PlanetAlbany

Paterson's vindication

It now appears the budget won't be wrapped up until next week, but it looks like the end result will be basically on Gov. David Paterson's terms. That's the first victory for a fiscally responsible governor since the mid-1990s, before George Pataki decided co-opting labor unions and other special interests was the path of least resistance.

The contrast between Paterson and Eliot Spitzer is particularly marked. While the latter has never lost his media sheen (he's going to be co-hosting a national show on CNN), Paterson has been mercilessly mocked and disparaged. Gov. Spitzer talked a tough game on the budget but failed to deliver, and went backwards on ethics with a disastrous 2007 law (not to mention a dead-letter budget "reform"). Lame-duck Paterson has rammed budget cuts through the Legislature and refused to be rolled on ethics (which doesn't mean he shouldn't take a compromise bill if he can get it).

Taking a longer view, it was Paterson as Senate minority leader who laid the groundwork for the Democrats' takeover of that chamber, but he is not tainted by the incompetence and possible corruption of the current leaders of the Senate Democratic majority. The David Johnson scandal didn't look good for the governor, and it remains to be seen what the Judith Kaye investigation shows. Meanwhile, Paterson towers over the other Albany politicians.

"Coalition for Reproductive Life"

New York's status as a solidly pro-choice state tends to be taken for granted by politicians from both parties, including those now trying to push through the Reproductive Health Act (S5808). I haven't seen good polling data about the extent to which public opinion in this state has shared the national trend of moving in a pro-life direction, but there is apparently some political organizing going on. 

Paterson needs Senate GOP (updated Tuesday)

Gov. Paterson is right to vow to veto the fiscal-recklessness-as-usual exhibited by the state Legislature. Now it's up to Senate Republicans to back the Democratic governor, and give themselves some much needed credibility.

On Fred Dicker's Talk 1300 show this (Tuesday) morning, Republican Sen. John DeFrancisco, ranker on the Budget Committee, was supportive of Paterson in the budget battle, and doubted his vetoes would be overridden.

Diaz stops, restarts Senate (updated twice)

The Senate was moving through the budget bills when Sen. Ruben Diaz, D-Bronx, put a stop to proceedings by threatening to vote against S6604B, the health and mental hygiene bill. Earlier today, Diaz, a social conservative, had threatened to hold back his vote because of a provision in a tax law budget bill which would have expanded recognition of out-of-state gay marriage, and I think got a commitment to have that  removed. (The Democrats need the votes of all 32 members, including Diaz, in the face of unanimous Republican opposition to the budget bills.) But I don't think it's a gay rights issue that has got Diaz upset now. Rather, I understand he is objecting to cuts that would affect programs for the elderly.

Diaz came back into the chamber after conferring with Senate leadership and voted for the bill, which like the prior education funding bill passed 32-29 (the missing Republican vote is the ailing Sen. Thomas Morahan). Diaz just now held a news conference outside the chamber, in which he said he had received assurances that a $5 million cut will be restored. The money is statewide funding falling under the jurisdiction of the Aging Committee, which he chairs.

I now hear that the gay marriage language may not be so easy to remove. If the bill (S6610B) passes tomorrow, it would require a chapter amendment to remove the language, an amendment that likely would be vetoed by Gov. Paterson.

Assembly votes to ban smoking in cars with kids

Not content with last week's big hike in tobacco taxes, the Assembly just passed A6714-B, which "prohibits smoking in private passenger cars, vans and trucks where a minor less than 14 years of age is a passenger in such vehicles." The bill is in the Senate Health Committee.

No MMA in legislative budget

The two-way budget agreement between Assembly and Senate leaders, translated into legislation passed by the Assembly today, does not include revenue from legalization of mixed martial arts ("ultimate fighting"). Gov. Paterson had budgeted $2 million a year in annual revenue from legalization, and the rejection of that proposal is a big victory for Assemblyman Bob Reilly, D-Colonie, the leading opponent of MMA in the Legislature.

Reilly told me just now outside the Assembly chamber that the Legislature had "put good before money" by rejecting this "vicious sport," legalization of which would have sent the opposite message from anti-bullying initiatives. "To a large extent, I think it's my doing," Reilly acknowledged when asked.

While Paterson can veto legislative add-ons to his budget, I don't see any way he can get around this without the agreement of the Legislature.

Monday showdown: Senate GOP on spot

It remains to be seen if the standoff between Gov. Paterson and his fellow Democrats who control the Legislature results in a slew of vetoes, but if it does then Senate Republicans need to back up the governor and block any overrides.

On Friday on the third floor of the Capitol, I ran into Ken Riddett, a lobbyist whose clients include the state Trial Lawyers Association, walking with another guy whose name I forget but I believe is also a lobbyist, and like Riddett used to be a lawyer for the Republican Senate majority, and like him testified at the corruption trial of Joe Bruno. (Riddett's most famous contribution to the trial was testifying how he used to advise senators to hand-deliver their ethics disclosure forms so as to avoid federal wire fraud charges.) The trial lawyers are not usually seen as a Republican constituency, and these days it's Democratic connections that pull in the big-time lobbying bucks, but in Albany there's gravy enough for all sorts of wheeler dealers.

Senate Republicans have to choose. They can either stick to the Bruno era script -- the same script followed by Democratic legislative leaders, who continue to appease every special intest including the trial lawyers, while concealing their own private-sector income and clients -- or they can stand with Paterson and fight. Doing the latter might cost them campaign cash, but it would give them issues to run on against their opponents in November.

Monday showdown (updated)

I don't know whether that rumored budget meeting this evening in NYC between the governor and legislative leaders is on, but I saw Morgan Hook, Gov. Paterson's chief spokesman, ducking back into his Albany office at 5 p.m. today, not long after he put out this statement, which says Paterson is going ahead with a final budget extender on Monday. That amounts to a take-it-or-leave it ultimatum to legislative leaders, with their choice being pass the most controversial parts of the budget, including education cuts, as proposed by the governor, or let much of state government shut down.

It doesn't look like a shutdown will happen. The extender (according to the TU) includes $300 million in education restorations.  But it also has a 4 percent property tax cap and the governor's plan to let SUNY and CUNY campuses increase their own tuition, both of which have been opposed by Assembly Democrats. Also in it are the clothing sales tax, wine in grocery stores, the limit on rich people's charity deductions, more cuts to state agencies. No sugared soda tax. 

The SUNY/CUNY plan has been modified to mollify the Assembly. 

Onorato's swan song

The Senate's last act of the week was to vote on the New York State Construction Industry Fair Play Act (S5847F). Even though many members had already taken off for the weekend, the measure had enough bipartisan support to pass 39-4. Several members, including Republicans such as Hugh Farley, George Maziarz and Marty Golden, who voted for the bill also made smiling gestures toward its sponsor, Sen. George Onorato, D-Queens, who is will be retiring this year at the age of 82.

I heard Fred Dicker on Talk 1300 dismiss Onorato as a "cipher" this week, which I think is unfair. He did spend almost all of his career in the minority, which meant he couldn't do much, and as a social conservative came under fire this session from his fellow downstate Democrats. He was just a regular guy, an Army veteran who was in the bricklayers union, and devoted his political career to the bread-and-butter issues that have been winning elections for Democrats since the days of Al Smith and Franklin Roosevelt.

This year's necessary budget cuts have angered liberal-leaning interest groups, which under the logic of Albany means politicians will be looking to make it up to them in other ways. Even though New York, unlike New Jersey, is not cutting into programs benefiting the abortion industry, pro-life groups are worried about the pending Reproductive Heath Act. That bill,(S5808), has yet to pass the Senate, because of opposition from most Republicans and several Democrats, including Onorato. A pro-choice Republican senator, Roy McDonald of Saratoga County, told me today he has not yet focused on the bill or made a decision about it.

Budget, what budget?

The Senate stands at ease, the Assembly has adjourned for the weekend,while the governor and Democratic legislative leaders reportedly plan to meet in New York City.

On the local front, free WiFi service came to the Capitol earlier this year, and after some difficulty singing on and with assistance today from the legislative library staff, I can report that it works.