Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Citizens Union

David Howard King

State Government Editor of The Gotham Gazette 

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A recent Quinnipiac University Poll shows that New Yorker's support a minimum wage increase by a margin of 80 to 18 percent. Republicans support the measure 61 to 38 percent. 

Respondents were given a choice of the size of the increase they thought would be best and here is how they responded: 

43 percent say raise the minimum wage to more than $8.50 per hour;
28 percent say raise the wage to $8.50 per hour;
6 percent say raise the current $7.25 per hour minimum wage to something less than $8.50;
18 percent oppose any increase.

Respondents were much more conflicted about whether a minimum wage hike will result in employers hiring fewer workers--49 percent of respondents thought a hike would not hurt hiring while 44 thought it would. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has made some sort of a minimum wage hike a part of his priorities for next year as have the Assembly Democrats, the Independent Democratic Conference in the Senate as well as Senate Democrats but Senate Republicans have generally balked at the measure. Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos has called a wage hike, "A jobs killer."

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Sen. Steve Saland of Poughkeepsie conceded his race against Democrat Terry Gipson today. "After learning today the final count of the absentee ballots and affidavits have revealed that the voters have selected Terry Gipson as the State Senator of the 41st Senate District, I respectfully concede in my bid for State Senate and offer my sincere congratulations to Mr. Gipson," Saland wrote in a statement. Saland was tremendously popular in his district and his loss came as a surprise to many. 

That leaves one more Senate race outstanding although it will likely have no impact on control of the Senate as Senate Republicans joined with the Independent Democratic Conference in a power-sharing agreement. The 46th ditrict race between Republican  Assemblyman George Amedore and Democrat Cecellia Tkaczyk will be decided by a judge. 

Saland is one of four Republican Senators who voted for same-sex marriage earlier this year. Saland faced a conservative primary challenger because of that vote. Only one Republican Senator who voted for same-sex marriage will return next year. 

Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos issued a statement praising Saland: 

I join all New Yorkers in wishing Senator Steve Saland the best as he completes a 32-year career in the State Legislature, the last 22 as a distinguished member of the New York State Senate. Steve is a highly-respected lawmaker and a dear friend.
“This chamber will miss Steve Saland’s clear and steady voice, most notably in the areas of criminal justice and victim’s rights. Steve was the author of more than 350 laws, and he has been a fierce advocate for the victims of domestic violence and child abuse.

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A report from the Center for Constitutional Rights finds that the New York Police Department has committed over 100,000 unconstitutional stops. The report which follows up on data from 2004-2009 shows that unconstitutional stop and frisks have continued through the first half of this year. (read the full report)

 

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City Considers Limiting Deportations

Two bills set to be proposed in the City Council today would further limit the city's cooperation with federal programs that seek to deport immigrants. The bills are in response to The Secure Communities Act which mandates fingerprints taken at local jails are compared to a Department of Homeland Security database. Anyone who is deemed an illegal immigrant is then marked to be detained. If the City passes these laws it will strengthen its reputation as immigrant-friendly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo symbolically withdrew New York from the program earlier this year. â€śWhat we don’t want is New York City’s agencies having to participate in deporting people who present no risk and in fact may be adding a great deal to the City of New York,” Council Speaker Christine Quinn told the Times yesterday in an interview. 




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Senate Republican Conference Leader Dean Skelos told reporters yesterday that his conference hadn't committed to passing any legislation that was part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's litmus test and hadn't made any "decision or agreement" on what legisaltion will come to the floor in this coming session.

Cuomo has said he will support any legislators who support his policy priorities, including a minimum wage hike and campaign finance reform; the Independent Democrats, who created a power sharing agreement with the Senate Republicans, publicly support those measures. Skelos, however, has been evasive and, at times, opposed to the measures. Republicans have to balance the wishes of their party base and their constituencies with their desire to stay in power.

Cuomo took to the airwaves today to tell Skelos to get behind his legislative agenda or fear facing his wrath.

“If that’s true then we’re going to have a problem, and we’re going to have a problem sooner rather than later,” he told Fred Dicker. “If Sen. Skelos is opposed to the agenda of the people of New York State, then I will oppose him." 

So far, Cuomo has played hands-off with the power-sharing arrangement in the Senate, even while the deal has been decried by Democrats as excluding minorities and being against the will of the people. But now that issues are involved, Cuomo is involved.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo devoted a bit of time this morning on Fred Dicker's Talk 1300 radio show to insisting that the powersharing agreement between the Senate Republicans and Independent Senate Democrats has nothing to do with him:

It’s not my job to determine who is a committee chairman, who gets the office in the corner, and what political alliances are. My job is to pass legislation that makes a difference for the people of this state.

But there are many in Albany who don't buy Cuomo's claims. You can pretty safely put The Times Union's columnist Fred LeBrun at the top of that list. 

In a column titled "A Puppet Master at Work," LeBrun seems to take some joy out of what he considers Cuomo's duplicity:

It is thoroughly amusing to watch the governor, whose operatives have orchestrated this goofy arrangement, sit back professorially and say he will judge the coalition only after he sees it in action as far as taking up legislation is concerned, and whether his "progressive" agenda is advanced, and on what it actually passes. Also that he will withhold judgment on the validity of the coalition until then. He even goes so far as to question how it possibly can get anything done, but just maybe.

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Senate Republicans and members of the Independent Democrats will gather in Queens today for the first meeting of the Bipartisan Senate Task Force on Hurricane Sandy  — and they have invited a couple of members of the Democratic conference as well. 

"There isn't any room for poltical differences," said Queens Sen. Joe Addabbo who is a member of the Demcoratic conference. "We have no room for that when there are still 10,000 without power in the Rockaways." 

Addabbo will be just one of a number of legislators who have seen their districts ravaged by the storm. From Staten Island to Long Island, the senators who will gather in the Rockaways today represent areas that need immediate attention.

Sens. James Sanders, Dean Skelos, Diane Savino, Andrew Lanza, Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, Martin Golden and Charles Fuschillo have been confirmed for the gathering. The group will tour the Rockaways and then meet with community leaders. 

Addabbo says it will be the task force's job to keep the Legisalture connected to the areas and constituents that need the most help.

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New York officials are more than excited that the United States Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act. Here are some of their reactions: 

 

Statement of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg:


The rights of men and women should not be dependent upon who they love and who they chose to spend their lives with. The Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of DOMA is the right decision and one that brings us another step closer to full marriage equality. The history of our country is defined by the progress we have made expanding the definition of equality to all people, of all races and both sexes. The Supreme Court Justices have often played a central role in these debates, and now they will have a chance to do so again.

Statement of City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn:

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Obama Expected to Ask For $50 Billion in Storm Aid


Preisdent Barack Obama is expected to ask Congress for about $45 to $50 billion in storm aid reports The New York Times. That figure is far below the $82 billion requested by New York, New Jersey at Connecticut â€śWhile $50 billion is a significant amount of money, it unfortunately does not meet all of New York and New Jersey’s substantial needs,” Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York and Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, all Democrats, said in a joint statement. The storm aid may get tangled up in the battle between President Barack Obama and Republican legislators over debt and tax rates. 

 

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Mark Dunlea of Hunger Action says the success of the new so-called power-sharing agreement in the State Senate will be based on whether they can pass a minimum wage hike without "weakening" the bill.

 "An early test for this power sharing agreement will be whether the bill that Senator Klein has already introduced to raise the state minimum wage to $8.50 an hour plus indexing is the one that the Senate passes. Or whether they decide to weaken it before allowing it to be voted upon (e.g., dropping indexing, lowering the $8.50 target)," noted Mark Dunlea.

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There is a bit of a logic problem with the op-ed Gov. Andrew Cuomo's published today after it was announced that there would be a power-sharing agreement to run the State Senate.

Cuomo says in the op-ed that "the Democratic Conference was in power for two years and squandered the opportunity, failing to pass any meaningful reform legislation despite repeated promises."

But, as it happens, the people in charge of the Democratic conference when it was in the majority are currently members of the Independent Democratic Conference:  Sen. Malcolm Smith was majority leader and Sen. Jeff Klein was deputy majority leader during the two years Cuomo recalls as "squandered."

And the man that the IDC struck a "power sharing" agreement with, Sen. Dean Skelos, helped plan and iniate the coup that paralyzed the chamber in 2009.

Furthermore, even after the Senate coup was resolved and Sens. Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate rejoined the Democratic conference fold, Smith retained the Senate presidency and Klein kept his title as deputy majority leader.

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In an op-ed for the Times Union titled "Mainstream Democrats 'squandered the opportunity,'" Gov. Andrew Cuomo explained today that his political support is not based on party but on support of issues. The issues he sets out to earn his support are as follows:

1. The property tax cap that has finally imposed fiscal discipline
on local governments and provided relief to taxpayers
2. Campaign finance reform
3. Increasing the minimum wage
4. Reform of New York City’s “stop and frisk” policy
5. Environmental protection and initiatives that address our
changing climate
6. The education and Medicaid budget rate formulas that provided
fiscal predictability and sustainability
7. The tax cuts that brought taxes on the middle class tax to the
lowest rates in 58 years
8. Education reforms – like teacher evaluations – that bring more
accountability to our schools and continued improvement to our SUNY
system
9. Protecting a woman’s right to choose
10. Limited and highly regulated casinos introduced as economic
development generators

Before the power-sharing deal between the IDC and Republicans was announced, Democrats worried that Cuomo favored an alliance because it would allow him to pass his conservatve fiscal policy and his progressive social agenda.

Cuomo wrote in the op-ed that the Democratic Conference had more than one chance to prove their leadership ability:

The Democratic Conference was in power for two years and squandered the opportunity,failing to pass any meaningful reform legislation despite repeated promises. The Democratic Conference dysfunction was legendary and the current leadership has failed to come to a cooperative agreement with
Mr. Klein’s IDC faction.

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Senator Klein's decision is a huge gamble - for the IDC and for New Yorkers,"Karyn Scharff, executive director of Citizen Action NY, said in a statement. New Yorkers voted for a progressive agenda, and the IDC is putting that agenda at risk. If the Senate passes Governor Cuomo’s public funding of elections bill, an increase in the minimum wage, and fair funding for our schools, then I’ll give credit where credit is due. If they don’t, then this will be just another Albany coup. Citizen Action's members worked hard to elect Cecilia Tkaczyk and other progressive Democratic candidates because we want a Senate that will pass publicly financed Fair Elections, an increase in the minimum wage and a more progressive tax system to fund our schools. These are issues that Republicans have always blocked. Senator Klein and the rest of the IDC support that agenda, and say this coalition government will allow them to get it done. It’s now their responsibility to use their new found power to deliver these policies to the voters.

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Sens. Jeff Klein and and Dean Skelos will share the role of Senate president rotating the title every two weeks under a power sharing agreement between the Independent Democratic Conference and the Republican conference.

Democrats look to be on the cusp of winning enough seats to control the chamber but Sens. Simcha Felder and Malcolm Smith both bolted the conference.

Felder is conferencing with the Republicans and Smith joined the IDC.

Smith is the only member of color of the five-member IDC. It seems the IDC will have to function as the voice for New York City as Klein, Savino and Smith hail from the five boroughs. The Republican conference has three members from the city but are a body predeominantly made up by legisaltors from upstate and Long Island. 

The full nitty gritty of Senate operations have yet to be made public, but a press release from the IDC gives us a hint of how things will function:

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The New York Post reported this morning that state Sen. Malcolm Smith will join the Independent Democratic Caucus the group that has pledged to help keep Republicans in charge of the chamber.

Smith was Senate Majority Leader in 2009 when Senate Republicans staged a coup with the help of two renegade Democrats, which left the Senate in chaos for weeks. 

The Independent Democrats, created and led by Bronx state Sen. Jeff Klein, supposedly left the Democratic confernece because of the infighting and absurdity that took place when Smith was "in control" with the Democrats. Smith, however, looks to be setting himself up for a run for New York City mayor on the Republican ticket.

Klein bolted the Democratic conference when Minority Leader John Sampson replaced him as head of the New York Senate Democratic Campaign Committee in 2010. Democrats lost a number of seats under Klein's watch in the 2010 elections. But Klein and his followers got some perks from Republicans in 2011 while rank-and-file Democrats saw their budgets and staffing slashed. 

This year, Democrats have picked up at this moment an undetermined amount of seats — likely enough that if all Senate Democrats were on board they would be back in the majority.

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Faith leaders working with Occupy Sandy on Hurricane Sandy relief efforts plan to converge on the residence of Mayor Michael Bloomberg to demand that the city provide temporary housing for those displaced by the storm or those living in unsafe conditions.  

The rally in front of the mayor's office is expected to begin at 11 a.m. today.

As we reported Monday, elected officials say FEMA is considering renting empty apartments and housing those in need of safe refuge because of damage done to their homes by Sandy — especially in neighborhoods in the Rockaways.

Housing conditions are deteriorating in the communities on the peninsula as mold continues to grow unchecked in many homes, while still others remain without heat and power. 

Grassroots groups have been protesting the lack of temporary housing for weeks now and the movement seems to be growing.

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The Department of Environmental Conservation released new proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations today. The public comment period starts on Dec. 12 but reactions to them have already started to pour in. The DEC has said it won't take any final action until DEC Commissioner Niravh Shah completes his planned health review of fracking but advocates aren't happy that these proposed regulations have been released before the health study has been completed. 

The New York Water Rangers issued this statement: 

"The Cuomo administration's decision to propose revised fracking regulations undermines the governor's oft-stated promise to let the science drive his decision-making process.

By issuing revised rules before the Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health (DOH), and their outside experts, have had the chance to undertake a comprehensive review of fracking's consequences, the governor and his staff are signaling that it is not important to understand the public health impacts from fracking. But this knowledge is critical, and must be used to shape regulations and ultimately determine whether or not to permit fracking in New York State.

Millions of New Yorkers who could bear the burden of unknown consequences have been left in the dark.

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Hypothermia, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning on the Rise


Following Hurricane Sandy the City has seen a rise in carbon monoxide poisoning and hypothermia cases due to city residents living in unheated homes, or simply living on the street. The New York Times reports that the number of cold-exposure cases tripled after Sandy as compared to the same time frame last year. The City Health Department issued a letter warning doctors and health care providers of the issue. Carbon monoxide poisoning was 10-times higher the week of Hurricane Sandy and continued at an elevated rate due to people heating their homes with unsafe alternative methods. The findings seem to give further weight to recent pleas from advocates for the city to deploy temporary housing in areas hard-hit by Sandy. 




In the Press...

Bloomberg Lobbies Washington For Storm Aid (NY Times)

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Weeks after Hurricane Sandy hit, the stories of people unable to stay in their apartments because landlords have yet to make repairs are still commonplace.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to put an end to that and is pushing landlords to act and wants to make sure they know the city is offering them the resources to make their apartments liveable again. 

As we reported last week, groups in the Rockaways are concerned about the number of displaced residents who may be at the mercy of the increasingly cold weather and say they are concerned about hypothermia and other conditions that are exacerbated by exposure.

“As the weather gets colder, we cannot stress enough the importance of making sure those who are living in homes or apartments without heat get to a warmer place,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley in a statement. “Prolonged exposure to cold is not just uncomfortable, it is dangerous, especially for infants, the elderly, and people with chronic diseases.”

The Bloomberg administraion reminds landlords they have two options to repair their properties: 

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Republican Assemblyman Steve Katz is circulating a letter to his colleagues asking them not to reelect Assemblyman Sheldon Silver as Speaker, a position Silver has held since 1994.

"Mr. Silver’s actions in covering the sexual improprieties of Assemblyman Vito Lopez with taxpayer dollars by means of the 'Miscellaneous Contractual Services' account go against everything that we should be united against in a bipartisan manner," Katz writes. "While we may disagree on how to govern, the people of the state of New York deserve to have an open, honest, and transparent government."

Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union recently documented how Silver and Assembly Democrats dodged any fallout from the Lopez scandal during the elections and actually added seats to their super-majority. It seems unlikely that Katz' effort will come to much but it keeps the scandal alive just a little bit longer. The matter is still reportedly being investigated by JCOPE.

Here is the full letter Katz is circulating among Assembly members:

To My Colleagues in the Assembly:

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