percent drop in admissions to the youth facilities, from 3,327 in 2010 to 2,992 last year.

The state budget, passed in March, implemented significant reforms to the state’s juvenile justice system for downstate offenders. Under the “Close to Home” initiative, New York City children in upstate facilities would be moved to new programs within the city’s borders. As a result, some upstate facilities classified as “secure” or “limited secure” could close.

Here’s OCFS’DCJS’ annual report, which was released earlier this week:

OJRP DATA Presentation 05-15-2012

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said today that the state’s pension fund has invested $12.9 million in the Hicksville headquarters of Sleepy’s, one of the nation’s largest mattress retailers.

DiNapoli said the investment in the Nassau County-based Sleepy’s in his home county was made by Hudson River Co-Investment Fund managed by Hamilton Lane. The deal was led by San Francisco-based Calera Capital.

“The state pension fund is investing in New York’s economic future,” said DiNapoli. “Sleepy’s has been doing business in New York for more than half a century and this investment will help them stay here and continue to expand. This company provides a great example of how the In-State Private Equity Program partners with New York businesses to obtain the capital they need to grow and create jobs while generating significant returns for the state pension fund.”

The state Comptroller’s Office spreads some of its $147 billion pension fund into in-state investments. DiNapoli said nearly $1 billion committed to the in-state program since 2001.

DiNapoli’s press release says he plans to visit Rochester soon to look at an investment there.

Pension costs in New York have exploded in New York in recent years, and there appears to be no relief in the next few years.

A report from the state Budget Division shows that state and local government contributions to the pensions of public workers are estimated to grow 40 percent between 2012 and 2015. The contribution rates for public workers was 16.5 percent of salary in 2012 and it could rise to 23.1 percent of salary in 2015, the state’s estimates show. For police and fire workers, the pension increases would go from 22.3 percent of salary to 31.3 percent.

The latest numbers show that pension costs in New York are expected to continue their upward trend as more workers retire and as Wall Street is still recovering the financial meltdown in 2008 and 2009. They will begin to fall in 2016, the estimates show.

The higher costs could be blunted, the report shows, if governments chose to amortize their pension costs—essentially borrowing off the pension to pay their growing costs. The state does it, as well as 128 local governments.

Here’s our database of the pension costs for every government in New York.

Also, the cost of health benefits for retirees has grown. It’s increasing from a total obligation of $55.9 billion as estimated in 2011 to $72.2 billion now, a 29 percent increase. Bloomberg News reported on the rising health-care costs yesterday.

Budget officials said the higher figures for health-care costs are the result of the first recalculation of the expense since 2008, and New York pays its health-care costs for retirees on an annual basis, roughly $1.2 billion a year.

As for the growing pension costs—which have crippled local budgets—state budget spokesman Morris Peters said the expenses would have been even higher if the state didn’t this year implement Tier VI, a less generous pension program for new public employees.

“This is why Tier VI was so important,” he said.

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