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The Week Ahead in New York Politics, January 30


New York City Hall

New York City Hall


What to watch for this week in New York politics:

The week begins after many New Yorkers spent portions of the weekend protesting President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration, which seek to bar for a period of time refugees from Syria and immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries, and increase deportations of certain classifications of immigrants. After a major impromptu protest at Kennedy Airport on Saturday, there was a rally at Battery Park on Sunday, at which Mayor Bill de Blasio and several other elected officials spoke.

As things continue to play out with Trump's executive orders (and other actions), both legally and politically, many New York political eyes are on Albany Monday morning, as Mayor de Blasio travels north for his annual budget testimony in front of the state Legislature. Last year, state lawmakers -- led by Senate Republicans -- ambushed de Blasio on property taxes and the city's exemption from the state's 2 percent cap on annual property tax growth.  

There's a great deal happening this week in New York politics, with many events to be aware of - see our day-by-day rundown below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
e-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday
In Albany Monday:
At 10 a.m. on Monday, there will be a joint state legislative budget hearing on Local Government Officials/General Government in the Legislative Office Building in Albany. Mayor Bill de Blasio will testify first, followed by Comptroller Scott Stringer.

At 12 p.m. on Monday, the Assembly Standing Committee on Real Property Taxation will hold a public hearing on “Real Property Tax Relief Credit Programs.”

Family planning advocates led by Planned Parenthood NYC are holding a lobby day in Albany Monday. Governor Andrew Cuomo will speak at a rally at 12:30 p.m. at Empire State Plaza Convention Center.

The New York State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany.

During the 7 and 10 p.m. hours on Monday, Mayor de Blasio will make his weekly appearance on NY1's Inside City Hall.

In New York City Monday:
“On Monday, January 30, at 10:30 a.m., Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Lorelei Salas, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, Grow Brooklyn, and partners will remind the roughly 1.1 million New Yorkers who are eligible to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which adds an average of $2,400 to refunds, and file their taxes for free with NYC Free Tax Prep.”

Also Monday at 10:30 a.m., “Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and U.S. Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) will join together with hunger advocates and others at Part of the Solution (POTS) to discuss New York State’s participation in a nationwide pilot program to allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to purchase their groceries online.”

At 1 p.m. on Monday, the NYC Planning Commission will hold a review session.

At 1 p.m. Monday, "Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and City University of New York (CUNY) student leaders, including members of the University Student Senate (USS) and CUNY DREAMers, will speak out in concern for Saira Rafiee, a young woman enrolled at the CUNY Graduate Center through an F1 visa who is being denied reentry into the United States due to President Donald J. Trump's executive order banning the migration of citizens from several Muslim-majority countries...Approximately 120 students from the impacted countries are enrolled in the CUNY system...Borough President Adams will also be joined by members of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and Professional Staff Congress (PSC)-CUNY, as well as Rafiee's cousin Mina, who will deliver a message on behalf of her relative."

At 6:30 p.m. Monday, Public Advocate Letitia James and City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez will hold a transportation town hall, at Fort Washington Collegiate Church.

At 6:30 p.m. on Monday, City & State will hold the “50 Over 50 Awards.” This event will be a “celebration with New York’s most prominent leaders in government, business and media over the age of fifty.”

Tuesday
On Tuesday at 12:30 p.m., "Mayor de Blasio will visit Rodman’s Neck Training Complex with NYPD Commissioner O’Neill to tour the facility and discuss the City’s $275 million investment to upgrade the complex." At 6:30 p.m., "the Mayor will appear live on the Dean Obeidallah Show on SiriusXM Radio channel 127."

At the City Council on Tuesday:

  • At 9:30 a.m., the Committee on Housing and Buildings will meet to discuss numerous proposed laws, most of which deal with cranes or construction safety.
  • At 1 p.m., the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management will meet for an oversight hearing on “expanding New York City’s Extended Producer Responsibility Law,” and for discussion of a proposed law that will deal with the “reuse or recycling of discarded carpeting from commercial units or buildings.”
  • At 1 p.m., the Committee on Consumer Affairs will discuss a proposed law on “authorizing a cure period for certain item pricing violations.”
  • At 1:30 p.m. The Committee on Parks and Recreation will meet on the naming of 41 thoroughfares and public places.
  • At 2 p.m. The Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services will meet on a bill “Requiring the fire dept to report on the use and type of smoke detectors and smoke alarms in fire-related deaths.”

The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.

The NYS Joint Commission on Public Ethics will meet on Tuesday in Albany.

On Tuesday morning at 9:15 a.m., "Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez will announce the kickoff of Car Free NYC 2017, with a countdown to a Car Free Day on Earth Day...at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Pfizer Auditorium at 5 Metrotech Center."

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, there will be a joint legislative budget hearing on Public Protection at Hearing Room B in the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the New York City Department of Small Business Services will hold a hearing on a proposed rule, which would “continue the program that provides grants to companies that provide school bus transportation.”

At 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Public Advocate Letitia James will deliver remarks "at the NYC Employment and Training Coalition's Policy Forum: Advancing Advocacy Through Partnerships in Uncertain Times," at The CUNY Graduate Center.

At 2 p.m. Tuesday in Albany, Comptroller Scott Stringer will speak at a "press conference to unveil new legislation and analyses on granting driver’s licenses to undocumented New Yorkers with the New York Immigration Coalition, Fiscal Policy Institute, elected officials and advocates," at the Empire State Plaza.

On Tuesday evening at City Hall, the City Council will host "‘Let Freedom Ring-Commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’, a celebratory event. Counciil Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and several other Council members will participate.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the New Leaders Council gala will host Assemblymember Michael Blake as keynote speaker.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, City Council Member Costa Constantinides will deliver his State of the District Address, at I.S. 126 in Astoria. Public Advocate Letitia James will attend.

Wednesday
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, City & State NY will hold “On Public Safety.” This event “will convene government officials and leaders in defense, public safety, security, intelligence, law enforcement, and emergency management at a half day forum covering New York public safety issues.” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill will deliver the Keynote Address, and speakers on various panels will include Council Member Jumaane D. Williams; State Assemblyman Joseph R. Lentol; Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy T. Howard; and Chief Joseph Pfeifer, the Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness at the New York City Fire Department.

At 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, there will be a joint legislative budget hearing on Economic Development at Hearing Room B in the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the City Planning Commission will hold a public meeting.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday, “New York City Councilman Andy King and the Bronx Youth Empowerment Program kickoff of the first day of Black History Month with the annual “Celebrating Our History” event.” This event will take place at the library of Evander Childs High School in The Bronx.

At the City Council on Wednesday:

  • At 10 a.m., the Committee on Finance will meet.
  • At 1:30 p.m., the City Council will hold a stated meeting. The full-body Council meeting will be prefaced, as usual, by a press conference led by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

On Wednesday at 11 a.m. at City Hall, "Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez will join elected officials, advocates, radio DJs and the family of DJ Jinx Paul, who was killed in a hit and run crash last December, to unveil legislation to create a hit and run alert system in New York City. The legislation would create an alert system through a number of channels, to support the NYPD in capturing perpetrators of hit and runs."

At 3 p.m. Wednesday, there will be a rally on the steps of City Hall protesting Mayor de Blasio’s budget cuts to the Department of Veterans’ Services. State Senator Marty Golden, City Council Minority Leader Steven Matteo, Council Member Joe Borelli, Reverend Michel Faulkner, Anthony Testaverde, elected officials, and veterans will participate.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, New York City Council Member Helen Rosenthal will hold “Fact vs. Fiction: Understanding the News in the Age of Information Overload.” This event is a “community conversation on the current state of the news and what you can do to decipher between fact and fiction.” Rosenthal will host a panel of experts.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, there will be a public hearing on the Greater East Midtown Rezoning at NYU School of Dentistry, Nursing & Engineering.

Thursday
At 8:15 a.m. Thursday, Crain’s New York will hold “Real Estate Law: The Impact of Demographics,” featuring Richard J. Mack, the CEO and Founder of Mack Real Estate Group.

On Thursday at 1 p.m., at Urban Pathways’ Ivan Shapiro House in Manhattan, "the New York City representatives of a statewide coalition of nonprofit organizations will gather to call on Governor Cuomo and the legislature to strengthen the human services sector through efficient investments and systemic change. The Executive Budget, while acknowledging the importance of human services, provided little to strengthen organizations and the sector responsible for lifting families out of poverty." Participants will include Urban Pathways, Human Services Council, FPWA, State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, and others. "The Restore Opportunity Now campaign is supported by more than 340 nonprofit organizations across New York State."

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, City Council Member Laurie Cumbo continues her Community Exchange Series. At this event at Medgar Evers College, Cumbo will deliver her first of two parts on the status update of the Bedford Union Armory.

Friday and the weekend
No events on our radar for Friday or the weekend as of Sunday night -- though Mayor de Blasio is expected to make his weekly Friday appearance at 10 a.m. on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show. 

***
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).

***
by Brendan Birth and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

With Trump in Office, New York Democrats Show Urgency, and Infighting, on Women's Rights


cuomo women's equality act

Cuomo in 2013, via The Governor's Office on flickr


With President Donald Trump taking office and Congressional Republicans chipping away at the Affordable Care Act, including a provision that guarantees cost-free birth control, New York’s Democratic lawmakers are scrambling to fortify protections for women on the state level.

Citing the threat of Trump’s administration, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he has instructed the Department of Financial Services -- which regulates insurance companies -- to require commercial insurance providers to cover contraception and “medically necessary” abortions without asking for a co-pay.

The announcement was timed to coincide with women’s rights marches that took place in New York City, Washington D.C., and across the country, as well as the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which despite efforts from the Democratically-controlled New York State Assembly, is not fully codified into state law. Republicans who control the state Senate have refused to pass such a law, though many abortions would be legal in New York even if the Supreme Court, bolstered by a conservative Trump appointee, were to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling. A 1970 New York law permits abortions until 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Cuomo’s contraception and abortion coverage announcement came on the heels of legislation introduced by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and passed by the Assembly earlier this month. Called the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act, the bill, which has not yet been introduced in the state Senate, would codify the co-pay-free contraception provision in the Affordable Care Act.

Cuomo’s women’s health push has received a lot of praise, including from Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, who called the DFS regulation “an important step forward toward ensuring that women have control over their reproductive lives.”

However, members of the Assembly took issue with the governor’s action, saying the regulatory change lacks the permanence of a statute. “We think a law would be the strongest solution,” said Michael Whyland, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

Assembly Member Kevin Cahill, who sponsored the Assembly version of the legislation, said the DFS regulation falls “very seriously short” of the intentions of the bill’s authors and decreases the likelihood of Schneiderman’s bill being introduced in the Senate, which remains under GOP control.

“We are talking about the contraceptive rights that are now at risk because of actions that are being taken in Washington that could have been thoroughly protected through legislation,” said Cahill, a Democrat representing Kingston. “Now the legislative path is significantly less likely because of [the governor’s] action.”

Cahill noted Cuomo’s regulation does not include coverage for male vasectomies, which can take the onus of contraception off of women, or emergency contraception, otherwise known as the “morning-after pill.” The new regulations also omit language authorizing midwives to prescribe or distribute emergency contraception and an educational component to the bill.

“He didn't consult with us at all, and to the best of my knowledge, the attorney general heard about it in a press report,” Cahill told Gotham Gazette. “While it appears on its surface to be laudable, it may have actually made the situation significantly worse."

In response to Cahill's comments, a spokesperson for the governor, Abbey Fashouer, said, “The Governor is taking immediate and decisive action to secure women’s reproductive rights, regardless of what happens at the federal level. To be clear, this doesn’t preclude legislative action, or apparently, grandstanding. This decisive action may rob some individuals of a headline later, but it does ensure that the reproductive rights of millions of New Yorkers are protected today.”

Cuomo's office also noted that vasectomies are not included in the governor's DFS regulations because they are part of the ACA, but not New York insurance law, where birth control for women is covered.

Democrats will continue to push state legislation as opposed to executive regulations since, as Trump is showing on the federal level, executive actions can be rolled back by a new executive.

While state law already mandates that contraceptives be covered without co-pays and bars insurers from denying any type of surgery -- including surgical abortions -- Cuomo’s version clarifies that the law will not change if ACA is repealed. In addition, the new DFS regulation would ban charging co-payments for abortion and requires that insurers provide coverage of birth control for up to 12 months from the initial prescription.

During his campaign, Trump vowed to “repeal and replace” the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, and has said he would appoint a Supreme Court justice who opposes Roe v. Wade -- though he has backtracked on both positions in media interviews.

Two of Trump’s first actions in the Oval Office were a vaguely worded executive order toward repeal of the ACA and another to reinstate a ban on spending for reproductive health services for organizations abroad, which is expected increase infant mortality and maternal death rates around the globe.

Toppling Roe v. Wade, which would require at least two new Supreme Court justices, is more complicated than the president has made it seem, but even if it happened, it is not likely to have as much of an impact in New York as it would in, say, South Carolina, according to a new report from the Center for Reproductive Rights. As Trump has pointed out in interviews when expressing somewhat conflicting support for overturning Roe v. Wade, “if it ever were overturned, it would go back to the states.” During a 60 Minutes interview he added of women seeking abortions in states where it would then be illegal, “they’ll have to go to another state.”

Early this year the state Assembly also reintroduced a second bill, the Reproductive Health Act, which updates New York’s law to align with Roe v. Wade. Abortion has been legal in New York since 1970, three years before the Supreme Court decision. Codifying Roe v. Wade on a state level would remove outdated criminal statutes that apply to abortion practitioners when a woman is more than 24 weeks pregnant, add language that prioritizes for the health of the mother over the fetus, and expand the list of medical professionals that could perform abortion to include 21st Century professions, such as physician’s assistants.

These inconsistencies, and the criminal statutes, continue to result in many women being denied care, according to the NYCLU. Last year, Attorney General Schneiderman issued an opinion, stating that abortion be allowed after 24 weeks if the fetus is not viable or the mother’s life or health is threatened, as specified by Roe v. Wade, but advocates say New York doctors are still deterred from treating women with sometimes life-threatening health conditions who are more than 24 weeks pregnant.

Though Democratic lawmakers have been pushing this bill for years, Senate Republicans have blocked the motion. In 2013, an effort by the Independent Democratic Conference -- a breakaway group of Democrats that caucuses with Republicans -- to move the bill in the Senate failed. In the 63-seat Senate, 30 Republicans and two Democrats, Ruben Diaz Sr. and Simcha Felder, voted it down. Diaz Sr. and Felder, who also caucuses with Republicans, are still in the Senate and unlikely to support the abortion protections, though Diaz Sr., a Bronx minister, may run for City Council this year and leave the Senate if victorious.

Candice Giove, the spokesperson for the IDC and its leader, Sen. Jeff Klein of the Bronx, told Gotham Gazette, "The Independent Democratic Conference is the only Senate conference whose members are 100 percent pro-choice." Giove's comment is an apparent reference to Diaz Sr. Giove did not make clear whether the IDC plans to push the Senate GOP to take up passage of stronger abortion protections into state law this year.

“We are hopeful that the IDC will support the bill and put their action behind it,” Lieberman of the NYCLU said during a press conference call on Thursday morning. “We know from polling that’s been done that New York is 70 to 80 percent pro-choice. New Yorkers overwhelmingly support the codification of Roe v. Wade and women’s’ rights.”

The codification of Roe v. Wade into New York law was the tenth of ten planks in Gov. Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Agenda, which the governor attempted to push over several years. Cuomo said the Legislature must pass all ten planks together, but as the Senate continued to balk on the abortion provision, Democrats including Cuomo and the Assembly majority opted to pass the nine other planks, which include equal pay provisions, protections for domestic violence victims, bans on pregnancy discrimination in workplaces, and more.

Cuomo, a second-term Democrat, has been criticized for not doing enough to flip the Senate to Democratic control, and for creating in 2014 the Women’s Equality Party, which appears to have been mostly an election year gimmick aimed at hurting the Working Families Party.

A spokesperson for Senate Republicans did not return a request for comment about where the conference majority stands on the abortion bill.

Another criticism of the new Cuomo regulatory directives came from Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative think tank. Hammond said the governor’s move undermines the legislative process and noted that without a provision to address additional expenses incurred by insurance companies, this rule could drive up healthcare premiums.

On the Empire Center’s blog, The Torch, Hammond also questioned why abortions are exempt from co-pays, but other medically necessary procedures, like childbirth, for example, are not.

“If this rule change stands, expect a parade of provider and consumer groups to seek similar consideration from DFS in the months and years ahead,” he writes.

A spokesperson from DFS noted that there will be a 45-day public comment period before the regulations are finalized. The rules will go into effect 60 days later. Trump has promised a Supreme Court nominee next week, but U.S. Senate Democrats, led by New York’s Charles Schumer, have pledged to fight any nominee who is not moderate.

***
by Rachel Silberstein, State government reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

Read more by this writer.

Cuomo Embraces Voting Reform Agenda, But Implementation Poses Challenges


Cuomo voting 2015

Gov. Cuomo voting (photo: The Governor's Office on flickr)


During his State of the State tour early this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a trio of major reforms hailed as important steps toward modernizing New York’s antiquated electoral system and increasing the state’s paltry voter turnout. While they are long-called for proposals that many are pleased to see Cuomo promote, implementing these goals could be more complicated than it may seem.

Two of the three reforms, early voting and automatic voter registration, were outlined in Cuomo’s 2016 agenda, but the initiatives failed to move through the Legislature last year due to opposition from Senate Republicans, who control that chamber. It is a power structure that continues into the 2017 session, meaning the road to passage is uphill, and steeply so.

New York is one of only about a dozen states without some semblance of early voting. While the state already has a form of automatic voter registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles, Cuomo’s proposal is to streamline and expand the practice. If passed, it would amount to more widespread automatic registration, but not universal.

The third electoral proposal from Cuomo, same-day registration, will likely require a constitutional amendment -- meaning approval from two consecutive classes of the state Legislature, then voters via ballot referendum -- a process that would take at least three years. There is some debate among constitutional law experts over whether such an amendment is required for any form of same-day registration, which would allow voters to show up at the polls to both register and vote on the same day.

The three reforms are almost universally seen as long overdue in New York. Voter turnout in New York is especially poor: in 2014, the state ranked 49th of the country’s 50 states. While New York has watched many other states change voting laws to increase access to the ballot, the voter turnout deficit here is growing progressively worse, with just 19.7 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots in the 2016 presidential primaries. Turnout numbers have also consistently declined during gubernatorial elections and, in New York City, during mayoral election years.

“New York is so far behind the curve on election administration that almost anything is an improvement,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of government reform group Common Cause New York. “I think the governor has picked issues that are very good places to start.”

Those with high praise for Cuomo’s 2017 electoral agenda include Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who, after monitoring the state’s four election days of 2016, issued an exhaustive report with areas for reform at the end of the year.

"I commend Governor Cuomo for proposing common sense reforms to our voting system. I look forward to working with Governor Cuomo, the legislature, and everyday New Yorkers across our state to address the systemic problems in New York's voting laws,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “New York must become a national leader in voting rights by expanding and protecting the rights of all New Yorkers to cast their vote.”

In the statement, Schneiderman also recommended consolidating New York's exhausting voting schedule into a single primary. In 2016, there were three: in April for the presidential race; in June for congressional races; and in September for state legislative races.

While it is still early to speculate exactly how the Legislature will respond to Cuomo’s electoral reform agenda, there are key early markers, process details, and implementation questions ahead of whatever policy debate may occur.

One thing is certain: Democrats in the Assembly, where they have the majority, and in the Senate, where they do not, will be behind the election and voting modernization efforts -- including and beyond Cuomo’s three main proposals. What is less clear is whether the governor will fully push for early voting, automatic voter registration, and same-day registration in budget negotiations, which are just beginning; and whether there is any room for passage in the Republican-controlled Senate, perhaps with the help of the Independent Democratic Conference -- the seven-member body that has formed a ruling coalition with the Senate GOP.

Early Voting
When it comes to early voting, New York is one of just 13 states without some window wherein voters can cast ballots before Election Day.

For several years running, an early voting bill has passed the Assembly, only to be blocked in the Senate.

According to Gov. Cuomo’s 2017 proposal, every county would offer residents access to at least one early voting poll site for every 50,000 residents during the 12 days leading up to Election Day. Voters would be guaranteed eight hours on weekdays and five hours on weekends to cast early ballots, and bipartisan county boards of elections would determine locations of the early poll sites.

While high voter participation would ideally be a bipartisan issue, New York Republicans -- who cling to control of the state Senate by a tiny margin -- have calculated that better ballot access and more participation is likely to turn out Democratic voters, according Senator Michael Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens and outspoken proponent of voting reform.

“These reforms are more necessary than ever and I’m glad they were included in the governor’s presentation, but the problem is Senate Republicans seem to have a personal interest in keeping people from voting,” said Gianaris, a co-sponsor of several packages of electoral legislation. “That's been the biggest hurdle to overcome, because voter restrictions tend to benefit them.”

A spokesperson for Senate Republicans did not return multiple requests for comment.

A natural partner of early voting is absentee voting. In his State of the State policy book, Gov. Cuomo, a second term Democrat, also cited the requirement for absentee ballot voters to provide an excuse, which is written into the state constitution and its removal would require a constitutional amendment.

A bill to remove this requirement from the constitution has passed the Assembly and is, like other voting reforms, awaiting Senate approval.

Senator Joseph Addabbo, who co-sponsored the bill and served as chair of the Senate Election Committee in 2009, said his staff has not looked closely at the governor’s plan yet but expressed hopeful optimism about the governor’s electoral reform agenda.

“I’ll say I can embrace a lot of what he’s proposing and now our legal counsel might look at whether and how it can be implemented,” said Addabbo, a Democrat from Queens. “This is a lot of what we’ve worked on and proposed in 2009. We really go through painstaking measures to determine what is going to get voters to vote.”

In addition to persuading the Senate majority, Cuomo and Assembly Democrats will have to hash out the details with counties, which, while supportive of early voting, want the governor to include a provision for who would foot the bill -- approximately $3 million per year, according to one estimate -- for the additional polling options.

"Despite principled visions on the issue, on the fiscal nature of the cost shift it's unconscionable for the state to be shifting and enacting policies these days in the property-tax-cap era. It should be dead on arrival." Stephen Acquario, executive director of the state Association of Counties, told the USA Today Network.

Automatic Voter Registration
Automatically registering voters when they become eligible or when they come into contact with government agencies is a fairly new concept. Since 2015, automatic voter registration -- which can have different forms and meanings short of universal automatic registration of voters once they become eligible -- has been approved in six states with strong bipartisan support and is taking off across the country, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

The idea is to shift the onus of registering from the individual to the government. In addition to increasing voter registration in other states, automatic voter registration has been shown to have significant benefits for administrators, reduce costs, and improve the accuracy of electronic poll books.

Cuomo’s proposal, recycled from last year, would automatically register anyone who comes into contact with a state Department of Motor Vehicles, unless the person chooses to opt out. Currently, eligible voters can register through the DMV, but they must provide additional voting information as they apply for DMV services.

Cuomo’s proposed version of automatic registration is preferable to similar bills passed in Oregon and California, which only registers eligible citizens who apply for or renew a driver’s license. However, Cuomo’s plan is not as inclusive as say, that which is outlined in New York’s Voter Empowerment Act, sponsored by Senator Gianaris and Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh, which would enable a variety government agencies to automatically register voters.

The Brennan Center outlines four ways that states can modernize their electoral systems with automatic registration. The first, of course, is by automatically registering anyone who interacts with government offices, unless the person declines registration. The second is portability, which ensures that registered voters remain on the voter rolls even after they move within the state. The third, online access, allows voters to register, check, and update their registration records through a web portal. And fourth, the state should provide a “safety net,” that allows citizens to correct errors on the voter rolls or register before and on Election Day.

Ideally, automatic registration would occur through many different state-run agencies, reaching well beyond the DMV to the the widest possible segment of eligible voters. There is a sizeable population, especially in urban centers like New York City, that does not drive or interact with the DMV. Broader automatic registration would include:

DMVs; Medicaid and public assistance offices; colleges and high schools; military recruiters and other military offices; unemployment and other public benefit offices; firearm licensing agencies; immigration offices; government-funded job-training centers; law enforcement and corrections agencies that interact with people who regain their voting rights after a criminal conviction.

Some community groups have raised concerns that tying automatic voter registration to the DMV alone may skew registration number in favor of areas with high rates of car ownership, disproportionality impacting upstate voters over New York City, for example.

Researchers at the Brennan Center are exploring whether data can shed light on the concern that automatic registration through the DMV advantages some groups over others.

“We recognize that this is a serious concern for some important groups and we want to take a close look at this question,” said Chisun Lee, senior counsel at the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. “We are hopeful that the net benefits for increasing the franchise, and reaching voters who otherwise wouldn't be enrolled, will be positive for all.”

Same-Day Voter Registration
Same-day voter registration, perhaps the boldest of Cuomo’s proposals, would allow New Yorkers to register and vote on the same day.

Currently, New Yorkers must register to vote 25 days prior to an election, though the state constitution's requirement is only ten days. Depending on how it would be implemented, same-day registration may require a constitutional amendment. However, if early voting is passed, there are legal experts who argue that the constitution would allow same-day registration for those who vote prior to ten days before Election Day.

Again, a constitutional amendment is typically at minimum a three-year process which would require two “yes” votes from consecutive Legislatures and the passage of referendum on the following year’s general election ballot.

Alternately, a “yes” vote on the constitutional convention referendum, which will be on the ballot this November, could provide another avenue to remove restrictions and institute reforms like same-day registration.

At this point, 13 states and the District of Columbia have same-day voter registration, and California, Vermont, and Hawaii have approved the provision, though it has not yet been implemented, according to Cuomo’s office.

The upcoming opportunity to amend the state constitution via constitutional convention, which, for New Yorkers, appears as a ballot referendum every 20 years will be November 7, 2017. A constitutional convention is a four-year public process that could result significant changes to the entire document and laws of the state. If New Yorkers say “yes” to a convention on this year’s ballot, a year later, voters will select delegates to participate in the convention; the following year, in 2019, the convention will convene; and voters will be able to vote on any proposed changes the following Election Day.

Like with the electoral and voting reforms Gov. Cuomo has proposed, he has expressed varying degrees of support for a "yes" vote on a constitutional convention, but whether the governor takes significant action will go a long way toward determining the outcome.

***
by Rachel Silberstein, State government reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

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