Right Idea, Wrong Man

Albany is a wretched mess and everyone knows it. Legislators are failing to take care of the public's business thanks to a dysfunctional system that fosters corruption and subsequently a few of those corrupted legislators made a power grab that shut down the government. While most of us would love to see a power sharing agreement where both sides kiss and make up something equitable, the reality is that our leaders are a bunch of petulant children who would rather strut their stuff than get anything substantive done. Even the stuff that got done yesterday is all for nothing.

The question though is what to do about it. Beneath the chaos of the moment, there are so many problems with how the institutions of our state work that there is no realistic way for them to work with the benefit of the people in mind. What we need is to re-write the rules so that government works for us, but the man that is talking about these comprehensive reforms should not be allowed anywhere near the process.

From The Daily Politics:

The former mayor’s plan, outlined in an OpEd in the New York Times, calls for a constitutional convention that would, among other hot button proposals, impose term limits on all Assembly and Senate members, as well as all statewide elected offices.

In addition, Giuliani said he would push to empower the governor to set revenue estimates on his own; change the deeply partisan way in which state lawmakers draw electoral districts; toughen campaign finance laws; make it harder for legislators to boost taxes; and establish clearer lines of succession for the LG's office, which has remained vacant since last March when Gov. David Paterson took over for the scandal-scarred Eliot Spitzer.

The article talks more about Rudy running for governor more than the actual reforms, so it should be noted that this he is probably talking about these issues out of his own self-interest and not for the good of the state. For the eight years he was mayor, Giuliani could have cared less for the well-being of our city's governmental institutions. Considering the myth of Rudy versus the reality of his tenure, his call for reforming Albany should put actual reformers on red alert.

Of course a constitutional convention should still be something to be seriously examined. If legislators can be shamed into voting for such a measure, the process should be handled by a bi-partisan committee, preferably by good, upstanding individuals who preferably have no personal interests or dealings within the state of New York. Who those people are, well that is up for debate.

Shelly Silver Goes Regressive On Ethics Reform

Reform is something that Albany desperately needs, yet like the end of a rainbow, it seems impossible to get to. Sure, there are some attempts at it but getting a handle on the core problems of our state government is like grasping at straws. The case in point here is Majority Leader Smith and Governor Paterson's call for an independent ethics commission. Those two leaders seem to be on board but to get anything done in our state capitol all three men in the room have to sign off, and the other one isn't willing to budge.

From The NYT Cityroom:

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver unveiled a complex proposal at the meeting that appeared to doom any chance of swift action. His plan would create three commissions charged with ethics and lobbying oversight of the executive branch and the Legislature. The governor and Senate Democrats have proposed creating a single, independent ethics and lobbying commission with jurisdiction over both branches of government.

At the heart of the differing approaches is Mr. Silver’s unwillingness to cede the Legislature’s control of its own ethics oversight. He proposed recreating the current, much-maligned Legislative Ethics Commission along the lines of the Office of Congressional Ethics in the House of Representatives.

He also proposed breaking up the integrity commission into separate commissions overseeing lobbying and ethics, reviving a structure that existed before 2007.

And of course, things were just as bad before 2007 under the old system. The reality is that Congress and the New York Legislature cannot police themselves, since they've shown time and again that the best they can do is slap each other on the wrist. Currently we have two indicted men serving in the State Senate and an unknown number of dubious characters, yet Smith does next to nothing to reprimand them, for fear of losing his majority. Speaker Silver, in the other chamber, is definitely a dubious character and knows it, that is why he isn't favoring this bill. Don't expect him to put his name on anything that would resemble real reform. The only way that would happen is with another Speaker, preferably not connected to the current one.

Smith Only Wants One Job For Legislators

Limiting outside jobs for Albany's top pols? Now that is something I can get behind Malcolm Smith on. The Majority Leader told reporters this yesterday at a press conference along with wanting those that do to disclose what they do and how much they make from it. It almost sounded too good to be true.

From PolitickerNY:

"I believe, at this point in time, the paradigm needs to shift on how state government manages its members," Smith said after speaking at a luncheon. "There are enough circumstances and cases where it's gotten us in trouble, and it'd be better for everybody if we make sure that there's enough clarity in what we do and how we do it so we can be more focused on the business of the state."

He said he favors "very liberal" disclosures. Currently, the Legislative Ethics Commission releases disclosure forms that show outside employment, but do not detail income received. State Senator Daniel Squadron is poised to introduce two bills, his aide John Raskin told me, which would mandate more disclosure for legislators and create an independent government watchdog.

Smith went on to say that he has closed down his real estate business and receives no outside income.

An independent government watchdog? Can my ears be deceiving me?

Well, that of course is merely talk at this point in time, but I'm glad to hear the Majority Leader is focusing on the business of the government and not the sour real estate market. Especially with this narrowly divided Senate, Smith has had his hands full trying to get his caucus to vote for legislation, sometimes succeeding and other times not.

Smith mentioned that there is a conflict of interest when it comes to outside jobs. Of course that is obvious to those that watch the state legislature, but I wonder if Shelly Silver heard Smith's sound advice.

DN Op-Ed Scolds Albany For Trash-Talking The M.T.A.

Last night the Assembly and Senate officially passed the M.T.A. "bailout" bill after the leadership was assured of its' passage the night before. Democrats were delighted and Republicans acted angrily but both sides decried the M.T.A. for running a "less than clean" operation. Malcolm Smith repeatedly smacked them around with charges of pay to play, inappropriate perks and the infamous yet discredited theory that they ran with two books. Well, Bill Hammond at the Daily news has a few words for the legislators in Albany. The whole article is a thing of beauty, but here are a few of my favorite parts.

From The NY Daily News:

Just look at the recklessly irresponsible way the Assembly and the Senate - justly tagged as the most dysfunctional in the country - handled the MTA bailout.

It was almost a year ago that the MTA first raised an alarm about its looming fiscal crisis, due largely to economic forces out of its control.

It was 154 days ago that a blue-ribbon panel headed by former MTA chief Richard Ravitch delivered a solid rescue plan.

It was based on months of research and had the hearty endorsement of a rainbow of civic groups.

The MTA clearly warned of fare hikes and service cuts in December, held public hearings in January and February, and approved the details in March.

No one can claim to be caught by surprise.

You can't argue with that, this was a long time coming. And about Smith bashing the M.T.A.? Well....

But compared to the Legislature, the MTA is a model of open, clean government.

At least it has financial books it shares with the public - on a monthly basis. They're on the MTA's Web site, available to any lawmaker who actually cares to know the facts.

And those books are double-checked by an independent auditor, the state controller, the public authority budget office, a citizens advisory panel and any number of private watchdogs. The MTA also has an inspector general responsible for keeping things honest.

The Legislature, by contrast, shares its books with no one, is audited by no one and - despite a dozen criminal indictments of members in recent years - operates without a serious ethics cop on the beat.

Smith has no right to talk when the Senate he runs is more corrupt than the M.T.A. could ever be. There are several criminals in his midst, yet does nothing about it. And don't tell me that stripping one from chairing a Committee is a real consequence. That guy is looking at serious jail time if his alleged domestic abuse charges yield a guilty verdict. Then there's Espada, who's all kinds of crooked. Espada's friends, Diaz and Kruger are no angels either and the list goes on from there. But is there any accountability for anything?

All I hear is crickets, and a whole lot of hypocrisy.

M.T.A. Bill Gets Green Light From Legislative Leadership

Richard Ravitch is happy, Gene Russianoff is happy and the three men in the room are ecstatic over the fact they got something passed to help out the struggling M.T.A. Although Ravitch and Russianoff would have preferred something better, perhaps a little more comprehensive, they realize that in Albany, simply passing a bill, whether it does the job or not is a success. So with all this cheering, what can straphangers expect to find come June?

From The NY Times:

Under the deal, the base fare for a single bus or subway ride would rise to $2.25 from $2. The cost of a monthly MetroCard would probably rise to about $89 from $81, according to officials in the Legislature. Other fares and tolls, including tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad, would go up about 10 percent.[...]

The legislative leaders also agreed to set a single rate for the payroll tax in all 12 counties served by the authority — a tax of 34 cents for every $100 of payroll. An earlier Senate version of the plan called for a lower rate in three outlying counties.

The payroll tax is expected to raise $1.53 billion a year.

The plan also includes a series of charges on vehicles and drivers in the 12- county region: a 50-cent surcharge on taxi rides, a $25 increase in vehicle registration fees, a 25 to 30 percent rise in drivers’ license fees and a 5 percent increase in a tax on car rentals. Those fees are expected to generate a total of $270 million a year.

So there you have it, the damage, so to speak is spread out amongst straphangers, drivers and employers, though more so on the employers. For a last minute maneuver, Silver, Smith and Paterson did a decent job. The only problem is that the M.T.A. is still going to consider another increase in a few months, so we'll see what the Legislature can do when the next deadline looms.

For now though, subway riders will have to pay a little more instead of a lot, drivers won't be tolled on East River bridges, taxi cab riders are only looking at a 50 cent surcharge instead of a dollar and service cuts will be avoided. For the next few months at least, doomsday has been averted.

Yet for some reason I can't get the thought out of my head that this was all some sort of psychological game played out before us. Drivers are still getting higher tolls where tolls exist and their fees are going up. Mass transit riders still have to pay more after an increase in the fare last year (those of us that buy weekly or monthly cards, which is for most New Yorkers), making the increase on a monthly between 2007 and now roughly 18%. Tolls have also risen at an astronomical rate. Then in 2011 and 2013 the fares will go up another 7.5% each time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these costs beat the rate of inflation, and at the same time we have a state government that passes bloated budgets every year.

Next year, instead of acting like pigs at a trough, perhaps our represenatives could get together and revamp the way the M.T.A. is funded, so that we do not have to face a crisis over fares whenever the economy sours. Relying on real estate and sales taxes is simply an unstable solution. When the Republicans were in charge, they probably realized this, but instead of remeding the situation, they tacked on more than a billion dollars in debt to the M.T.A. and magnified the problem. Instead of patting each other's backs over this quick fix, Smith, Silver and Paterson would do right by attacking the core of the problem and ensure that we continue to have the best mass transit system in the country for decades to come.

Paterson Proposes Spending Cap Legislation

In these sour economic times, Governor Paterson approved the State Legislature's budget that increased spending by a staggering 8.7% a month ago. Now Paterson is attempting to enact a spending cap to prevent future skyrocketing budgets, though with so many big spenders in Albany, the likelihood of this getting traction is slim.

Transit Expert Questions Albany's Sobriety

I was hoping to make last night's forum on the M.T.A.'s current status, but last minute moving responsibilities had me elsewhere. I knew Azi at the Politicker would be there though. He caught one notable moment where panelist Peter Goldmark made a quip about Albany politicians and their ideas concerning the fate of the M.T.A. Although it was meant in jest, I do wonder how far off from the truth that joke was.

From PolitickerNY:

The highlight, I think, came nine-and-a-half minutes into the event, when Peter Goldmark, a former head of the Port Authority and member of the Ravitch Commission, which recommended tolling the East River Bridges, criticized state lawmakers for their alternative plans to fund the M.T.A.

“I have never seen so much squirming, squawking and squealing in my life,” Goldmark said, before referring to one of the alternative plans as “cockamamie.”

“There was one plan that recommended the pension system borough (sp: borrow) money and then lend it to the M.T.A. Are these people smoking something?” Goldmark asked.

If only grandstanding, obstructionism and corruption could be rolled up together into leafy form. Then there'd be a significant number of legislators walking the capitol with red and glazed-over eyes.

Terms Of M.T.A. Bailout Still Up For Debate

The M.T.A.'s deadline passed last week and they did officially raise the fare and move to cut service, but it doesn't take effect for two months. Therefore there is still a limited amount of time for someone to do something. Now that the state budget is nearly passed, legislators are looking to show New Yorkers that they do indeed care about helping straphangers. The question though is how?

From The NY Times:

Lawmakers said that whatever plan emerges, it is expected to include the payroll tax and a smaller increase to fares and tolls.

But they continue to grapple with how to get drivers to contribute without creating new tolls.

Officials have discussed increasing vehicle registration fees in the 12-county region served by the authority.

But some officials said the governor’s office had been considering using an increase in vehicle registration fees to finance the state’s long-term road and bridge construction program.

Many senators have said that financing the road and bridge program is a priority, and they criticized the Ravitch plan for not taking that program’s needs into account.

Then of course there are the legislators that want to get rid of the payroll tax, but that seems unlikely. There is still a lot up in the air, but everyone needs to come down on solid ground soon. The clock is ticking until we see higher fares and reduced service. With the situation we face, outer-borough and extra-borough politicians must realize that New York needs a comprehensive plan to deal with the M.T.A.'s deficit and most certainly the long-term debt. If that includes a vehicle tax or a toll (preferably a toll) then so be it.

Landlord Lobby Rules The Day In Albany

Democrats may officially have control in Albany but that doesn't mean reform on all the key issues will immediately be coming down the pike. While Rockefeller Drug Law reform last week was a huge victory, translating that into upsets for tenants over landlords is a whole other matter. The prison industrial-complex lobby could not overcome the demand for a change in the drug laws but the landlords and their minions in Albany knew how to cover the board with more than a million dollars in cash and prizes, meaning that tenant rights' organizations will most likely fall short in their goals this year and lose faith in the nascent Democratic majority in the state senate. What people should be paying close attention to is who getting what.

From The Gothamist:

The Daily News notes that Brooklyn Senator Carl Kruger, who has 40,000 rent-stabilized units in his district, took in $27,700 from landlord lobbyists, and has yet to take a position on the issue. Groups like Tenants PAC are working to change the vacancy decontrol laws that landlords have exploited to take thousands of apartments out of the rent-stabilized system. Under the current laws, they can do this if rents reach $2,000 a month and household income exceeds $175,000, or if renovations on a vacant apartment require raising the rent above $2,000.

Though the Assembly has passed 10 rent reform bills since November, reform in the Senate is tied up in committee, just like in the Republican era! Pedro Espada, chairman of the housing committee, opposes reform because he says it would just help the affluent: "If we rubber-stamp the Working Families Party housing agenda, we would virtually provide protections for people who earn $175,000 or more annually — which is essentially a Manhattan-based constituency."

Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal finds Espada's argument specious, noting that far fewer units (4,223) are decontrolled because their occupants earn $175,000 a year, compared with the 70,000-plus decontrolled by becoming vacant. Many tenants in rent-stabilized apartments complain that landlords pressure them to leave so they can make renovations and get out of the rent stabilization system; that's why the City Council passed the Tenant Protection Act last March. Rosenthal tells the News, "This has nothing to do with the rich. This is about a calamity for people of middle-income means. "It’s not a Manhattan issue. That’s what landlords are saying."

The landlords will say whatever they have to in order to keep the status quo as it is. For decades now a Republican state Senate has given them all they want and more. Landlords will go after the amoral Democrats in order to thwart the will of the new, but slim majority and then some. The Gang of Three/Four are certainly a part of their strategy and the actions of those Senators reflects the lobby's power. This shouldn't mean tenants should turn apathetic about the new majority though. It is a sign that not only do we need Democrats in control, but that better Democrats need to replace those that so willing to sell out their constituencies for a campaign contribution.

W.F.P. Dares Albany To Take On A.I.G.

Despite the half-hearted efforts of A.I.G. head Ed Liddy to return some of the bonus money, there will still be taxpayer funds used to make wealthy traders richer. Congress and Barack Obama have delivered a lot of tough talk, but so far they have not done all that they can to stamp out A.I.G.'s greed. So here's an idea care of Dan Cantor of the Working Families Party, have Albany tax every dime out of those bonuses.

From PolitickerNY:

The Working Families Party called today for a 100% state tax on the $165 million in announced bonuses at insurance giant AIG.

"If Washington can't find a way to get this money back, Albany should," said Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director. "The same people who helped wreck the economy are taking home millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses while classrooms, hospitals and homeless shelters here in New York face billions in cuts. It's disgusting in the extreme. AIG got its bailout. When will working families see theirs?"

Cantor continued: "Opponents of Fair Share Tax Reform like to talk about how much the rich have suffered from the economic downturn. But the real pain of this recession is being felt by millions of hardworking New Yorkers who bear no responsibility for the financial shenanigans that got us into this mess."

"The Governor proposes to balance the New York's budget through devastating cuts that would place the burden almost entirely on the backs of working families. Taxing AIG bonuses and asking those who can afford it to pay a little more in taxes is a far better solution."

Amen Dan! New York needs every spare penny we can find to help balance the budget this year. Further, not only should these bonuses be taken away, the entire wealthy class should be made to pay their fair share. I know Majority Leader Smith and Governor Paterson are sick of hearing about the Fair Share Plan, but until they approve it the working class will continue to fight tooth and nail for it.

Cleaning Up The M.T.A. In Order To Fund It Is Harder Than It Looks

We still do not have a bailout plan ready to go for the M.T.A. and we mainly have the State Senate to thank for that. I already remarked (perhaps a lil' harshly) a couple days ago about the Gang of Three's role in stalling the bill but I must admit that there are ways we can clean up the Authority in the process of funding it so that we don't have to pay $103 for monthly cards. Some ideas coming from the Senate are listed below.

From The Gothamist:

Word is that a bailout plan for the MTA could begin making its way through state legislatures in the week ahead. This past week was one that only seemed to present stalling for any potential alternatives to the looming threat of a $100 monthly Metrocard. Despite a push from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, any serious talk of bringing tolls to the East River crossings has hit a snag with the Democratic bloc in the State Senate known as the Three Amigos demanding the MTA "go back to the drawing board" and calling for an audit for the agency. The new bailout plan would come with some potential reorganization for the MTA, a full-time chief executive position replacing the two part-time voluntary roles filled by Elliot Sander (pictured) and Dale Hemmerdinger. The legislature could also see a revenue driven proposal from Governor Paterson that would substantially raise DMV registration fees.

Paying a CEO sounds more costly than the $0 perks given to Sander and Hemmerdinger. There are already enough exorbitant salaries paid out to the executives within the transit authority. As for Paterson's idea, raising DMV fees can only a partial solution, since if we raise them too high they'll be another punitive tax on the working class who aren't close to mass transit.

In an ideal world we'd dissolve the Authority and make the apparatus more accountable to the people that ride their buses and trains, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. "Radical change" and "Albany" mix as well as oil and water. For now we'll just have to scream and shout at Albany and hope they'll listen to the needs of straphangers and not intrasigent State Senators who think their South Bronx constituents rely more on taxis than the subway.

NY Drug Law Reform On The Fast Track

Besides passing a budget, Governor Paterson is dead-set on reforming our state's regressive drug laws. Unlike his dilli-dallying on the budget, Paterson is clear on what he wants the Legislature to help him accomplish. Giving judges the authority to decide the best sentence for the convicted drug user is what he and many advocates of this reform want. It has been more than thirty long years that we as a state have overreacted in the legal sense to those that get caught using illicit substances and it is far past the time that we should correct the problem by working to treat people's problems, not exacerbate them by sticking as many of them in jail.

From The NY Times:

The Assembly is expected to pass legislation on Tuesday that would once again give judges the discretion to send those found guilty of having smaller amounts of illegal drugs to substance-abuse treatment instead of prison and allow thousands of inmates convicted of nonviolent drug offenses to apply to have their sentences reduced or commuted.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office is preparing legislation that it plans to present to Senate leaders on Monday that would also give judges discretion in sentencing, according to a senior administration official involved in drafting the bills. But for now, the governor is not taking a position on whether sentences should be reduced for some prisoners.

For its part, the Senate is expected to take up legislation in the coming weeks that would also be aimed at strengthening judges’ roles in sentencing.

And it can all happen by the beginning of April if the language is inserted into the budget. As the Times tells the story of Paterson being arrested for protesting in front of Pataki's office not too many years ago, it is an important issue to the Governor and admirable goal. To see him accomplish it will be great to see. Not only will it be a victory against the powerful prison lobby, but an intelligent way of turning the "drug war" into a more caring system where society treats those with drug problems instead of throwing them into a penitentary.

How Albany Pulled The Revised FY 2009 Budget

There are only a few months left in the fiscal year of 2009 and only a couple before Albany must come up with a budget for FY 2010. Yesterday, they took care of the shortfalls of this year, without addressing the concerns for the next. With our state government as dysfunctional as it is, how did they manage to keep the machine humming til October?

From The NY Times:

The agreement employs a grab bag of more than dozen spending cuts, tax increases, and accounting devices, along with the government equivalent of piggy-bank raids, like $306 million taken from the accounts of the New York Power Authority, a public utility that is theoretically independent from the executive branch. But a much larger deficit still looms in next year’s budget.

In the agreement reached on Tuesday, tuition will rise for students at the State University of New York, adding $62 million to state coffers; $50 million dollars will be cut from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund; Mr. Paterson will squeeze $135 million more out of the state agencies he leads by scrutinizing contracts and capital spending; the state will also delay by several months a tax rebate to New York City, taking advantage of the different city and state fiscal years.

The plan was basically like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. It works for a few months, but does not address the concerns of next year at all. As the Times points out, reform groups are unhappy, the Governor is certainly displeased and it all has to be reexamined by April. What they really need is a plan that works, but until then it will be all about squabbling, such as that highlighted between Skelos and Smith at the end of the article.

Balancing New York's Budgets, With Or Without The Governor

While Governor Paterson is busy spewing rightwing BS, the State Legislature is getting ready to deal with the budget gap for the current fiscal year. The bad news for this year isn't even close to budget deficit this year so there isn't as much radical change needed, but that does not mean Paterson will not protest what the Legislature is up to this week.

From PressConnects:

Democratic lawmakers in the Assembly and Senate majorities indicated such cuts are unlikely and they will look instead to a variety of one-shot budget measures, such as money saved through hiring freezes or sweeping unspent money from state agencies.

Lawmakers said major cuts are unlikely because the state is in line for billions of dollars from the federal stimulus package. They could vote on closing the current year's budget gap as soon as today.

Gov. David Paterson has warned lawmakers to not rely on the federal aid to bail out the state from its current or an estimated $13.7 billion gap in the 2009-10 fiscal year, which starts April 1.

As much as the Governor wants to slash and burn programs throughout the budget, the Assembly and Senate refuse to do so, at least for right now. What they need to do is this, and listen to the experts, not David Paterson.

The Governor is clearly and quickly losing a lot of political capital and sadly, it is all his doing. He tried to take on too many different interests all at once without any sacrifice from the upper echelons of society and as a result, everyone else got together to pile on and attack his proposed budget cuts. Coupled with a lack of discipline and coherent strategy to stay on message, his relevancy in this process is fading fast.

Rent Control Reform On Shelly Silver's Agenda

Elections do have consequences and rent control reform in New York may just be one of those. The Democrats took over the State Senate in last fall's election and although they are far from perfect and still part of a broken system, they can still enact some change. Repealing Rockefeller Drug Laws and rent control reform are two aspects. Doing something for tenants and not their landlords is a policy agenda long overdue in New York.

From 1010 WINS:

Under the system established in 1997, landlords are allowed to raise rents and remove controls when the rent has risen to $2,000 a month or more, and the apartment becomes vacant or the tenant's income tops $175,000 a year. Those thresholds haven't changed since.

One of the many Assembly bills would increase the threshold of tenant income to $240,000, and the monthly rent would have to be more than $2,700. The bill would require both thresholds to be met.

"This has to be a priority especially during the economic downturn,'' Silver said. "It's clear that we have an affordable-housing crisis.''

Now landlords are crying foul and that raising limits will be bad for tax receipts and land values, as well as the motivation for new construction. Their arguments fail to acknowledge though that all of those benefits had only gone to the wealthier parts of society. Renters have suffered for decades and the amount of affordable housing has dropped considerably since rent control restrictions were loosened.

We shall see if the Senate has the guts to follow through with this legislation in the same way that Silver is now pushing for it. Sheldon Silver has many faults, but if he can help working people as he claims, then I'll have to give credit where it's due. Of course, it hasn't happened yet, so we'll have to wait and see.

Going Beyond Scandals, Albany Is Rotten To The Core

Over the years we've heard plenty of scandals that rocked the state. When corruption is exposed it makes big headlines, and sometimes the politician in the spotlight goes to jail. While it is good to see justice being served, the problem goes much farther than the individual in question for the moment. The entire culture of our state capitol is a mess and the FBI investigators and U.S. Attorneys who investigated Joe Bruno can attest to that.

The Buffalo News took a closer look yesterday:

In chasing after Bruno, the feds ran into an old Albany problem: Connecting the dots here is no easy task.

“If you read the congressional record, you see virtually everything a legislator says on the floor of Congress is recorded in some fashion,” said acting U. S. Attorney Andrew Baxter. “Our experience with the New York State Legislature is that bills are passed, member items are granted, and it is very difficult to reconstruct which individual senator or Assembly people were actively involved in promoting or casting the legislation or granting those member items.[...]

In Albany, rule No. 1 is to control the flow of information. Lawmakers and the governor spend millions each year on publicity efforts — whether it’s a personal photographer for Paterson or state-of-the-art TV broadcast facilities where legislative staff members ask puffy questions of lawmakers to beam back to local stations.

But want to get things unfiltered, say transcripts of legislative floor debates? You can look at the Senate Web site but only if you work for the Senate. On its public Web site, no such transcripts exist.

The state’s exalted Freedom of Information law? In practice, it’s often a tool to deny or delay access to information. Or, increasingly, it’s just ignored. The Buffalo News, for instance, in September filed a FOIL seeking documents on government hiring during a period when a hiring freeze was supposed to be in place. The governor’s office still has not complied.

It isn't just one particular legislator, it is nearly the whole lot of them...and their staffers too. What goes on up there is criminal when you think that they are charged with serving the people of New York. The only service is self-service and those that fight it on a daily basis (e.g. Good Gov't groups) know that they are up against a system that has been set in stone for decades. Though after a long investigation, the Buffalo News does have some suggestions in terms of reform.

It must start, reformers say, with redistricting, the mother of all incumbency protection machines. It’s the once-a-decade process that occurs after the census, when legislators redraw state legislative and congressional district lines to take into account population shifts. But the legislators protect the incumbents with party-friendly voters, or at least the favored incumbents.

The next round is just a couple of years away, and critics are calling for an independent body to craft the lines to put an end to districts such as the “earmuff district” for Rep. Louise M. Slaughter that curls from Buffalo to Rochester in search of Democratic voters or a downstate legislative district kept contiguous, as required, by connecting across a sand bar at high tide.

Next, move on to campaign finance and New York’s high donation “limits.” Consider: When new U. S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand runs next year, the most an individual is allowed to give her is $4,800 for a primary and general campaign. That’s a federal law.

And that is just for starters. Yet every one of these reforms will be fought tooth and nail by the leaders of both parties while they scream and shout that nothing is wrong and that they are open, they do make reforms and no, all that stuff isn't necessary. Now of course the ones saying this are people like Shelly Silver, Jim Tedisco, Malcolm Smith and Dean Skelos. Yet it doesn't have to be them, because the next high profile names are being groomed to continue the tradition. They'll never cede this power willingly, and that is why we need real corrective methods in New York. We need campaign finance reforms that make the system completely financed through public means. We need to make sure everyone can see what these legislators do in their spare time and whether those companies benefit from which politician are on their payroll. We must have transparency and if Albany doesn't give it to us, we must force it upon them. What that force could look like, I do not know yet. Whether it be from the Department of Justice, a grassroots phenomenon to vote them all out or whatever else, but something has got to give. No amount of scandal is going to make the leaders in Albany reform themselves, obviously, they've made that loud and clear.

A Bailout For The MTA

The dire news from the MTA in the last few months has been nothing short of frightening for straphangers. Not only would we have to pay more for a fare, but we'd get less for it. Less service, more nastiness in subway stations, less money in our pockets and more aggravation when waiting for packed subway cars. Well, if Albany lawmakers follow through with their current sentiments, a large chunk of that money will coming out of a payroll tax instead of our checkbooks.

From The NY Daily News:

Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, who previously opposed imposing new taxes, said Democrats would support the proposed tax if the business community agrees to it.

"It's really the last thing we want to take a look at, however, this is a classic example, I think, of shared sacrifice," Smith said Thursday.

The tax of one-third of 1% is a key component of the financial bailout plan crafted by former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch. It would affect payrolls in New York City and the other counties the MTA serves.

Smith noted that most business groups, including the Partnership for New York City, have expressed support for the tax. Ravitch's plan, which has the support of Gov. Paterson, is intended to plug the MTA's $1.2 billion budget gap and head off draconian fare hikes and service cuts.

Even business groups have to realize that at these times, if they want to keep their workers happy, or at least complacent, they have to be able to commute to work without much of their wages going to their subway fare. A 0.33% payroll tax is a lot less of a burden to a business than $22 a month more (for the 30-Day Metrocard) to someone just trying to get by.

I know bailouts have gotten overplayed in the last couple of months, but this one that is sorely needed.

Promising Signs For Shared Sacrifice In Albany

Despite the Governor's persistent denials of going the route of increased taxes on the wealthy, the chances of it happening are continuing to increase. No one knows for sure how much of a grip that the interests of the wealthy have on Paterson, but the Assembly and the Senate have other ideas. Hopefully, the talk of raising taxes on the most fortunate among us will be more than just words.

From The NY Times:

The Assembly, where Democrats have an overwhelming majority, has long supported increasing taxes on the wealthy, and Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, reiterated this month that there continued to be strong backing for the measure among his colleagues.

Gov. David A. Paterson, a Democrat, did not propose any income tax increases in his budget proposal, but acknowledged in last month that “taxing the wealthy is probably going to be part of the solution if the deficit gets any worse, and all indications are that it probably will.”

That could leave the matter in the hands of the Senate, where Democrats won a narrow majority in November. Senator Eric T. Schneiderman, a Manhattan Democrat, said that he planned to introduce a bill in the coming weeks that would increase taxes on the rich, and that he expected his colleagues to have an active debate about the issue.

“There are a lot of us who feel that for the last 30 years we’ve been shifting the tax burden from the wealthy to middle-class families,” Mr. Schneiderman said on Tuesday. “Our conference is operating through consultation and discussion, and I expect we’ll be talking about restoring some additional tax brackets for upper-income New Yorkers as well as a lot of other options.”

A long time ago (meaning the 1940s) the richest people were taxed up to 94% of their earnings and yet continued to prosper just fine. They were not competing for a title in Forbes Magazine, but family wealth has always been shielded very well, even with the Estate tax in place. Of course there was that WWII going on and everyone really did give all of what they had to keep the country fighting and to keep it together.

We may not be in the middle of a World War at the moment, but the crisis we face is still daunting. It requires us to come together and adding a few percent to the tax rates at the top isn't going to hurt as much as the rich scream about the thought of it. Besides, we aren't talking about 94% taxation rates either.

MTA Officials Plead Their Case In Albany

Wall Street isn't the only location in New York that deals with bailouts. The M.T.A. wants one as well, only from Albany, not Washington (though both would be better). Some of the board members made their way up to the state capitol, by train no less, to tell lawmakers to show them the money so that straphangers do not have to carry the entire burden of budget shortfalls.

From The NY Daily News:

Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger and a contingent of MTA board members warned legislative leaders that massive service cuts and fare hikes await riders without state action.

"Hopefully, the legislators are listening very carefully because it's going to affect them because they get elected by those very same people," he said.

They listened - but offered nothing but more words for now.

"I'm hoping that there is something that we can do to help them," said state Sen. Martin Dilan, a Brooklyn Democrat and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. "I am going to be working toward that."

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) called the Metropolitan Transportation Authority doomsday plan unacceptable and vowed to help but also offered no specifics.

Both Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Smith represent areas with multiple subway lines underneath their constituents feet. Words and promises are not enough, especially when so many promises fail to deliver in Albany. Shelly Silver is right though, the current MTA budget is unacceptable, but he is one of the principal players in making sure that doesn't happen. A "bailout" of sorts is needed for the MTA or else at the rate prices are going up, soon no one is going to be able to buy a Metrocard.

Albany, Show Us All Of The Money!

Yesterday we found out, or had the choice to find out the salaries of everyone that works for the New York State Government. Well, almost everyone. See the politicians have their state salaries listed, but those are technically part time jobs and the citizens that elected them are not allowed to see where they have other incomes, especially if it creates a conflict of interest. That is exactly what we are still seeking.

From The Poughkeepsie Journal:

"This should be the top ethics issue going into next year's session," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "Right now we have the combination of a lousy disclosure law and nonindependent oversight."

State law requires lawmakers, who are part time even though their government salaries are $79,500 a year (plus stipends), to report any sources of outside income of more than $1,000 to the Legislative Ethics Commission, which is made up of a majority of lawmakers and has never publicly criticized a lawmaker.

Lawmakers also report to the commission ranges of their income, in six categories ranging from less than $5,000 to more than $250,000. The public can see the sources of the income, but not the categories of the amounts.

Keeping such information secret "confirms the worst suspicions of cynics who say that the elected representatives don't work for the people - they have outside interests that have primacy," said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York.

And that is exactly how the system works, for the politicians and their outside entities that no one else is allowed to see. Seminerio is only one example of a massive problem we have up in Albany. Lawmakers say that changing the rules will scare good candidates away from running, but does anyone really buy that excuse? Good candidates shouldn't have to be afraid of where they work. What they have done, want to do and their overall record should prove to the people what kind of politician they are. Helping to hide those outside sources only adds to the general taint of what goes on in our state's capitol.