Gov. Cuomo on Long Island (photo: governor's office)
Before Democrats reclaimed the state Senate last year, Governor Andrew Cuomo spent years triangulating with the Democratic-controlled Assembly, two factions of Senate Democrats, and the Republican Senate majority. The arrangement allowed him a heavy hand over the legislative and budget agendas in Albany and gave him the ability to claim credit and deflect blame as he saw fit (though critics didn’t always buy his explanations). Progressive legislation regularly withered on the vine unless it had Cuomo’s imprimatur, usually accompanied by some form of mutually beneficial compromise with rogue Democrats and Republicans.
If this year’s budget negotiations have proved anything it’s that old habits die hard and Cuomo is unwilling to ease his stranglehold on state government, even when dealing with members of his own party. He’s continued to strongly, and perhaps shrewdly, set the foundation for negotiations. But some of the policies he has prioritized have long been wedge issues between lawmakers representing New York City on the one hand and upstate and suburban districts on the other.
On a few of the governor’s topline agenda items -- congestion pricing, recreational marijuana legalization, criminal justice reforms, and a property tax cap -- that divide has seemed most apparent this year, at times apparently stoked by Cuomo himself, and the governor has sought to leverage the budget deadline to push for their passage. Notably, he has said he’s willing to allow a late budget to accomplish his goals, which would mean that legislators could lose out on pay raises that are contingent on the budget passing on time, giving the governor additional leverage over the process.
While Cuomo has said he finds himself “liberated” by full Democratic control of the state Legislature and the ability to pass legislation that stalled for years, he’s also been overtly antagonistic to his colleagues in the Legislature, particularly in the state Senate, for what he says is them failing to grasp the necessities of governing, sabotaging the deal to bring an Amazon campus to Queens, and hesitating to follow through on several policies that Republicans opposed for years.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins half-jokingly attributed it to “Senate Democratic derangement syndrome,” but many Democratic legislators have been taken aback by Cuomo’s approach, even if most have not been surprised. After an initial sprint of legislative activity that smacked of Democratic bonhomie, the Legislature slowed down as fault lines and a less rosy picture emerged amid negotiations over complex topics and some apparent backtracking.
With news articles and political commentary pointing to the close bond between Heastie and Stewart-Cousins, and the power of the all-Democratic Legislature vis-a-vis the governor, Cuomo appeared to seek to increase his leverage, by having certain Democratic candidates sign policy pledges during last year’s campaign, setting out his “first 100 days” agenda in December, casting blame on Long Island Democrats for not doing enough to keep the Amazon deal on track, and more.
Of late, he’s focused his top priorities on issues that alternately appeal more to New York City Democrats (congestion pricing, criminal justice reform) and suburban Democrats (property tax cap). He’s rallied on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley with Democratic senators, declaring he would not approve a state budget without the annual tax cap made permanent, even though, as Heastie has said, the current cap doesn’t even expire until next year. Meanwhile, he’s publicly told those same Democratic senators, who may be hesitant about criminal justice reform, to pass it in the budget and “blame me.”
It may all, or mostly, work out for Cuomo by the April 1 budget deadline, a major test for all the parties involved, but certainly an opportunity for Cuomo to both deliver on progressive promises and still show he’s in charge.
“This isn't a game of risk, this is real life,” said Rich Azzopardi, senior advisor to Cuomo, of the budget process in a statement responding to Gotham Gazette’s inquiry about the governor’s budget negotiation tactics and whether they were intended to divide Democrats as some have suggested. “If you excuse us, we're going to concentrate on developing a budget that works for all New Yorkers and I believe our partners in the legislature are doing the same.”
“I think for the governor, his decisions about priorities in the state budget are about how can he get things done that he can brag about later and that continue to advance the narrative that he wants,” said Evan Thies, co-founder of Pythia, a political strategy firm, “which is that he is still very much the most powerful person in the state and also on a national level a Democrat that can get things done and who seems to have moved his state to the left.”
Overwhelmingly reelected for a third term in November, Cuomo was emboldened and quick to show how he would approach the newly elected Senate Democratic majority. He rallied with newly elected and returning members of the state Senate on Long Island shortly after the election, pledging to ensure that New York City pays its “fair share” of funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) even as legislators within the city were hammering him for starving the agency of funding, meddling with its affairs, and letting the city’s subways slide into chaos.
Cuomo pitched congestion pricing as the chief remedy to MTA problems, insisting it must be done in the budget but offering few details of how it would be implemented. For lawmakers in suburban areas outside New York City and even for those in the outer boroughs, it proved divisive and it appears that any proposal that will be included in the budget will include several key carve-outs and funding set asides for the Long Island Rail Road and the Metro North Railroad. The governor has also called for making it state law that the city and state must split 50-50 any MTA capital plan shortfall not covered by dedicating funding streams like that from congestion pricing.
Cuomo has also launched a campaign to make the state’s 2 percent cap on annual property tax increases permanent, which is currently in place everywhere outside New York City. The cap has been a crowning Cuomo achievement, winning praise from members of both political parties, and renewed multiple times. He’s rallied on Long Island three times in two weeks to push for it and has said he will not sign a spending plan without it, even saying that he’s willing to let the budget be late.
Even the governor’s proposal to legalize recreational marijuana seemed destined to create divisions along regional lines. It gave counties the ability to opt out of allowing sales, and several county executives -- including both on Long Island -- have already expressed intent to do so (something Cuomo said was not helpful in getting legalization passed in Albany). Meanwhile in New York City, which accounts for about a third of all regular marijuana users in the state and would make up an overwhelming part of any legal market, Mayor Bill de Blasio has already taken steps to reduce enforcement and has embraced legalization.
There are several key aspects of legalization to work out, and It’s hardly a surprise that the governor said last week it appeared unlikely legalization would be in the budget, even though he was hoping to tap the revenue from it to fund the MTA. But even Cuomo’s characterization of negotiations was disputed by lawmakers, such as Senator Liz Krueger, lead sponsor of legalization legislation, who said the parties aren’t that far apart. (Cuomo shifted to embracing a pied-a-terre tax for New York City luxury apartments that would replace marijuana funding for the MTA, though that has also hit some roadblocks.)
“You’ll notice a trend in the things that are actually getting done in the budget, which is that suburban Democrats agree with all of them,” Thies said. “They are clearly the new pivotal block in Albany and that is well represented” in the marijuana bill’s opt-out provision, the fact that congestion pricing will pay for commuter railroads and that issues like the tax cap “which may not have universal support within the Democratic caucus, are still being advanced aggressively.”
Criminal justice reform, including banning cash bail and instituting speedy trial and open discovery reform, may be one of the governor’s remaining priorities that does not necessarily have a substantial budget impact. But Cuomo has nonetheless insisted it must pass with the budget -- citing it as an important decision deadline -- despite various concerns being raised by district attorneys and lawmakers from more conservative districts outside the city, and by more progressive lawmakers and advocate who have certain prerequisites for new pretrial incarercation rules.
“I've had 7 years, 8 years with a Republican Senate with half a loaf, half a loaf, half a loaf—and getting these controversial issues and having to compromise everything,” he said in a Monday interview on WAMC radio with host Alan Chartock. “So having a Democratic Senate is most liberating for me because I don't have to take half a loaf and criminal justice is one of those issues.”
On issues like marijuana legalization and the broader criminal justice reform package, Heastie and Stewart-Cousins have not said anything is off the table; rather, they have indicated that both can be successfully approved after the budget and need not be rushed through by April 1. But the budget is where the governor enjoys maximum leverage and he has said that lawmakers can assign him the blame for passing controversial bills because there is no guarantee they will follow through in the post-budget session.
“I'll take the blame,” he said at a March 11 news conference, when asked about the criminal justice reform package and whether it would lead to a backlash for suburban legislators. “When it's in the budget, it allows everybody to say, ‘It wasn't me, it was the governor.’ Let's be honest, right? That's what the budget allows you to do. They all go and they say, ‘Yeah, I didn't support that, but the governor insisted on it.’ And by the way, it will be true. It will be true. Blame me.”
Dr. Jeanne Zaino, professor of political science at Iona College, described the governor’s strategy as “a masterclass in terms of managing Albany,” which she said has practically become a “one-party city” with Republicans out of power. “It’s brand new territory for [Cuomo], having the Democrats in control and in the past, he was able to triangulate with Republicans,” she said. “In my mind, he’s trying to do a similar sort of dance, if you will, but in this way playing the suburban, upstate Democrats off the more urban downstate on a variety of issues...I think congestion pricing in my mind and the property tax cap are two of the biggest [issues] because they so glaringly pit the two against each other.”
For advocates who have seen the type of horse-trading typified by the state budget process, the governor’s push has raised some concerns. Nick Malinowski of VOCAL-NY noted that legislators from the Hudson Valley and Long Island haven’t been supportive of criminal justice reforms, for instance. “We are very concerned as this moves into budget negotiations that issues like bail, like discovery reform, will be negotiated against other issues like property taxes and pay raises and all these other things,” he said. “That is definitely something we’ve seen in the past with Republicans, Democrats, and Cuomo...From a democracy standpoint, it’s a bad way of doing government.”
Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, however, disagreed that the governor’s efforts have been divisive, and credited him for bringing together a “fractious conference” on congestion pricing at least. “It’s the single largest and difficult thing they’ve taken up this year,” he said. “I really feel like the governor has actually generally played a helpful role in trying to get this thing to the finish line….I don’t think this has been a year that the governor has very aggressively played sides off against each other to try and win something.”
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
New York City Hall
What to watch for this week in New York politics:
While the nation's attention is on the Mueller Report, in New York, a state budget is due in just a few days -- by the April 1 start of the new fiscal year -- and negotiations in Albany will take center stage this week. Unresolved issues include what "revenue raisers" will be included, how much will be spent on a variety of programs and services, most notably the two biggest areas of state spending: education and health care, and whether there will be agreement among the two Democratic legislative majorities and Governor Andrew Cuomo over policies like criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, congesting pricing and MTA reform, campaign finance reform, making the current property tax cap permanent, and more.
As Mayor Bill de Blasio and others in New York City attempt to influence the details of the state budget, and the city may face significant funding cuts and cost shifts from the state, there is a lot happening that is more city-centric this week, including ongoing city budget hearings at the City Council. The Council will hold a variety of budget and non-budget hearings this week, highlighted by an oversight hearing on First Lady Chirlane McCray's Thrive NYC program, a hearing on a package of legislation meant to curb parking placard abuse, and several budget hearings, like that related to homeless services.
This week will also mark intensifying debate over the city's plan to shut down the Rikers Island jails and build new or renovate existing jails in the four boroughs beyond Staten Island. There is controversy surrounding the plans, especially the site chosen in the Bronx (Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., led a Sunday rally in opposition and pushing for the site he prefers) and the size of the proposed jail in for downtown Manhattan. There will be an initial City Planning Commission hearing on Monday as the four jail site plans are packaged together to go through the city land use review processs.
On Monday, Governor Cuomo is scheduled to be in Albany as state budget negotiations enter what is supposed to be their final week, while Mayor de Blasio is in Washington, D.C. participating in the annual AIPAC conference. The mayor, who continues to flirt with a presidential bid, is due to return to the city on Monday afternoon. On Sunday, already-declared candidate for president and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a Manhattan rally to officially kick off her campaign.
There are many events to be aware of this week -- see our day-by-day rundown below.
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The run of the week in detail:
Monday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany. A budget is due within a week, by April 1.
Mayor de Blasio remains in Washington D.C. for the annual AIPAC conference. He participated in a Q&A discussion on Sunday and will deliver remarks on Monday at 9:30 a.m. On Monday evening, the mayor will appear on NY1's Inside City Hall in the 7 and 11 p.m. hours.
The following City Council committees will hold preliminary budget hearings on Monday:
--General Welfare at 10 a.m., regarding the Human Resources Administration, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Homeless Services.
--Civil and Human Rights at 11 a.m., regarding the Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Practices Commission.
--Juvenile Justice and General Welfare jointly at 1 p.m., regarding the Administration for Children’s Services.
--Hospitals at 2 p.m., regarding the Health + Hospitals Corporation.
Also at the City Council on Monday: the Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet at 10 a.m. to discuss proposed laws related to water tower inspections, including requiring the city to remind tower owners electronically of filing deadlines for annual certifications and holding information sessions for owners regarding inspections.
At 9:30 a.m. Monday, elected officials, youth in foster care, and child welfare providers will rally at the steps of City Hall to “demand equal opportunity for young people in foster care,” which would include investments in “long-term coaching and robust academic, career development, and independent living supports for foster youth from middle school to age 26.” The rally will take place ahead of the General Welfare Committee’s scheduled preliminary budget hearing.
At 10 a.m. Monday at Queens Borough Hall, Borough President Melinda Katz will chair a meeting of the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Improvement Fund board of directors.
At 11 a.m. Monday at City Hall, “YAFFED, yeshiva and nonpublic schools graduates, and good government groups will join together to demand private schools stop covering for yeshivas by attempting to circumvent reasonable state oversight.”
At 11:30 a.m. Monday in Rochester, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will join Senator Charles Schumer and others at the dedication for the Rep. Louise M. Slaughter Rochester Station.
At 11:30 a.m. Monday in Albany, “state lawmakers, consumers, physicians, pharmacists to rally for rejection of Governor’s opioid excise tax in final budget.” Participants will include Assemblymembers Linda Rosenthal, Richard Gottfried, and John McDonald. “While dubbed a tax on opioid manufacturers, in actuality if New York imposes an opioid excise tax on prescription medications, as proposed by the Governor in his SFY 19-20 Budget, the tax can and will be passed down to patients and the health providers who care for them. New York would be the first to impose a tax of this kind on a medication...”
On Monday, Comptroller Scott Stringer, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will be among those to speak at the 108th commemoration of the Triangle Factory Fire.
At 1 p.m. Monday, “The City Planning Commission (CPC) will hold a public Review Session and hear details about the New York City Borough-Based Jail System application. The Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) and the Department of City Planning (DCP) will present the proposal to the commissioners and answer their questions.”
At 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, the 2019 Charter Revision Commission will hold its seventh “issues forum” featuring experts on the specific focus topic at hand and potential charter revisions. This forum will focus on the city’s governance and land use policies, with topics to include the Board of Standards and Appeals, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the roles of the Borough Presidents.
Tuesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.
At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics will meet in Albany.
On Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. in Albany, “Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, and consumer advocates will host a press conference to urge the legislature to pass their (S3297-A/A675-A), which would effectively ban unwanted robocalls in New York State.”
The following City Council committees will hold preliminary budget hearings on Tuesday:
--Contracts at 10 a.m., regarding the Mayor’s Office of Contracts.
--Oversight and Investigation at noon, regarding the Department of Investigation.
--Finance at 1 p.m., regarding Thrive NYC.
--Mental Health at 2 p.m., regarding the Department of Health & Mental Hygiene.
Also at the City Council on Tuesday:
--The Committee on Justice System will meet at 10 a.m. to discuss a resolution calling on New York State and the city’s District Attorneys to expunge all city misdemeanor marijuana convictions.
--The Committee on Land Use will meet at 11 a.m.
--The Committee on Health will meet at 3 p.m. to discuss several proposed laws, including ones requiring city restaurants serving kids’ meals to limit the number of drinks they serve containing added sugars and sweeteners, requiring the city to report annually to the council on water tower inspections, requiring the city to conduct a “year-long assessment of all potential determinants of Legionnaires’ disease in the city,” and allowing individuals to redact the name of physicians from their birth certificate if the physician’s license has since been revoked.
On Tuesday morning at New York Law School: “Is a New Power Structure in NYC Real Estate Development and Land Use Coming With the 2019 Charter Revision?” a panel discussion moderated by Ross F. Moskowitz of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and including panelists: Basha Gerhards of the Real Estate Board of New York, David G. Greenfield of Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Miriam Harris of Trinity Place Holdings, Catherine McVay Hughes, former chair of Community Board 1 Manhattan, and Carl Weisbrod of HR&A Advisors.
At 7 p.m. Tuesday, City Comptroller Scott Stringer will hold a town hall meeting at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Brooklyn. Joining Stringer will be Assemblymember Tremaine Wright and City Council Members Robert Cornegy, Stephen Levin, and Laurie Cumbo.
Wednesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.
At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the MTA will hold a board meeting at its Manhattan headquarters.
At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the City Planning Commission will hold a public meeting at 120 Broadway.
The following City Council committees will hold preliminary budget hearings on Wednesday:
--Finance at 10 a.m., regarding the Department of Finance.
--Finance and Capital Budget jointly at 11 a.m., regarding the Department of Design and Construction and the Office of Management and Budget.
Also at the City Council on Wednesday: The Committee on Transportation will meet at 1 p.m. to discuss several proposed laws related to parking enforcement. These include prohibiting vehicles with city-issued placards from blocking bike lanes, bus lanes, crosswalks, sidewalks, or hydrants except in emergencies, requiring vehicles misusing permits to be towed, creating a standardized application process for parking placards and posting the data online, requiring 311 to accept complaints related to misuse of placards, and requiring the NYPD to evaluate sites based on 311 complaints regarding misuse of placards.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Panel for Educational Policy will meet at the High School of Fashion Industries in Chelsea.
At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Amplify Her will host a forum for women candidates for Queens District Attorney at the Rego Center Community Room in Rego Park. The candidates in attendance will be Tiffany Caban, Melinda Katz, Betty Lugo, and Mina Malik.
Thursday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Thursday.
The City Council will hold a stated meeting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. It will be preceded by the usual press conference led by Council Speaker Corey Johnson.
Also at the City Council on Thursday:
--The Committee on Finance will meet at 10 a.m.
--The Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections will meet at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the mayor’s nomination of David Burney to the City Planning Commission.
At 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Empire State Development will hold a directors’ meeting.
At 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli will give remarks at the NYS Government Finance Officers’ Association, Inc. 2019 Annual Conference in Albany.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, City & State will host the “Above & Beyond Gala” at the Dream Downtown Hotel in Chelsea, honoring “30 women who exhibit exemplary leadership in their fields and have made important contributions to society in the sectors of business, public service, health care, law, lobbying, real estate and construction and nonprofits.” Queens Borough President and DA candidate Melinda Katz and State Senator Alessandra Biaggi will deliver keynote remarks.
Friday and the weekend
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Friday in Albany.
Mayor Bill de Blasio may make his weekly appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday at 10 a.m.
The state budget is due by midnight Sunday.
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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).
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by Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette
Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits
March 20, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Opposition to Marijuana Legalization, with Nassau County Executive Laura Curran
As Governor Cuomo has made legalization of adult-use marijuana a top priority this year, he also has said he believes that local governments should be able to decide if they want to opt out of allowing marijuana dispenseries. Though negotiations in Albany around legalization have slowed, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran recently announced that Nassau plans to opt out, citing a variety of concerns from key stakeholders based on a task force that she had assembled. Curran joined the show to discuss her concerns and the path ahead.
Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMax and @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts, under "Max & Murphy," and listen to Max & Murphy live on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. on WBAI radio, 99.5FM or wbai.org
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette