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Urban Issues: Economy


URBAN ISSUES - ECONOMY
• Jobs
• Minimum Wage
• North American Free Trade Agreement
• Taxes

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John Edwards

Edwards proposes a new round of funding for New Markets Tax Credit, a program that matches $3 of investment from private companies with $1 in federal funding. In the past this program generated $26 billion for high tech jobs. Edwards also proposes doubling funding for grants for community development organizations. He also proposes a Training Works initiative to connect businesses and community colleges with local residents seeking jobs.

Edwards would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to at least $6.65 an hour.

Edwards was not in office when the North American Free Trade Agreement was passed. He said if he were in office, he would have voted against it. He says it must be amended to keep jobs in the U.S.

Edwards wants to repeal tax cuts for families with incomes above $200,000. He also has proposed a $2,500 tax credit for families with newborn babies to be used to pay for childcare. He would give a 10 percent tax credit for companies that keep jobs in the US.

John Kerry

Kerry proposes a State Tax Relief and Education Fund that will help states with $50 billion over two years to ease education cuts, tuition increases, and local taxes. He also wants to double the number of urban business zones that receive tax incentives. He supports private job training centers and promises to expand opportunities for minority and women owned business.

Kerry would raise the minimum wage, but did not say how much.

Kerry voted for the North American Free Trade Agreement, but says that it may need to be amended to keep jobs in the U.S.

Kerry wants to repeal tax cuts for families with incomes above $200,000. He also supports a State Tax Relief and Education Fund that will help states so they don’t have to make cuts or raise taxes. Kerry wants to protect the increases in the child tax credit, the reduced marriage penalty, and the new tax bracket that helps people save $350 on their first level of income.

Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich would offer state and local governments $50 billion in interest free loans every year for ten years to help create jobs.

Kucinich would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $8.50 an hour.

Kucinich said he would repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement to keep jobs in the United States.

Kucinich would repeal all of President Bush's tax cuts, and offer $87 billion in tax credits for middle- and low-income families.

Al Sharpton

Sharpton proposes spending $50 billion a year for five years on highway, railway, and infrastructure as a way to create jobs.

Sharpton would raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 an hour.

Sharpton would repeal the North American Free Trade Agreement to keep jobs in the United States.

Sharpton would repeal all tax cuts and institute new taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for education, health care, and social programs. He would increase child tax credits and earned income tax credits.

George W. Bush

In May 2003, President Bush signed the Job and Growth Act, which cut capital gains and dividends taxes and gave $20 billion in state aid to create new jobs. The White House Economic report issued in February predicted that 300,000 new jobs a month will be created by the end of 2004. However, recently the administration said that those job predictions were too high.

Bush has not supported a minimum wage increase.

Bush supports the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Bush signed tax cuts over the last three years that will total over 1 trillion dollars over six years. New Yorker City’s portion is about $78 billion. He wants to continue these tax cuts into the future.

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GOTHAM GAZETTE’S RELATED ARTICLES


• Federal Job Training and New York City
• Why the Minimum Wage Should Be Raised in New York
• Why the Minimum Wage Should Not Be Raised in New York
• Bush's Tax Cuts and New York

 

Urban Issues: Crime


URBAN ISSUES - CRIME
• Gun Laws
• Policing/Sentencing
• Death Penalty

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John Edwards

Edwards opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits. He supports background checks at gun shows that are required for other gun sales.

Edwards supports the Community Oriented Policing Program that would put over 100,000 officers on the streets. He also urges the reform of probation and parole system to give more supervision to offenders released from prison. Edwards promises to end racial profiling in law enforcement.

Edwards supports the death penalty.

John Kerry

Kerry opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits. He supports background checks at gun shows that are required for other gun sales.

Kerry supports the Community Oriented Policing Program that would put over 100,000 police officers on the streets. He supports increased funding for drug rehabilitation programs, increased supervision for offenders after they are released from prison, and proposes a commission to review sentencing laws in order to assure that the penalties are appropriate to the crimes.

Kerry opposes the death penalty, except for terrorists.

Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits. He supports background checks at gun shows that are required for other gun sales.

Kucinich does not support funding for the Community Oriented Policing Program. He supports vocational, job training, and job placement for inmates coming out of prison. He supports programs for drug treatment and reduced sentences for non-violent offenders. Kucinich advocates for programs for at-risk youth and imposing stricter penalties for white-collar crimes.

Kucinich opposes the death penalty.

Al Sharpton

Sharpton opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits. He supports background checks at gun shows that are required for other gun sales.

Sharpton does not support funding for the Community Oriented Policing Program. He supports vocational and job training for inmates coming out of prison. He supports programs for drug treatment and reduced sentences for non-violent offenders. He supports programs for at-risk youth and imposing stricter penalties for white-collar crimes. He promises to end racial profiling by police officers.

Sharpton opposes the death penalty.

George W. Bush

Bush opposes granting gun makers immunity from civil lawsuits. He supports background checks at gun shows that are required for other gun sales.

Bush cut funding for the Community Oriented Policing Program, which some critics say hurt local police departments. Bush created a Project Safe Neighborhoods program aims to increase communication between federal and local authorities by establishing a specific contact person within the district U.S. attorney’s office who will ensure that local areas receive information and resources.

Bush supports the death penalty.

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GOTHAM GAZETTE’S RELATED ARTICLES


• Federal Government and Crime
• Suing for Gun Control
• Death Penalty and Parole Reform
• Repeat Offenders

 

Urban Issues: Immigration


URBAN ISSUES - IMMIGRATION

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John Edwards

Edwards supports reform of current immigration policy to create “a clear road map to legalization and citizenship for undocumented immigrants who work hard and follow the law.” He supports increased security on the U.S./Mexico border to protect against illegal immigration. He supports an earned legalization program to help working immigrants gain citizenship more quickly.

John Kerry

Kerry supports reform of current immigration policy. He supports efforts to restore benefits to legal immigrants and legislation for undocumented young people have grown up and graduated from high school in the U.S. He believes the naturalization process for legal permanent residents serving in the Armed Forces should be expedited. Kerry supports a proposal that will allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status if they have been in the United States for a certain amount of time, have been working, and can pass a background check. He also calls for increased funding for border enforcement to ensure that only legal immigrants can enter the country.

Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich promises to legalize the status of tax-paying undocumented workers in the U.S. He supports a partnership with Mexico to control the flow of immigrants into the country.

Al Sharpton

Sharpton would relax restrictions barring legal immigrants from taking part in programs like public housing and food stamps.

George W. Bush

In January 2004, Bush outlined a new policy that would give a temporary 3-year work visas to immigrants who are willing to take a job that no American wants. The proposal would require employers to sponsor a worker and the visa would have to be renewed. Bush's policy comes after several years of more stringent immigration regulations, including requiring visitors from certain countries to register with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Many immigrant advocates in New York criticized Bush's new plan, saying it would give too much power to employers and could potentially deport people after they have already worked for years.

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GOTHAM GAZETTE’S RELATED ARTICLES


• Urban Agenda: Immigration
• Bush's Temporary Worker Program
• Citizenship and Voting
• Immigrant Soldiers
• Special Registration

 

New York City Council STATED MEETING - February 4, 2004


New York City Council Stated Meeting Report

Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Searchlight covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.

STATED MEETING - February 4, 2004

Quote of the Day:

"Today, we will end lead poisoning as we know it." - Councilmember Bill Perkins, author of a new lead paint law passed over the veto of Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Meeting Summary:

On February 4, the New York City Council overrode two vetoes by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, enacting a new lead paint law and requiring the city's Department of Health to create electronic death certificates.

The new lead paint law (Intro 101-A) will require landlords to clean up lead dust, not just lead paint. It also requires inspections of all apartments in a building where high lead levels in children have been found. The lead paint legislation has faced much controversy and opposition in the past few years. (Read articles with arguments for and against Intro 101-A.)

The Bloomberg administration opposed the bill arguing that the number of childhood lead poisoning cases have decreased in recent years and that the proposed bill could create a wave of lawsuits against the city. Opponents also raised concerns that the new law may make it more difficult to build and renovate housing in the city.

"This bill has unintended consequences," said Republican James Oddo, who voted against the bill. "We should have acted with the precision of a scalpel, not with a chainsaw."

The Department of Health has indicated that it may not comply with the law, and some expect it will return to the council for futher revisions. Even Councilmember Margarita Lopez, who has been a supporter of the lead paint bill from the beginning, acknowledged that the council may have to amend it to ensure that it does not slow the construction of affordable housing.

The council overrode the mayor's veto by a vote of 44 to 5 (with 1 abstention). Republicans James Oddo, Dennis Gallagher, Andrew Lanza and Democrats Madeline Provenzano and Helen Sears voted "no." Councilmember Peter Vallone, Jr. abstained.

The second veto override (Intro 198-A) requires the Department of Health to create an electronic registry so that funeral directors and families can obtain official death certificates online. Currently people must apply for documents in person, and the process can take up to six months or more. Some 60,000 people die in New York City every year.

The mayor opposes the bill because it would require the city to implement the online registry in a specific timeframe; 60 percent of the system must be in place in two years and 75 percent must be completed in the next four years.

Some council members - who pointed out that IBM gave the city a $5 million grant to create such an online database that was never completed - said the time requirements were necessary to get results.

"I think it is unfortunate that the technology mayor is upset that there are deadlines for implementing [this]," said Councilmember Gail Brewer who authored the bill.

The council was unanimous in its veto override of the electronic death registry bill.

The City Council also joined with over 200 other municipalities in passing a resolution (Res. 60) criticizing the federal USA PATRIOT Act. (Read an article about the PATRIOT Act and opposition to it.) The text of the measure calls for the "repeal of those sections of the [act] and related federal actions that unduly infringe upon fundamental rights and liberties as recognized in the U.S. Constitution and its Amendments."

The resolution has no legal power, but represents the official view of the New York City Council. It passed by a vote of 36 to 13. (Lew Fidler abstained from the vote.)

Some council members said that the council should not spend its time considering such legislation outside of its powers. "My constituents elected me to the City Council, not to Washington," said Councilmember Tony Avella.

The following council members voted "no" to the resolution:
Joseph Addabbo
Tony Avella
Simcha Felder
Dennis Gallagher
Vincent Gentile
James Gennaro
Allan Jennings
Andrew Lanza
Michael Nelson
James Oddo
Dominic Recchia
Helen Sears
Peter Vallone, Jr.

The next stated meeting is scheduled for February 26, 2004

For an archive of past meetings and council votes, visit Gotham Gazette's Searchlight.

 

 

No Kill, The New Goal In Animal Control


A red pit bull was brought to the city's animal shelter in the Bronx recently with two broken legs. A shelter official contacted Jane Hoffman from the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City Animals, who called a private veterinarian. The vet agreed to examine the animal for free, and do the orthopedic surgery at a reduced rate, which was paid for by a charity set up for this purpose called the Picasso Fund.

If it had been brought in just a year ago, chances are good that the dog -- badly injured, homeless, and thus deemed un-adoptable -- would have been killed.

Last year about 35,000 cats and dogs were reportedly killed at the five shelters run by New York City’s Center for Animal Care and Control. At least a third of them were healthy and not dangerous. They were killed – euthanized, in the parlance of the field -- because there just wasn’t room for them. This is the way it has been for decades. Every day, as many as 200 animals -- lost, homeless, unwanted, sick or injured – are taken to these shelters. By the end of every week, about two-thirds of them have been put to death.

But now there is a new vision for the future of New York’s cats and dogs. It is expressed in something approaching a slogan – No kill in NYC by 2008.

FROM KILL TO NO KILL

There are many reasons why animal shelters got into the business of killing the animals they had rescued from the streets.

  • First was simply the overwhelming overpopulation of cats and dogs. Estimates put the number of dogs in the city at about a million and a half, and cats at more than two and a half million. Too many thousands of these are homeless animals roaming the city.
  • Inadequate shelters are also at fault: the population during one month in 2003 was 171 percent of capacity at the Brooklyn shelter, 114 percent of capacity at Manhattan, and 137 percent of capacity in Queens.
  • Years with no ambitious adoption and spay/neuter programs have contributed as well. An audit by NYC Comptroller William Thompson a couple of years ago found the city’s shelter system "does not provide humane conditions for all of the animals in its shelters and has not made aggressive efforts to increase adoptions of homeless animals." Spay-neutering initiatives, to stem the overpopulation, were under-publicized.
  • New York City per capita spending on animal control is about half the national average.
  • And underlying all this was a leadership philosophy that accepted this killing as sad but necessary.

That philosophy began to change nationally in 1989 when a Californian named Ed Duvin wrote an article condemning euthanasia for healthy adoptable animals in shelters as "massive slaughter” and “an abject failure.” The article stirred heated debate and resulted in more and more humane organizations, including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (the ASPCA) in New York, distancing themselves from the killing, by leaving it to municipal-run shelters. But this didn’t stop the deaths; it only changed who administered them.

 

The concept of “no kill” began in 1990 at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which teamed up with the local animal control agency to create programs that encouraged adoption, instituted spay/neutering, reunited pets with owners, and vastly improved the shelters themselves. In 1989, only 38 percent of the animals in the shelters in San Francisco were saved from killing. In 2003, the save rate had increased to 78 percent.

“No kill” does not mean that there will no longer be animals put to death at animal shelters. Rather, the goal is not to euthanize any healthy "adoptable" animals. About 20 percent of the animals may be too sick or too dangerous to save, according to the National Council on Pet Overpopulation , and they will continue to be euthanized.

Even the more modest goal of saving healthy adoptable animals will take up to five years to achieve in New York City.

NEW LEADERSHIP

That “no kill” is now even the official goal in New York is largely due to three people, the city’s new generation of leadership in animal care.

 

Jane Hoffman: Strategic Alliance
The first is Jane Hoffman, a lawyer who helped found the Animal Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the first such bar association committee in the nation (eight cities and ten states have since followed suit). At the end of 2001, the committee sent a memo to Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg, outlining opportunities to improve New York City’s policies towards animals. The mayor invited Hoffman to City Hall, a meeting that led to the formation of the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City Animals, with Hoffman as its president. "I think what appealed to them" said Hoffman, "is that a lot of people were screaming about this situation, but not offering options. We did."

There are now 50 organizations in the Mayor’s Alliance. Their mission is to increase the adoption of shelter animals and increase spay/neutering of cats and dogs, both of which will ultimately help to achieve the third goal: decrease the killing of animals at shelters. These efforts would be paid for by securing a grant from Maddie's Fund, a foundation that supports collaborative no-kill efforts within communities.

Ed Boks: Emphasizing The "Care" In Animal Care and Control
Hoffman lured Ed Boks to head the Center for Animal Care and Control, which is a non-profit agency created in 1995 under contract with the city to operate the city's animal shelters (taking over from the ASPCA). Boks had gained a reputation in animal control in Maricopa County, Arizona (which includes Phoenix and several other cities), where he had promised that he would not leave until he had made it the first no-kill metropolitan area in the country. But the opportunity to do the same in New York was too strong a siren call. “If we do it in New York, we will rob every other community in the United States of their excuses.”

Boks likes to repeat a saying by Gandhi – “the way you can judge a community is by how they treat their animals. Right now,” Boks says, “how we treat our animals is a cause of tremendous shame. Our shelters are abhorrent." A former pastor, Boks would like to emphasize the “care” in Animal Care and Control. Since the city cut its funding for the agency from $8.9 million to $7.2 million last year, Boks has teamed up with well-known animal advocates such as Mary Tyler Moore to raise additional funds. Boks also hopes to be able to roll out programs that worked in Maricopa County -- he has already initiated one, for feral cats (the “wild” offspring of domestic pets) -- if he can find the funding. "Our job won’t be done until we can develop a safety net for all animals.”

Edwin Sayres: Ten Percent Fewer Deaths A Year
The third new leader passionately committed to “no kill” is Edwin Sayres, the new president of the ASPCA, a national organization founded in 1866 that is headquartered here in the city. Sayres, who has spent three decades working for animal welfare organizations, hopes to lend his expertise as well as the resources of his organization to help New York City reduce its animal euthanasia rate by ten percent a year.

"With Ed Boks here," said Sayres, "and with what Jane Hoffman is creating with the Mayor’s Alliance, and what I bring to the table…it feels like the planets are all in their right alignment. There is strong competency and good spirit, so we have placed more priority on our role in New York."

The ASPCA has increased its spending in the city to $15.5 million (up from $12.5 million last year), and says these resources will be aimed at increasing adoptions, and providing animal behavior training sessions to owners; a large number of pets are surrendered to city shelters because of their behavior problems, many of which could have been corrected. The society will also provide additional hours and more staffing for their mobile unit (ASPCA CARES), which offers on-the-spot spay/neutering in various neighborhoods; last year, the mobile unit performed 7,000 surgeries. ASPCA CARES is free for those on public assistance and for rescue groups, and $25 for anyone else.

PETS TO THE PEOPLE

Less than 10 percent of the estimated 56,000 animals brought to city shelters last year were adopted. (The fate of the rest: Some were reunited with their owners, and others were transferred to animal rescue groups or private shelters that hold onto them indefinitely if they need to, but it is estimated that at least 60 percent were euthanized). To save more lives, the animal care activists are devising new ways to get these pets to people.

 

Last year, the Mayor’s Alliance offered five adoption events at city parks, complete with festive tents, banners, nice display cages, and orange mesh vests for the animals printed with the words “Adopt Me.” Three hundred shelter animals were adopted in this way. ( Dates for the 2004 park adoption events are already lined up: Central Park (May 23); Clove Lake Park (Sept. 25); Prospect Park (June 20, Oct. 24).)

Another strategy is to compete with pet stores. Animal Haven, a member of the Mayor's Alliance, partnered with Biscuits & Bath, a dog day care center, to create a small storefront adoption center on Second Avenue for shelter animals. The window looks just like a pet-store window, except there is a sign that says “Adopt Me.” Animal Haven offers lifetime support services, including training for the new owners on care for the animals. "It is an educational opportunity," explained Marcello Forte of Animal Haven. "We want the adoptions to stick." Last year, they were able to place 500 shelter animals this way.

They also operate an adoption van that set up at several heavily trafficked areas. "We're going to the public and bringing the animals," said Forte. "Pets to the people."

Then there is the Pet-Ark, an ATM-like kiosk that helps people locate pets for adoption from within the shelter system. Funded by Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, Dr. Robert Levin, Pet-Arks are now up and running in nine locations and on the Web. The hope is that Pet-Arks will soon be in banks, post offices and even Starbucks.

Available pets can also be reviewed online through Animal Care and Control

"Adopting from a shelter, the animal is good to go," said Hoffman. "They're spayed/neutered… they have all their shots, and you get some details on the animal. You get a great healthy animal at a portion of the cost. And 20 percent of animals in shelters are purebreds. Buying from a shelter makes you part of the solution."

ALLOWING PETS IN APARTMENTS

Sometimes adoption efforts are hindered by "no pet" clauses in tenant leases. If a landlord has a no-pet clause in the lease, but the tenant "openly and notoriously" has the animal for 90 days or more without interference, the landlord waives the right to enforce the law for the life of the pet. If a tenant brings home a new dog after this one dies, however, the 90-day period begins anew.

 

A bill introduced last year by City Council Member Melinda Katz would extend that post-90-day grace period through the life of the tenant, rather than the life of the pet. The legislation would also ensure that seniors, 62 and older, would not be denied housing or be subject to eviction on the basis of having pets. A hearing in December brought many supporters to testify, while a representative from a council of low-income coops spoke against it. Katz will reintroduce the bill this year.

LOW COST SPAYING AND NEUTERING

Adoption is the first priority because of the high euthanasia rates, but the long-term solution to this problem is widespread low-cost spay/neutering, or "turning off the faucet." The low cost is important. The price to spay or neuter a dog at a vet's office can range from $85 to $500 and, for cats, the price fluctuates between $125 and $250. The Mayor’s Alliance is hoping for a grant that would provide six million dollars for spaying and neutering animals in low-income families.

 

Over half the membership of The Veterinary Medical Association of New York City (VMA/NYC) agreed to offer their services to spay/neuter up to six animals a year for no more than $20 for anyone on public assistance, with the remainder of their fee being paid from the grant.

Jay Kuhlman, a veterinarian for 34 years (and the doctor who treated the pit bull with two broken legs), sees low cost spay/neutering as essential to avoiding the high rates of euthanasia. Veterinarians could be helping more, he thinks, by posting signs and talking to their customers. “We the people have done this. And we can decrease it.”

RESCUING STREET CATS

Bryan Kortis, a documentary filmmaker, was on his way home to his two cats on Manhattan's Upper West Side in 1999 when he happened upon what he thought was a single kitten in an empty lot, and he stopped to see if he could help; maybe he could handle one more addition to his home. It turned out not to be one kitten, but several. Indeed, there were 30 cats there, most of them under a year old. This he couldn’t handle. Kortis tried calling all over the city to get someone to take care of the cats, only to find that there was no humane organization in existence that dealt with street cats. He realized that if wanted someone to help these cats, he was going to have to do it. In that instant, Neighborhood Cats came into existence.

 

Kortis learned about trap-neuter-return (TNR) -- a humane feral cat colony management program -- from the Alley Cat Allies. The program involves trapping feral cats, preferably the whole colony at once, and bringing them to a vet for spay/neutering. Kittens are rescued and brought to shelters, hopefully for adoption, and adult cats are returned to where they were found, but monitored and fed from this point forward by volunteer guardians.

"There are tens of thousands of feral cats in New York City, " said Kortis. "Maybe hundreds of thousands. Half of the kittens coming into city shelters are street cats. Three to four thousand animals a month are being euthanized and most of them are cats. If we can’t stop the flow of these kittens going into shelters, we’re not going to be able to stop the euthanasia rates."

Neighborhood Cats initially concentrated on the Upper West Side, with remarkable results: in four years, he says, the number of stray cats from the neighborhood going into shelters dropped by 73 percent. Now, they operate throughout the city, have completed some high-profile operations at Riker’s Island and Fresh Kills, and conduct workshops and courses.

The goal of Neighborhood Cats is that euthanasia becomes "what it was meant to be," said Kortis, "the mercy killing of beings that are mortally ill and suffering, and nothing else."

A CARING – AND LICENSING -- COMMUNITY

"The best shelter is a caring community," said Boks, who is promoting responsible pet ownership, which includes not just spaying and neutering, but also getting a license for your dog. Dogs with licenses who wind up in a shelter “go home,” said Boks. Those who are not wearing tags “don’t go home. It is the single most prevalent reason for animals dying in shelters."

 

Hoffman also recommends microchip identification for pets, a tiny implantable chip that is injected into the skin; shelters and veterinarians now all have scanners to read these IDs . "If the license falls off, they still have the microchip.”

They are also encouraging New Yorkers to “foster” a litter for 30 days, or to volunteer at an animal shelter. There are programs with schools to teach children to care, and even programs with banks: Negotiations are currently in progress with JP Morgan Chase to encourage employees to adopt pets from shelters by covering the fees.

Jane Hoffman is optimistic that no kill is a reachable goal. Adoptions, she points out, nearly doubled last year from the year before. "Our hope is that at some point we can save them all," she said.

"It’s up to the community," said Ed Boks.

Arts Groups Look to Congress to Ease Cultural Exchanges


In Alladeen, a multimedia production touring the U.S., artists from New York, London, and India peer into our “global soul”—at least that part of it revealed by the fact that workers in the “call centers” of Bangalore adopt flat accents and Western names in order to market products to Americans. But while global commerce may be borderless, international artistic collaborations such as Alladeen are becoming increasingly difficult and rare.

Artists who want to work in the U.S. must apply for nonimmigrant visas and prove they possess “exceptional ability” or cultural uniqueness. Since 9/11, greater scrutiny of visa applications has meant delays, extra expenses, and cancellations for foreign guest artists and their American hosts. The U.S. Visa and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (U.S.VISIT) program that went into effect last month requires digital fingerprinting, photographing, and a short interview for travelers from certain countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America, adding more layers to the process. And, because what used to be called the Immigration and Naturalization Service is now the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and under control of the Department of Homeland Security, visa applications can be denied for any reason, without appeal.

But delays in visa processing started before 9/11. As reported in a November 2002 column, the institution of “premium processing” in June 2001 complicated a system that was already loaded down with confusion and delay. Under premium processing, applicants who pay a $1,000 fee are guaranteed an initial response within 15 days. While speeding the process for some, this has diverted staff resources and lengthened processing time for most. On average, applications now take six months or more, while they used to take three. (Nonprofits may request expedited processing, without the fee, if they can prove that delays will cause them financial losses; in the case of illness or other emergency; or if the event will further the “cultural and social interests” of the U.S. In practice, however, expedited requests are rarely approved.)

Even though few can afford to, many arts groups now pay for premium processing for fear of incurring greater expenses down the road. Last summer, a U.S. tour of the Peking Opera had to be canceled after the Chinese artists failed to win visas (it was feared they would try to stay). The producers lost more than $500,000 in upfront costs, in addition to forfeiting ticket sales.

According to Sandra Gibson, president of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, there’s been a drop in the number of applications approved for guest artists. “We’re seeing more issues arising on the consulate and embassy side,” Gibson says. “Visa applications get through the initial approval process, then there might be a request for more evidence. Some artists are finding it more difficult to get interviews at the consulates, or have to travel to embassies to do them, which of course means added expense.” In many countries, new security regulations are taxing the resources of consulates and embassies, which have long been understaffed. (The 9/11 commission found that, in 2001, a single U.S. consular official in Saudi Arabia had to perform about 200 interviews a day.)

Visa problems have been particularly acute in the world music scene. Artists from countries like Mali and Cuba are often ill equipped to pay extra costs or navigate the convoluted processes of visa application; at the same time, their biggest fan base may be Americans and their countrymen living here. Bill Bragin, director of Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, recently produced GlobalFEST, an evening of showcase performances that involved 16 musicians from several countries. The event was designed to support world musicians -- for whom touring has become “fraught with tension,” Bragin says -- and to build a network of presenters in this country. In theory, sharing the administrative burden and expense of sponsoring foreign artists could make world music more commercially viable.

The Association of Performing Arts Presenters and the American Symphony Orchestra League have created a Web site to aid the performing arts community. The site, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, offers guidance from immigration lawyers and tax attorneys for navigating the ever-changing rules for sponsoring foreign guest artists: “U.S. immigration law is complex and confusing,” the visa application process is “prone to errors, inconsistencies, and delays,” and even a typo can get you disqualified.

Arts advocates are also lobbying Congress for some relief. Artists are a small constituency—each year about 30,000 apply to work here—but their problems mirror those of others involved in international relations. “It’s the same argument for artists and businessmen,” says Gibson, who in addition to heading the Association of Performing Arts chairs the American Arts Alliance.

Arts advocates have won the support of Senators. Hatch (R-UT), Kennedy (D-MA), and Chambliss (R-GA), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee with jurisdiction over immigration. The three senators sent a letter to the Bureau of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services last March urging changes to the visa process for foreign artists. The agency has been studying the issue and Wiliam Yates, its new director for operations, has promised to respond shortly. The senators are requesting administrative changes to streamline the visa process: allowing artists to file applications a year before the proposed date of enrollment, which many say is a more realistic time frame for production schedules; mandating a maximum of 30 days for processing; updating the I-129 application form and instructions to reflect current regulations (they are now outdated and misleading); and implementing uniform policies, procedures, and training at immigration service centers.

Last month, the Arts Alliance launched a campaign asking the major presidential candidates to sign a pledge “to promote global cultural diplomacy and exchange” and “stimulate the circulation of arts and ideas.” Implicit in this is the assumption that cultural exchanges are good not just for the arts, but for international relations. “At a time when we’re securing our borders, we have to have room to exchange ideas and traditions,” says Gibson. “We’re hearing that many parts of the world don’t understand our culture.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patriotic Surveillance? Federal Fingerprinting Of Foreigners


There are now three times as many surveillance cameras on the streets of New York as there were six years ago - an estimated 7,200, often disguised as street lamps.

This is according to the New York Civil Liberty Union's NYC Surveillance Camera Project, which has been researching the location of the cameras since 1998. The Surveillance Camera Players have created maps of the publicly-installed cameras in the city.

The increase in these cameras is partially the result of heightened fears about terrorism after 9/11, and they do make some people feel more secure, according to the New York City Police Department -- since 1997, crime has fallen near 15 housing developments that are monitored.

But they also point at least indirectly to the Bush administration's security policies. Those policies have their most direct _expression in the USA Patriot Act, approved by Congress in October 2002 and, more recently, in more obscure law called the US Visa and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology -- US-VISIT for short -- which went into effect this month.

Experts argue that both laws are eroding privacy and civil liberties in the name of securing the country against terrorism. And technology plays a key role in the enforcement of both of them, in particular, digital images and video as well as databases of personal information.

USA PATRIOT ACT

The USA Patriot Actexpands the government's access to personal records of citizens' activities held by third parties. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, "at a time when computerization is leading to the creation of more and more such records, the Patriot Act allows the FBI to force anyone at all - including doctors, libraries, bookstores, universities, and Internet service providers - to turn over records on their clients or customers."

There are several privacy and civil liberty concerns, as enumerated by the Brookings Institution:

• Current privacy laws are not well-suited to the problems of quickly changing technology

• Inaccurate information in databases may lead to false identifications

• Useless and time-consuming searches are being done

• Security guidelines are not in place.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has created an Electronic Privacy Threat Index to counter the Homeland Security Advisory System index.

This is where all those surveillance cameras in New York start to worry civil libertarians.

In midtown alone, there were a total of 284 surveillance cameras documented last May, up from 190 documented the previous January. The vast majority of these cameras, 258, are owned by the private sector, followed by nine owned by foreign embassies, seven by the New York Police Department or Department of Transportation, and only six by the federal government.

However, as a result of the Patriot Act, all the tapes from all the cameras could become available for government viewing.

If that seems unthreatening, think on this: the Patriot Act also allows for government access to information contained in the subject line of e-mails and the addresses of Web sites visited.

US-VISIT

New York may be one of an international city, but thanks to the new US-VISIT policy, foreigners (US visa holders and immigrants) arriving at John F. Kennedy airport this year are being treated as threats. They must undergo an extra 15 seconds of fingerprinting and digital photographing. The law, which will cost $7 billion over 12 years, will track about 24 million people at 115 airports and 14 seaports. The prints and photos are compared with lists of criminals and terrorists.

According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, US-VISIT is "part of a comprehensive program to ensure that our borders remain open to visitors but closed to terrorists." However, the law has already drawn intense criticism from a number of Washington think-tanks including the libertarian Cato Institute and liberal Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Charles V. Peña, director of defense policy at the Cato Institute, offers a number of reasons why US-VISIT does not make sense. First is the exemption the law provides to visitors from 28 countries, including Great Britain, France and Germany. Assuming that US or European Union passport holders pose less of a threat of terrorism is a mistake. In addition, the program is at fault because it collects too much data (and stores it in a government database) even though only a tiny percentage of it might be useful in catching terrorists.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center has filed comments about US-VISIT urging the Department of Homeland Security to abide by existing Privacy Act requirements, reduce its proposal to retain Data for 100 years, and consider international privacy standards.

More Data, Not Brains

The Republican-led initiatives designed to secure the country against terrorism following 9/11 seem to share a critical flaw. To get more data is not necessarily to get better data. As the images of New Yorkers are captured on camera and stored in databases, there is no guarantee that we are living in a safer city.

Laura Forlano is a doctoral student studying communication technology policy at Columbia University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Urban Agenda



New York and the Feds: Mayor LaGuardia and FDR; Bush at Ground Zero; Daily News Headline During 1975 NYC Fiscal Crisis; Abraham Lincoln at Cooper Union.

For information on the federal government's impact on New York City, visit our new section Focus On The Feds.
New Yorkers listening to President George W. Bush's 2004 State of the Union Address on primetime last week may have felt overlooked.

The president never once uttered the words "urban" or "city" or "New York," though he did say "Bulgaria" and "Bali." And while he talked about "September 11th" several times and referred to the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, he never mentioned the place where these attacks occurred.

It was not until several days later, in an untelevised address at a conference of mayors from across the country, that he specifically acknowledged the economic struggles and issues facing many cities.

"It's not easy being a mayor," Bush toldthe gathering of mayors. "Probably a lot harder than being president. After all, I don't fill potholes or empty the trash."

Of course, his opponents have not been spending a lot of time on the real problems of cities either, at least judging by their campaigns so far. In an effort to appeal to the broadest national audience possible and the early primaries in Iowa (where agriculture is the largest industry) and in New Hampshire (where the largest city has only 107,000 people), the Democratic presidential candidates have focused little on urban issues.

When the candidates came to New York City last fall, they debated how free trade affected workers in the Midwest and oil drilling in Alaska, but did not even mention issues like housing, mass transit, and immigration.

It was not always this way. A generation ago, there was an assumption that the federal government should play a significant role in the life of American cities like New York - even if federal officials were wary of cities.

Today, there is no real urban policy agenda in Washington.

"There is no leader in the executive branch [for urban issues] and there are no committees in Congress that make it a priority," said David Rapp, editor of Congressional Quarterly, a publication with 100 reporters covering Congress. "We don't even have a reporter assigned to cover urban affairs."

NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON

The history of New York and the federal government is complex and difficult.

On one hand, the city has played a significant part in the political life of America. And to politicians, it has been an important place to gather votes and to raise funds.

The first president George Washington was sworn in at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Right Makes Might speech at Cooper Union, which solidified his Republican nomination. In the 1930's, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, working closely with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was able to funnel millions of federal dollars into the city for public housing and social service programs. More recently, former President Bill Clinton selected Harlem as a site for his office.

And much of today's New York City was built with federal money. Between the 1920s and 1960s, Robert Moses built high-rise buildings, highways, bridges, tunnels, playgrounds, and parkways with money from Washington.

At the same time, there is a history of deep anti-urban sentiment in America.

“The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government,” Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, “as sores do to the strength of the human body.”

As urban planner John Accordino has pointed out (in pdf format), “Jefferson’s sentiments and those of his contemporaries were translated into the fundamental law of the land," in which cities were made mere subdivisions of the states in which they were located. The states retained "ultimate financial and legal authority" over the cities, which were seen as incapable of governing themselves.

 

Cities continue to be seen as places of poverty, corruption, crime, and immorality. And immigrants, who traditionally first settle in urban areas, have often been viewed with suspicion. Even President Roosevelt, who was the first president to pay real attention to cities with his New Deal campaign, thought urban areas had become too large to maintain.

"Today many people are beginning to realize that there is an inherent weakness in cities which become too large for their times, and inherent strength in a wider geographic distribution of population," Roosevelt said in a speech in 1937.

In the 1960s, first as an outgrowth of President Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" program to eradicate poverty and then in response to rioting in neglected urban neighborhoods across the country, the nation and its political leaders seemed determined to address the problems of America's cities, and New York City's Mayor John Lindsay could become a national figure and a presidential candidate by championing an urban agenda.

But by 1975, when President Gerald Ford refused to come to New York City's aid during the fiscal crisis and the Daily News printed the now famous headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead," it wasn't only Ford whose views could be summed up this way.

DEMISE OF THE URBAN AGENDA

Part of the shift away from a national agenda for cities is a matter of demographics. With the birth of the suburbs after World War II, and the federal financing of the interstate highway system, the cities lost population to outlying areas.

In 1960, the U.S. population was evenly divided among central cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Today, more than half of all Americans live in the suburbs and less than a third live in urban areas. And 40 years ago, New York City accounted for about 4.3 percent of the national population; today it claims only 2.7 percent.

Part of it is political. Nationally, the Republicans and Democrats both claim 45 percent of the population as loyal voters. So the battle for the White House comes down to the 10 percent of Americans known as "swing voters." Pollsters believe that most swing voters live in the suburbs.

In New York City, where Democrats outnumber Republicans four to one, some say that Democrats take the city for granted.

"Hence the decline of the urban agenda," New York Senator Charles Schumer told the New York Times. "That doesn't just hurt urban areas, it hurts America."

The move away from a national urban agenda reflects a change in policy that, some claim, actually benefits the city. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has maintained that the federal initiatives did more harm than good and burdened cities like New York with high taxes and regulations. In a 1995 speech, he argued that it was time to end the days when cities went to Washington "hat in hand."

"The old agenda was based on looking to others to solve our problems - look to Albany, look to Washington, someone will come along and bail us out," said Giuliani. "The new urban agenda should declare that we can solve our own problems, without direction from state or federal authorities."

Today, there remains disagreement about what the federal government can and should do for New York.

In his recent budget presentation (in pdf format) Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that New York City taxpayers send $11 billion more to Washington D.C. each year than they get back in services.

"When they talk about taxing and spending [in Washington]," the mayor said, "we get the taxes and they get the spending."

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Last week, in an effort to draw attention to needs of cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released an urban agenda for the presidential campaign. The report (in pdf format) focused on five critical issues:

 

  • Crime: Increasing funding for local anti-terrorism efforts, reforming the juvenile justice system, and providing drug treatment.
  • Transportation: Investing in mass transit, roads, and bridges.
  • Jobs: Tax incentives for small business and economic development projects.
  • Education: Funding Head Start programs, creating small schools, and funding "No Child Left Behind."
  • Healthcare: Providing coverage for children, lowering drug prices, and fighting HIV/AIDS.

 

President George W. Bush, who has not released a specific urban agenda yet, addressed the report and said he would increase homeland security funding by 10 percent in the next budget. He also outlined steps to create jobs, stimulate housing ownership, and serve the poor through faith-based initatives.

Four of the Democratic presidential candidates - Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, John Edwards, and John Kerry - have released their specific ideas for helping cities. All four plans include an economic stimulus plan that would create jobs in urban areas and call for an increase in the minimum wage.

In addition, Wesley Clark's plan calls for an expansion of funding for housing vouchers, public transit, and cleaning up the urban environment.

Howard Dean focuses on a permanent trust fund to rehabilitate housing for people of low and moderate income, and a crackdown on predatory lenders (institutions that issue exploitatively high-interest loans to low-income people).

John Edwards aims to improve urban schools, expand after-school programs, increase housing subsidies, and reform probation regulations.

John Kerry wants to work to increase manufacturing jobs, provide job training for young people, and expand loans for small businesses and high tech companies.

NEW YORK: UNIQUE AMONG CITIES

Of course, New York is not just any city.

New York's economy is more diverse than most cities with Wall Street, tourism, manufacturing, the arts, and the media industry all generating jobs. The city's population has continued to grow in recent years. And New York has seen its crime rate drop to record lows; the Federal Bureau of Investigations recently declared New York "the safest large city in America."

At the same time, New York still has great poverty, the highest housing costs in the nation, the most riders of mass transportation in the country, and an overburdened school system.

"New York's agenda is similar to that of other cities except more so," said John Mollenkopf, professor at the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York. "What is unique about New York is that it combines both large social burdens and great wealth."

If New York's needs do not always grab the attention of national officials, its wealth surely should.

In the last two national elections, New Yorkers gave $153 million in donations to federal candidates and national parties, nearly twice as much as the residents of any other city.

"When federal officials from outside New York come here to fundraise and tap resources of our great city," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, "we should know where they stand on the issues that matter to us."

FEDERAL ISSUES THAT ARE CRITICAL FOR NEW YORK CITY

• Economy
• Education
• Mass Transit
• Health Care
• Housing
• Immigration
• Poverty
• Terrorism

Economy

While the national economy has rebounded in the last few years, New York City's has been slower to recover. In part, this is because New York City's economy and tax base is largely dependent on Wall Street; every $1 billion in Wall Street profits translates to $77 million in tax revenue for the city, according the mayor's office. The city has also struggled to recover from the economic impact of September 11.

Just how Washington can best help New York City's economy is a point of debate.

Some argue that federal tax cuts are the best way to stimulate the national and the city's economy. The Manhattan Institute estimated that President George W. Bush's federal tax cuts have kept $1 billion in the city that otherwise would have gone to Washington.

Others argue tax cuts have not helped and formulas of how government money is dispersed must be changed to recognize New York's unique needs - to create jobs, housing, and aid low-income New Yorkers. (For more, read Bush Tax Cuts and New York)

"The Republican belief is that the federal government should not be in the business of providing services to American citizens," said Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel. "They believe… those people that are less fortunate should have to rely on local and state governments."

Education

New York City has the largest public school system in the country with over 1 million students and more than 1,100 schools.

While Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in the midst of his overhaul of New York City public school system, the current federal education policy No Child Left Behind presents unique challenges for city schools, students, and parents.

No Child Left Behind, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in January 2002, requires standards for academic achievement. Those schools that do not perform are placed on a "schools in need of improvement" list and students are entitled to transfer to a better school. If a school appears on the list for two years, low-income students are entitled to free tutoring services.

There are 347 schools on the list in New York City. (For more on how the program affects New York, read Gotham Gazette's article)

When it comes to money for New York City schools, the federal government only currently provides about 10 percent of education funding; the rest comes from state and city, both of which are struggling to close budget deficits.

In his 2004 preliminary budget, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that the city needs $400 million more from the federal government to fund the program. (For more, read Are New York's Children Left Behind?)

Health Care

There are two major government health care programs: Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare affects people over 65 years old regardless of income and is funded by the federal government. Medicaid offers medical coverage for low-income people and is funded by federal, state, and local governments. In New York City, approximately 350,000 people are eligible for both programs.

In 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the most sweeping changes to Medicare since the creation of program in 1965. Health experts are still divided on what these changes will mean for New York City in the long term. (For more, read New Medicare Law: Will It Hurt or Help?)

Unlike most states, New York requires local governments to pay a major portion of the Medicaid bill. New York City's costs have risen dramatically in recent years, nearly 32 percent from 1999 to 2002. By 2004, Medicaid spending is expected to cost the city over $4 billion a year, or about 13 percent of the total budget.

In his most recent budget, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would ask Washington to increase its Medicaid funding by 3 percent, an initiative that would save the city $240 million.

Housing

Affordable housing is one of the most critical issues facing New York City.

The New York City Housing Authority operates 345 public housing developments for nearly 400,000 New Yorkers and administers 87,000 "section 8" rental vouchers for low-income families.

However, in order to qualify for federal housing subsidies, New Yorkers must meet more and more requirements. Beginning January 2004, a new regulation requires 8 hours of community service for approximately 60,000 people who live in public housing. If they do not abide by the regulations, they can be evicted. (For more read Community Service Required for Housing)

At the same time in recent years, federal subsidies for low-income housing have decreased. Between 1999 and 2003, the federal subsidy for the housing authority decreased by $58 million or 6 percent, according to a report by the Independent Budget Office.

Most of the new housing initiatives offered by President George W. Bush and the Democratic presidential candidates focus on increasing homeownership. Such programs do not have as great an impact in New York City, where the cost of buying a home is high and most people rent their apartments.

Immigration

New York City is the city of immigrants. Close to three million immigrants live in New York, an estimated 40 percent of the city's population.

In January 2004, President George W. Bush outlined a new immigration policy that would give temporary work visas to legal or illegal immigrants, who are willing to take a job that no American wants. The proposal would require employers to sponsor a worker and a visa would only last three years. Many immigrant advocates in New York criticized the plan, saying it would give too much power to employers and could potentially deport people after they have already worked for years.

Bush's policy comes after several years of more stringent immigration regulations, including requiring visitors from certain countries to register with the Immigration and Naturalizations Service and the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act, which gives government and law enforcement officials broader use of surveillance in an effort to fight terrorism.

"I know there's some talk in your communities about the Patriot Act," President Bush told a group of mayors last week. "We are in a new war, a different kind of war. We need to be able to share information across jurisdictional boundaries at the federal level."

Democratic presidential candidates say that they would work to reform the Patriot Act and do more to protect civil liberties.

Mass Transit

New York City is home to the nation's largest mass transit system in the country. Metropolitan Transportation Authority subways, buses, and railroads carry 2.4 billion passengers a year - or one in every three mass transit users in the nation.

In December 2003, the federal government came through for the city on the issue of transportation in lower Manhattan.

Department of Transportation Secretary announced $2.85 billion in grants to build a new PATH terminal, connect 12 subway lines in a new Fulton Street subway station, and replace the South Ferry subway terminal.

And some New Yorkers are still hoping for more. Last fall, Congress announced the Transportation Equity Act, which calls for $375 billion over six years to transportation efforts. The plan would bring an estimated $8.5 billion for public transit and $11 billion for highway funding in New York. City officials estimate that the package could generate 70,000 jobs for New Yorkers

However, some members of Congress would reportedly like to funnel more money to highway projects in the South and Midwest.

Poverty

In 1996, the federal government passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, commonly known as welfare reform. The legislation overhauled the nation's public assistance programs.

In 2003, President George W. Bush proposed an extension of the act with added requirements. Under the President's plan recipients would be required to work 40 hours per week, the average funding for a family on public assistance would be increased, and state and local governments would consolidate food stamps, housing, and education programs.

While welfare rolls have decreased drastically in recent years, there are signs that the poor are not finding jobs or the help they need.

Homelessness in New York City is at a record high. The number of single mothers who are unemployed has risen and hourly pay has actually decreased since 2000, according to a report by the Community Service Society.

The city must also do more, advocates say, to create job-training centers. (For more, read Is Congress About To Shake Up Job Training?)

At the same time, an estimated 800,000 New York City residents who are entitled to food stamps are not receiving them. Advocates say that New York City's food stamp offices are not complying with federal law or even with their own policies. This costs the city nearly a billion dollars in lost federal aid. (For more, read Food Stamps Not Reaching Everybody Who Deserves Them)

Terrorism

In the past decade, New York City has endured two terrorist attacks and many believe remains a primary target in the future. While the national terror alert level has fluctuated, New York City has remained on a high level of alert since September 11, 2001.

In March 2003, the New York Police Department launched a new anti-terrorism initiative called Operation Atlas to increase security at the city's tunnels, ports, subways, and landmarks. The plan costs an estimated $5 million a week.

In the past two years, the federal Department of Homeland Security has provided the city with $180 million to fund antiterrorism programs, a result of complaints from New York lawmakers that urban areas were most vulnerable. Still they say the federal funding has not even come close to covering New York City's expenses.

New York currently receives fewer homeland security dollars per person than 48 other states and American Samoa.

"Who would believe that New York City - still the terrorists' number one target - has spent a billion dollars out of its own pocket for security, but gets only a fraction from the federal government?" said Representative Carolyn Maloney. "But that is the sad truth."

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Related Links

New York Urban League
New York Urban Republican Platform
US Conference of Mayors
FairshareNYC.com

Presidential Candidates

Republican Candidates

George W. Bush
• www.georgewbush.com

Democratic Candidates

Wesley Clark
• www.clark04.com
• urban agenda

Howard Dean
• www.deanforamerica.com
• urban agenda

John Edwards
• www.johnedwards2004.com
• urban agenda

Richard Gephardt
• www.dickgephardt2004.com

John Kerry
• www.johnkerry.com
• urban agenda

Dennis Kucinich
• www.kucinich.us

Joe Lieberman
• www.joe2004.com

Carol Moseley Braun
• www.carolforpresident.com

Al Sharpton
• www.sharpton2004.org

Help America Vote Act


When the Help America Vote Act was passed by Congress in late 2002, it was widely praised as a long-overdue upgrade of voting technology, and a much-needed balm to the wound that was the 2000 Presidential recount. The legislation, which was passed by huge super majorities in both houses of Congress, included close to $4 billion in federal funds to state and local governments, and a tight four-year timetable in which to come into full compliance.

The law stipulates that within those four years, voter rolls must be computerized, and centralized; in many states, lists of registered voters are kept by counties or localities, but there is no comprehensive statewide list. The law also says that those lists must be linked to the state agency that issues driver's licenses, to ensure accuracy and prevent fraud.

In addition, it requires that any voter who shows up at a polling place be given a chance to vote that day, even if his or her name doesn't appear on the voter registration list.

And many of the existing voting machines would need to be systematically replaced. The new law requires voters to be given the chance to correct any mistakes before casting their final choices. This is an important provision, not only because some of the machines really do break down constantly, and have been known to drop votes completely, but because it goes to the confidence of voters in the system. We are accustomed to electronic data, and we have come to expect that any time we make a selection, it won't be final until we press enter, or select, or say, "That's my final answer." And now the law confirms this, and requires states to protect voters from casting the wrong vote due to a simple mistake.

Think of it. No more hanging chads, no more butterfly ballots. And no more of those sluggish, temperamental voting machines that look like they belong in the Museum of American History.

During this four-year timetable in which all these reforms must be implemented, all states are required to go through the process of holding hearings by a specially appointed task force to decide how to implement this legislation and spend the federal funds. This is the stage that most states are completing right now. In New York State, the task force held a hearing this summer in New York City. Although the New York State task force did issue a report, they were criticized for failing to provide specific recommendations.

The Century Foundation, a nonprofit think tank, had previously commissioned a study that raised doubts as to whether the Help America Vote Act would in fact provide the kinds of real reforms that were promised at its passage. At the hearing this summer, Tova Andrea Wang, a Century Foundation Senior Program Officer and Democracy Fellow, testified to her view of the legislation and its implications. "Implemented well, the law could mean an expansion of voting rights not seen since 1965," Wang said. "Done poorly, greater disenfranchisement becomes a risk."

This new legislation does represent the biggest single set of voting reforms seen since the Voting Rights Act, but the volume of the legislation may be deceptive. The most serious cases of voter disenfranchisement, those due to language barriers, or illiteracy, may not be addressed by even this sweeping legislation.

Many of the problems that resulted in New York having the greatest number of lost votes in the nation in 2000-- greater than the number of lost votes in the rest of the nation combined-- were technological failures. They were the collective failure of machines to do the job they were created to do. But many of the problems that New York voters and New York election officials faced just one year later were not technological failures but human ones; the failure of people to do the job they were hired to do, and the failure of the city to hire adequate workers to do the job, period.

Granted, the challenges presented to New York's Board of Elections may be greater, and are certainly different, than the challenges faced by other parts of the nation. But the problems that New York faces are easily identifiable, if not as easily solved. In New York, there is a need for translators, and adequately trained poll workers who understand how to administer the voting procedures. And lots of them. And finding, training and retaining thousands of workers for a one-day assignment, one that requires a clear understanding of the subtleties of a new law, an appreciation for the dynamics of a diverse populace and a commitment to the integrity of the process, well, that is a more complicated problem that just replacing a piece of equipment.

The strategy for implementing the Help America Vote Act will continue to evolve in the states in the coming year as the law's timetable continues to run down. Eventually, changes will be made, and they will represent, one way or the other, the biggest changes in the logistics of American voting in several decades. But it will require continued vigilance to ensure that those technical changes result in real differences in the voting rights of Americans, both in New York and throughout the nation.

Susan Reefer is a Republican pollster and media strategist. She is based in New York City.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Governor George Pataki's 2004 State of the State Address


Chief Judge Kaye, honorable members of the Court of Appeals, Lieutenant Governor Donohue, Attorney General Spitzer, Comptroller Hevesi, Majority Leader Bruno, Speaker Silver, Leader Nesbitt, Leader Paterson, respected members of the Legislature, distinguished guests...

It's an honor to stand before you in this majestic chamber, the seat of New York's democracy. Each of us has taken a solemn oath to uphold this democracy and has the privilege of serving the most courageous people and the greatest state in the nation.

It's exciting to be here today to deliver my 10th State of the State address. For those of you who have sat through the previous 9 hours and 46 minutes of my State of the State speeches, you know they tend to be long. I just want to make sure everyone is comfortable in their seats - Eliot, Alan, Senator Balboni, Secretary Daniels - is everyone comfortable? Because I may be here longer than you think.

We're joined by a great New Yorker and good friend who addressed the opening session of the Legislature eight times as New York's Governor. Governor Carey, on behalf of everyone in this chamber, I want to thank you for being here today as we work to build on your proud legacy.

Libby, Mom, Allison, thank you for being here with me today and everyday.

As we look towards a new year with hope, let us remember the good friends we lost this past year.

The Catskills couldn't have had a more dedicated public servant than Assemblyman Jake Gunther. He was a friend and trusted colleague to us all, and he will be sorely missed. His widow, Aileen, is Jake's successor. Aileen, I want you to know that we all share your loss.

Just last week, we were all shocked to hear that Dick Miller passed away. Dick was loved in Binghamton, and here in Albany. We'll miss him dearly.

And all of us who work in the Capitol will never forget Trooper Bill Dooley. He was, quite simply, everyone's friend - a wonderful, funny, intelligent, outgoing man whose presence in our Capitol made us proud.

Let us bow our heads for a moment of silence in memory of these three friends and great public servants.

****

Let us also remember the brave New Yorkers who made the supreme sacrifice for their nation and its people this past year:

The police officers and firefighters who laid down their lives to protect New Yorkers from harm...

And the soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines we lost in the fight for freedom abroad...

We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never fully be repaid.

These brave men and women fought and died for the source of our unity, the bedrock of our democracy and the promise of our future. They fought and died for our freedom.

****

Today, with our nation engaged in a War on Terror, both here at home and abroad, it is appropriate that we reflect on that concept of freedom.

Like all of you, I learned about freedom from my parents and teachers. But I also watched it unfold from a farmhouse in Peekskill. For it was there that I sat with my grandparents watching as the streets of their native Hungary blazed with revolution. On that day, my father told me freedom was worth dying for.

Later, we would witness and become part of a new fight for freedom. Only this battle wasn't being fought in a far away country accessible only by television. No, this battle was being waged right here on the streets of New York, and not by brave strangers but by our own friends and neighbors.

Today's children - our children and grandchildren - are part of a new era of freedom. Years from now, they will mark September 11, 2001 as a turning point for humankind - a date when those who believe in fear were overcome by those who believe in freedom.

One of those children -- nine-year-old Jessica Hefferon of Appleton in Niagara County -- understands these lessons well. Jessica wrote the winning essay for a national contest of the Weekly Reader. "Freedom," she wrote, "is great to have, so I think we should try and share it with people who don't have the freedom that we have in our country."

That is, of course, what America has always sought to do - bring the blessings of freedom to oppressed people throughout the world.

She went on to write that "Being free means that you can make your own choices in life." Her words remind us that freedom is ultimately a simple principle, one that we sometimes take for granted. They remind us, also, of our solemn obligation to enhance these precious freedoms...

The freedom to live in safety and security...

The freedom to find a good job and build a strong family...

The freedom to live, breathe and dream in a clean and healthy environment...

The freedom that comes with knowledge and a quality education...

...And the freedom to persevere over adversity.

Today, I will ask you to join me in setting ambitious goals for New York's future that strengthen these freedoms. And if they sound too ambitious, remember that in each case, we've done it before, which means we can do it again.

****

Together, we've led the nation in fighting crime, and today New York is the safest large state in America. Let's pledge action so that in five years we will be the safest of any state in America. Today, I will outline a series of administrative and legislative actions to meet that goal.

Together, we helped create almost 500,000 new jobs since 1995. Let's work together to create one million new jobs by the end of this decade. Today, I will outline a detailed economic plan, which includes Phase II of our nationally-recognized high tech efforts, that will help to get us there.

Together, we've led the nation in our commitment to clean air and water. Let's be the nation's leader in clean and renewable energy technologies, and preserving open space. Today, I will advance a new environmental agenda to achieve both of these goals.

Together, we've made record investments in education. Let's work together and seize an historic opportunity to reform our education system so it's the best in the nation. Today, I will outline the guiding principles to lead us there.

And together, we can pay further tribute to those we lost on one of the darkest days in our nation's history. Today, I will update our timeline for revitalizing Lower Manhattan so that the heroes we lost are never forgotten.

To achieve these bold initiatives and new goals, I will ask you to join me in taking action on the 45 specific measures I outline today - some new, others long overdue - that will allow us to build upon our past success and ensure that New York is not only the world's greatest symbol of freedom - but its greatest example.

It is an aggressive, detailed and bold agenda that will require each of us to cast aside the petty divisions that often distract us from realizing our goals.

We've done it before. We can do it again.

And in doing so, we will pay tribute to the principle that unites each and every New Yorker - our deep and unequivocal love of freedom...

...the freedom Jessica so ably described in her essay.

Jessica is joined by her little brother Brian, her Mom, Tobi and her Dad, Major Steve Hefferon, a Squadron Commander in New York's Air National Guard...

Major, thank you for your service -- and Jessica thank you for your beautiful words, and for being here.

****

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Steve and all of the men and women of New York's National Guard.

I have regularly called upon the Guard over the past nine years in times of crisis - the attack on the World Trade Center... eight natural disasters... four plane crashes... eleven crippling blizzards... two major wildfires, a statewide blackout... and now of course... the threat of global terror.

In each case, the Guard responded quickly and heroically, and they've met every mission asked of them to protect our State and our nation.

And today, 3,400 guardsmen are serving across the globe, from Iraq and Afghanistan to the Canadian border and Grand Central Station.

The New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing, based in Westhampton, Long Island, has just returned from deployment in Iraq.

Most of us sadly recall hearing the news on November 2nd that a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter had been shot down outside the city of Falluja in Iraq, killing 16 soldiers.

On that tragic day, members of the 106th proved why they are considered among the very best at what they do.

Within minutes, helicopter crews from the 106th arrived at the site and rescued survivors from the smoldering wreckage.

Four of the heroes who took part in that rescue are here today. Your actions are a great credit to our country, and a great source of pride to the people of New York State.

...Lieutenant Colonel Graham Buschor
...Senior Master Sergeant Robert Marks
...Staff Sergeant Erik Blom
...Technical Sergeant Arthur Kakis

On behalf of a grateful State, thank you.

****

The Guard's support for New Yorkers is strong and unconditional. Our support for them must be the same. Last year, we passed the Patriot Plan -- the most comprehensive package of new benefits and protections in the nation to support New York's citizen soldiers and their families when they are called to active duty.

This year, I ask you to strengthen the Patriot Plan. Let's exempt our military Guard's pay from state taxes. Let's help local governments deal with the absence of these men and women, many of whom are public servants, until they get back. And my budget will increase the active duty pay for our troops on the front lines of the war on terror.

In a salute to freedom and those who defend it, let's pass a Patriot Plan II this year.

****

The freedom the men and women in our armed forces are fighting for is more than a birthright. It is a gift that each generation must, in some way, fight to preserve for the next.

During our nation's history, that has meant sending our sons and daughters off to war - in France and Germany, Korea and Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Today, however, we live in a world where the enemies of freedom have no homeland from which to wage that war. So they wage their war against freedom in the form of terror. They wage it against America, the greatest bastion of freedom, and New York, its greatest symbol.

We know what they are capable of, we know that New York will always be a target of their evil, and we know that nothing is more important than preventing them from striking again.

As New Yorkers we are fortunate to have leaders with the courage to confront this threat with force.

On behalf of the people of New York, I want to thank President Bush for his strong support of our security efforts, and commend him for his determination to take this war to the spider holes of Tikrit and away from our city streets.

We have another leader here with us today who has shown defiance against threats of terror. Mayor Bloomberg, New York and America watched with pride as you made Times Square the safest place in the world on New Year's Eve. Congratulations and thank you.

****

Shortly after the September 11th attacks, I assembled a team of the top law enforcement officials in America.

That team was the foundation for New York's Office of Public Security (OPS).

Today, New York's Office of Public Security is the best in the nation... And it has to be, because New York embodies the very principles of freedom the terrorists despise.

OPS' first priority was -- and still is -- to enlist the eyes, ears and experience of every law enforcement official in New York State in the fight against terror.

We began by creating 16 Counter Terrorism Zones, utilizing a secure network to keep tens of thousands of law enforcement officials advised of the latest threat information.

We've assigned more troopers than ever to protect New York's borders, its points of entry and transit hubs.

We've provided almost $160 million in equipment and direct funding to local governments.

We've deployed some 150 Weapons of Mass Destruction response units across the State - at least one in every county. These units include everything from individual protective equipment to state-of-the-art chemical, biological and radiological detection equipment.

I'm proud to report that the United States Department of Homeland Security has just designated New York's Cyber Security Office as the national information sharing center. Today, we are providing protection from terror, not just for New York, but for the entire nation.

We've accomplished much, but we live in a new era of danger.

We must confront that danger with firmness and resolve.

As we gather here together under the sober reality of Orange Alert, let us pledge a new era of public security.

Today, I ask you to reinforce the strong steps we've taken with new legislation...

...Less than a week after the September 11th attacks, you and I passed a strong Anti-Terrorism law.

I applaud you for taking such swift action.

This year, I ask you to strengthen it with legislation I proposed jointly with Attorney General Spitzer.

This critical legislation gives prosecutors and police the tools they need to detect, prevent and punish terrorists.

Our proposal provides severe punishment for those who possess or use chemical or biological weapons.

It cracks down hard on money laundering operations that are used to support terrorism.

And it will empower our 75,000 state and local law enforcement officials with the same investigatory powers given to their federal counterparts.

This is the single most important piece of legislation you will consider this year. New York has waited too long. I urge its swift passage.

****

And as we fight to protect our freedoms from the threat of terror, we must continue to fight for our most basic freedom of all - the freedom to walk on the streets of New York with confidence, and without fear.

It doesn't matter where in America you live -- if it's in a community where gangs rule the schoolyards, drug dealers own the playgrounds and violent criminals control the streets, you're not truly free.

That was the New York we inherited nine years ago. But it is not the New York we will leave to our children.

Stronger, smarter, tougher laws reduce crime. It's that simple.

Over the past nine years, you and I have passed more than 100 tough new anti-crime laws. Those laws have helped to reduce murders in New York by 56 percent and the overall rate of violent crime by 49 percent - more than any other state in the nation.

We are the safest large state in America.

Let's pledge, over the next five years, to make New York the safest of any state in America.

To achieve this goal we will need both administrative and legislative actions.

First, we will strategically target areas in the State where crime is disproportionately high.

This year we will aggressively target communities within the 15 counties that account for 80 percent of all crime outside of New York City.

Operation IMPACT, or Integrated Municipal Police Anti-Crime Teams, will draw upon all of our State criminal justice resources and consist of over 300 State Police officers.

IMPACT Units will be mobilized at the request of local officials and will work with local police and community leaders to combat crime on an unprecedented scale.

Operation IMPACT will use crime mapping technology to track crime hotspots, bringing the full force of State and local law enforcement to bear on the most crime-plagued areas of our State.

Operation IMPACT will save lives.

Second, through eJusticeNY, we will give police officers instantaneous information on any criminal in New York. If a police officer in Buffalo is holding a criminal wanted in the Bronx, he should have every piece of information he needs to arrest that criminal on the spot.

By the end of this year, 90 percent of New York's police agencies will be linked to eJusticeNY.

****

These measures will save lives. But we can save even more if you pass additional common sense crime-fighting pieces of legislation.

Let's pass a law that will allow us to collect DNA from all convicted criminals.

And let's end the statute of limitations for rape, sexual assault, and other serious violent felonies this year.

Let's end parole for all felons.

Let's give police and prosecutors the laws they need to take those who use, sell or possess illegal guns off our streets.

Let's aggressively fight domestic violence by strengthening our laws against those who terrorize their spouses, partners, or children.

We must pass a law to guarantee that violent felons who murder a child in the course of committing a crime spend the rest of their lives in prison.

We must ensure that sexually violent criminals who still pose a threat to society are not released into our communities.

Let's strengthen Megan's Law to provide the public with additional information and impose penalties on sex offenders who fail to comply.

We need a gang sexual assault bill to prosecute these despicable crimes as felonies.

We can prevent needless tragedies on our roadways by passing the Pena-Herrera DWI legislation.

Let's lock up chronic misdemeanor offenders and stop career criminals.

Let's severely punish those who violate the trust placed in them by endangering a child in their care.

And let's agree to strengthen our laws against criminals involved in child pornography.

We must help keep our schools, college campuses and day care facilities safe by imposing tough new penalties for crimes committed on school grounds.

Let's pass a law so those who commit an assault are punished more severely if their victim dies or is seriously injured.

Let's pass my Criminal Procedure Law Reform package to get rid of the absurd technicalities that too often let criminals go free and deny justice to their victims.

And finally, let's launch a new effort to put an end to the needless tragedies we read about all too often. Let's enact new measures to rid our streets of deadly drivers. I will send you a five point plan to do just that.

****

More than six decades ago, in his famous Four Freedoms speech, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke about Americans' right to the freedom from fear. While he was speaking about the unfolding events of the war, freedom from fear begins at home with government's obligation to protect its citizens from crime and violence.

No piece of legislation that passes through this chamber is more important than one which saves lives.

These are common sense bills that have broad support, and will save lives.

Pass them and New York will become the safest state in the nation.

****

A family feels a greater sense of freedom when it has the security of a good-paying job. That's why building a strong economic climate that creates good jobs is one of our highest priorities.

We've worked hard to do that, and we've done well.

Over the last nine years, we've cut billions of dollars in taxes, kept spending growth below the national average, streamlined government bureaucracy, enacted sweeping debt reform, and eliminated burdensome regulations that stifle economic growth.

However, we all know that the combined impact of September 11th, the national recession and the upheaval in our financial services industry presented our State with tremendous fiscal challenges -- challenges that still must be overcome.

This isn't the first time New York faced tough economic times. The previous national recession - over a decade ago - was four times longer and six times more severe here in New York than in the rest of the nation. We lost more than 500,000 jobs - because the State simply was not prepared to compete.

In less than two weeks, I will address you again, and present my Executive Budget. I will urge you to work with me to put these fiscal challenges behind us once and for all, by restraining spending and budgeting responsibly.

I am pleased that both Senator Bruno and Speaker Silver have said they don't think New Yorkers' taxes should be raised this year. Obviously, I agree.

The tax cuts we've passed have helped to create nearly a half million new jobs and made New York the place to do business again.

Today, the Empire State's economy is fundamentally stronger and holds the promise of a better future because of the steps we've taken. Today, we are ready to compete.

New York City's recovery is beginning to take hold as the recent sharp decline in the City's unemployment rate demonstrates. And over the last year outside of New York City, we had job growth of over 12,000 private sector jobs while the rest of the nation had job losses of over 160,000.

Despite all the challenges, we have reason for optimism because our tax cuts, regulatory reforms and investments in job-creating programs like Empire Zones and high-tech initiatives have laid a solid foundation for our success in the global economy.

...A recent study ranked Rochester as one of the top knowledge-based economic regions in the world...

...many small to medium sized companies in information-intensive industries have been created throughout Long Island...

...the nation's newest chip-fab plant has been built in the Hudson Valley...

...Glens Falls grew at a faster rate this year than all but one city in the nation...

...and, as we announced two weeks ago, GEICO has decided to bring 2,500 jobs to Western New York when they could have gone anywhere in the country...

This gives me confidence that as we come out of recession, we are poised for success.

That's why today I present a challenge. Let's work together and commit to this: by the end of this decade we will have one million more private sector jobs than we do now. It is an ambitious goal. But if we do our part that goal is well within our reach.

As one example of why it is within our reach, I am pleased to announce that BassPro has formally indicated its desire to locate a multi-million dollar flagship center in downtown Buffalo. This new BassPro project will bring in hundreds of jobs and thousands of visitors to Buffalo.

I look forward to working with Senator Bruno, Speaker Silver, the Western New York delegation, County Executive Giambra, Mayor Masiello and Congressman Jack Quinn in taking the necessary steps to make this critical downtown Buffalo economic development project a reality.

In the weeks ahead, let us work together to build additional partnerships to move forward on other key projects...

Let's work with County Executive Maggie Brooks to make the downtown Renaissance Center a reality for Rochester;

Let's work with County Executive Nick Pirro and Mayor Matt Driscoll to bring Destiny to Syracuse;

Let's work with Mayor Jerry Jennings to make sure the nation's greatest state capital gets a new convention center.

And in the North Country, let's modernize the convention center to continue Lake Placid's standing as the number one winter resort in the East.

And let's once again extend our hand of cooperation to the Mayor of the world's greatest city and work with Mike Bloomberg to build on the success of our AirTrain project and develop a new job hub at Jamaica station. At the same time, we'll work with the Mayor to redevelop our valuable waterfronts in each borough... build a true convention center at Javits... transform the West Side, and bring the world to our door by hosting the 2012 Olympics in New York City.

Every community in our State has great potential for economic growth.

To meet that potential, let's build on what we know works.

Empire Zones are one of our greatest economic development tools. They've helped New York State jump from 25th to our current 3rd in the nation in attracting new facilities and investment.

Today, I am announcing new Empire Zone legislation that builds on our success while making the program stronger. This legislation will improve accountability, focus benefits to communities and neighborhoods that need it most, and provide flexibility to target projects with large job creation potential - all while preserving local decision-making authority.

Let's work together and pass this legislation this session.

****

While we work to strengthen our Empire Zones, let's also reaffirm our commitment to our State's manufacturers.

Today, I am announcing a five-point plan to do just that.

I am directing the Department of Labor to create new targeted job-training assistance programs to ensure our manufacturers have the most skilled and most productive workforce in the nation.

I am also directing the Empire State Development Corporation to create a new Manufacturing Assistance Program, or MAP, that will coordinate Federal, State and local assistance programs and will link manufacturing companies to the appropriate research and development grant funding.

Three parts of the plan to help manufacturers in New York will require us to pass new laws.

Let's help New York-based companies better compete and encourage others to locate here by phasing-in reforms of the State's tax law to benefit firms that have a majority of their jobs, factories and capital investments in New York.

We must improve our Power for Jobs program to continue providing low-cost power to our State's manufacturers.

And we must build on our past successes and further reform workers' compensation.

In the coming weeks, I will be submitting legislation to make this plan a reality. Let's pass it quickly.

****

Two years ago we embarked on an unprecedented endeavor to transform the State's economy through our Centers of Excellence program. Our efforts have launched New York State into the forefront of high technology across the nation. The Empire State High Tech Corridor, stretching from Buffalo to Albany, through the Hudson Valley, into New York City and out to Long Island, is the backbone of our transition to a high tech global economy.

Our investments in the Centers of Excellence program are paying off with new jobs and new attention from companies around the globe. These investments are complemented by investments through the Senate's Gen*NY*sis plan and the Assembly's RESTORE program.

Senator Bruno, Speaker Silver, as we proved with SEMATECH, working together we can out-compete anyone in the world.

States across the country have awoken to our success. A front page article in the Austin American-Statesman said: "Albany's early success has set off alarms in Texas, nowhere more than in Austin. Upstate New York is a direct threat to Austin's standing as a top-tier semiconductor research and manufacturing center."

We've set off the alarms, now it's time to feed the fire.

Today, I'm pleased to announce Phase II of our high-tech strategy that will do just that.

Our Centers of Excellence program has established powerful partnerships between State government, the private sector, and our top flight universities and research institutions. To further enhance these partnerships, this year I will establish a High Tech Council comprised of academic and business leaders. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Harold Varmus, a Nobel Prize winner, former Director of the National Institutes of Health and President and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has agreed to chair the council.

Second, let's help our promising biotech companies flourish. To grow, New York's biotech industry requires access to capital, and particularly in New York City, Westchester and Long Island, access to facilities.

Our investments in biotech at the University of Rochester have proven enormously successful. This year, my budget will provide funds for critical wet-lab facilities, making institutions in places like Farmingdale, North Shore, Stony Brook, New York City and Rochester eligible to advance their biotechnology research, development and commercialization efforts.

Because biotech is a research-intensive business, many small biotech companies make huge investments and have significant losses that often take many years to recoup. My budget will provide a new tax benefit so that these entrepreneurs can access new capital and create more jobs.

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