March 28, 2011 Issue of The Capitol

www.nycapitolnews.comVOL. 4, NO.6 MARCH 28, 2011

Gavin Donahue says New York Needs

Nuclear Power. Page 19

Brian Kolb’s quest to make the most of the Assembly minority.

MOMENTSeizing the

AN

DR

EW

SC

HW

AR

TZ

With Indian Pointunder scrutiny, some law-

makers turn to the sun. Page 2

The debate rages on over how to tunnel

under The Hudson River. Page 4

With Indian Pointunder scrutiny, some law-


Indian Pointunder scrutiny, some law-


Indian Pointunder scrutiny, some law-


2 MARCH 28, 2011 THE CAPITOL

BY JON LENTZ

Less than a week passed before the unfolding nuclear disaster in Fukushima prompted New York officials from the governor on down to

call for increased scrutiny of the Indian Point plant,

especially as its license comes up for renewal. Assembly Member Steve Englebright has an alterna-

tive that he says he has been advocating for all along.

“I feel very bad for the people in Japan who turned to nuclear, and I’m hoping we turn increasingly to solar,” said Englebright, who reintroduced legislation this year requiring utilities and energy companies to gradually in-crease the generation of solar power.

Englebright’s bill is modeled on similar legislation in

other states, such as New Jersey, which now has more than five times as much solar capacity as New York. In 2010, New York ranked eighth in the nation, with

Legislators are trying to get New York to invest more in solar, in the hopes of long term energy gains.

“ Right now we’re collecting over half a billion dollars a year for energy efficiency and renewable resource programs,” PSC Chair Garry Brown said. “You have to remember, that’s all rate payer money.”

54 megawatts of solar capacity, according to GTM Re-search, a company that provides energy market analysis.

Advocates say there is no better time to invest in an energy source that is safer and better for the environ-ment, especially as converting sunlight into power con-tinues to get cheaper.

“Even if there are some short-term costs to the in-dustry, we’ve seen this elsewhere, and as the program develops, those costs even out and actually become very beneficial to the industry,” Englebright said.

The New York Solar Industry Development and Jobs Act would boost solar capacity to more than 5,000 mega-watts by 2025. A key selling point is the more than 22,000 jobs that backers say would be created.

If passed, the bill would require suppliers to produce 2.5 percent of their energy from solar by 2025. Currently, solar power accounts for less than 0.02 percent of the state’s electricity.

Allan Drury, a spokesman for Con Edison, said the company opposes the bill based on its costs—the in-dustry figure is $29 billion through 2039—which he said would be passed on to customers.

Besides, the company already created 4.5 megawatts of solar capacity for New York City and Westchester in 2010, he said.

“So we’d like to let those programs work, rather than add another cost for customers,” Drury said.

Garry Brown, chairman of New York State Public Service Commission, said he was unfamiliar with the bill’s details, but agreed that the state should be cautious about further burdening customers, even for worthwhile investments like solar power.

“Right now, we’re collecting over half a billion dollars a year for energy efficiency and renewable resource pro-grams,” Brown said. “You have to remember, that’s all rate payer money. You’ve got over a million New Yorkers over 60 days in arrears with their utility bills.”

A lobbying push by ConEd and other utilities helped kill the bill last year. But with recent developments in Albany and Japan, and advocates presenting their own estimates that the bill would cost consumers just an ad-ditional 39¢ per month, Englebright thinks his legislation will fare better this year.

“There’s been some time that’s gone by, and I think that the premise that was put forward late in the ses-sion last year has had a chance to be talked about and it doesn’t really hold water,” Englebright said.

State Sen. George Maziarz, who chairs the Energy Committee and is in discussions to introduce a similar bill in the Senate, requested an independent cost analy-sis from the Public Service Commission this year. His office said it is expecting to move forward on the legisla-tion once the budget is approved.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to support the bill if it makes it to his desk. His campaign materials called for solar production targets, the basis of Englebright’s legislation, and for making the state a “leader in the emerging solar industry.”

[email protected]

ENERGY

“I feel very bad for the people in Japan who turned to nuclear, and I’m hoping we turn increasingly to solar,” said Englebright, who reintroduced legislation this year

of solar capacity for New York City and Westchester in 2010, he said.

“So we’d like to let those programs work, rather than add another cost for customers,” Drury said.

Garry Brown, chairman of New York State Public Service Commission, said he was unfamiliar with the bill’s details, but agreed that the state should be cautious about further burdening customers, even for worthwhile investments like solar power.

“Right now, we’re collecting over half a billion dollars a year for energy efficiency and renewable resource pro-grams,” Brown said. “You have to remember, that’s all rate payer money. You’ve got over a million New Yorkers

ENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYENERGYLegislators are trying to get New York to invest more in solar, in the hopes of long term energy gains.

ENERGYENERGYENERGYLegislators are trying to get New York to invest more in solar, in the hopes of long term energy gains.

Solar SystemWith new scrutiny for Indian Point, Englebright leads renewed effort for renewable investment

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Calorie information at your fi ngertips.America’s beverage companies are

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Calorie information Calorie information at your fi ngertips.

Executive Decisions County executive candidates across the state gear up for fall elections

BY JON LENTZ

Abattle is looming in Erie County this fall, as Democrats aim to knock Republican County Executive Chris Collins out of offi ce and

neutralize a possible threat to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2014.

In Putnam, voters will head back to the polls a year after their last county executive-elect, then-state Sen. Vincent Leibell, failed to take offi ce as part of his cor-ruption plea deal.

And in Suffolk County, the race for county executive has been upended by Steve Levy’s surprise announce-ment that he would not be running for re-election.

The three races are among the 10 in New York where candidates will be vying for the job of county executive in an otherwise lackluster year at the polls. The other coun-ties with executive races are Albany, Broome, Dutchess, Monroe, Oneida, Onondaga and Ulster counties.

The local races are also something of a political bell-wether, showing which way the state’s political winds are blowing ahead of statewide elections. In recent years, with Rob Astorino’s victory in Westchester and Ed Mangano’s win in Nassau, the trend has been decidedly in favor of Republicans.

Those victories in 2009, along with Levy’s defection, put Republicans in 14 of the 17 elected county executive seats in the state. A retirement and the temporary ap-pointment of an independent in Putnam lowered the Re-publicans’ ranks to 13, while only three Democrats serve as county executives.

State Republican Chairman Ed Cox said an emphasis on fi scal conservatism propelled his party’s success in the wake of the worst recession in decades, and he pre-dicted the trend would continue this fall. He argued that the county executive gains did not go unnoticed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“He stole our Republican clothes and campaigned as Republican would, as a real fi scal conservative, because of those ’09 elections,” Cox said. “The result is we now have a real focus on doing the fi scally responsible thing in Albany.”

State Democratic Committee Chairman Jay Jacobs agreed that his party suffered as a result of the economic downturn, but argued that Republicans had squandered their advantage with poor leadership in places like Nas-sau, where the state stepped in to prevent the county from slipping into bankruptcy.

“Politics is very much described as a pendulum,” Ja-cobs said. “It swings back and forth, and it’s swinging back our way, and I’m expecting better results in the 2011 cycle most certainly than we saw in 2009.”

In Erie County, Chris Collins, a Republican who also weighed a run for governor, is expected to face a chal-lenge from Mark Poloncarz, the county comptroller who has repeatedly clashed with Collins.

Nick Langworthy, chairman of the Erie County Re-publicans, said Collins had successfully injected busi-ness values into county government and held the county to “virtually zero percent growth in spending” while keeping tax increases in check.

“The public is very much with him,” Langworthy said. “It would be very smart to look at Chris Collins as some-one who could be a statewide candidate down the road, but that’s down the road. He’s really focused on what’s going on in Erie County today.”

Democrats have an advantage in voter registration in the county, but they also say that Collins has been weak-

NiagaraNiagara

ened after making controversial statements comparing Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to the Antichrist and Hitler.

Poloncarz also argued that Collins ignores other branches of government, resists following state and fed-eral guidelines, has raised taxes and cut services.

“I’ve said all along that the person who would be respon-sible for taking down Chris Collins would be Chris Collins,” Poloncarz said. “In some ways, he’s proved me correct by not only his statements in the gubernatorial election last year, but his actions as county executive in which he’s proven that he has to run it in a dictatorial fashion.”

Collins was not available for comment. The Suffolk County race will also be closely watched

after taking a surprising turn with Levy’s announcement. Democrats expect Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bel-lone to put together a strong campaign, while his poten-tial opponents include County Treasurer Angie Carpen-ter and County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, Jr.

In Putnam, Leibell’s shocking downfall led to the post

being fi lled by Paul Eldridge, an independent who has said he will not run in the fall special election. Mary El-len Odell, a Republican county legislator who lost to Lei-bell in 2010 with 39 percent of the vote, plans to run for the second year in a row.

In March, Republican Assembly Member Marcus Molinaro announced that he would run to be the next Dutchess County executive. Longtime incumbent Wil-liam Steinhaus said that he would step down at the end of the year.

“Being able to lead Dutchess County, a place that I’ve called home for almost every year of my life, is just an opportunity that I did not want to let pass,” said Molina-ro, the only announced candidate so far.

Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala plans to join the Cuomo administration this spring as commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Deputy County Exec-utive Pat Brennan, who is poised to fi ll the seat temporar-ily, has not stated whether he would run to stay in offi ce.

[email protected]

www.nycapitolnews.com4 MARCH 28, 2011 THE CAPITOL www.nycapitolnews.com

ERIE COUNTY

DEMOCRAT: County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz

REPUBLICAN: County Executive Chris Collins

ENROLLMENT: Democrat 50 percent, Republican 26 percent

PUTNAM COUNTY

REPUBLICAN: Former County Legislator Mary Ellen Odell, County Legislature Chair Vincent Tamagna, County Legislator Tom Hay



SUFFOLK COUNTY

DEMOCRAT: County Legislator Vivian Viloria-Fisher, Babylon Town Supervisor Steve Bellone

REPUBLICAN: County Comptroller Joseph Sawicki Jr., County Treasurer Angie Carpenter


RACES TO WATCHPOTENTIAL COUNTY EXECUTIVE CANDIDATES AND VOTER ENROLLMENT BY PARTY

Blocked ArteriesMed mal, HCRA tax sticking points for passage of Medicaid reform proposals

By Laura Nahmias

The easy peace forged early by the Medicaid Task Force (MRT) shattered almost immediately.

Assembly Democrats quibbled with medi-cal malpractice reform, one the largest cost-savers in the task force’s recommendations. Senate Republicans were staunchly opposed to a hidden tax that extends the Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) surcharge– a tax on outpatient services–lobbied against living wage in-creases in the plan.

While the majority of recommendations were largely

uncontroversial, these pieces of the task force’s propos-al are among the largest, required in order for the budget to meet the governor’s targeted cost reduction of $2.3 billion.

More than 20 percent of the MRT cuts rely on two proposals, according to an analysis by the Citizens Bud-get Commission. One is a cap on total spending health providers are obligated to remain under, and the other, $250 million worth of proposed savings from a cap on medical malpractice payouts.

The tax increase included in the MRT proposals irked legislators who had repeatedly voted against it. It was included by Gov. David Paterson in his budget proposal last year, but was left out of the final document. It is es-timated to raise $58 million in revenue this year and $99 million in the coming fiscal years.

State Sen. Jim Seward has made opposition to the HCRA surcharge one of his top issues, and has voted against it each time it has come up. But Seward said that no one recommendation was worth holding up the pro-cess and sinking the entire plan.

“I and the Senate as a whole have been historically opposed, although admittedly it does support some very positive programs,” Seward said of the surcharge.

The Senate left the measure out of its budget bill, while the Assembly kept it.

Seward acknowledged that revenue from the tax would be difficult to replace.

“We have to find some other funding sources,” Seward said.

That could anger groups that have traditionally op-posed the tax, including the Cuomo-friendly Unshackle Upstate and the Business Council of New York State.

Sen. John DeFrancisco, chair of the Finance Commit-tee, wondered whether the HCRA surcharge could be seen as a violation of Cuomo’s pledge not to raise taxes.

“If you’re not going to raise taxes, then don’t raise taxes. Does that make any sense at all?” he asked.

DeFrancisco seemed disappointed with the work of the MRT, although Senate GOP spokesperson Scott Reif said the Senate budget bill kept “95 percent” of the group’s proposals. One other change calls for the state to

eliminate more of its optional services, such as dentures and medical stockings, DeFrancisco said.

“It seems to me that that wasn’t a very strong effort to try to cut back on the real costs,” he said, adding, “It seems like the MRT tried to do everything they could to avoid the hard decisions.”

DeFrancisco, meanwhile, has come under fire for his sponsorship of a bill that would boost the amount attor-neys are paid in medical malpractice payouts – a move critics said would line his own pockets in his work as a malpractice attorney.

It remains unclear whether Assembly will compro-

mise on a budget that includes malpractice reform, a measure they have long opposed.

“Taking away victims’ right to compensation, just doesn’t seem to be the right approach,” said Assembly Member Rory Lancman, who has proposed an alterna-tive medical malpractice reform bill that includes no award cap. “We are not required to accept every single MRT recommendation.”

The Medicaid reform effort faces additional pressure from the Center for Justice and Democracy, a group that advocates for trial lawyers and has been vocally opposed to the malpractice changes. The group filed an ethics complaint against the redesign team, arguing that the proposals are beneficial to the task force members, especially hospital executives.

“There’s even more evidence now of the hospitals’ self dealing on this,” said Joanne Doroshow, the Center’s executive director, referencing the pay to play allega-tions facing State Sen. Carl Kruger and prominent hospi-tal executives. “I think the pressure is building.”

The governor’s office blasted the ethics complaint as frivolous. But Assembly Democrats are also seek-ing to cap executive pay. Assembly Member Deborah Glick proposed a bill to cap executive compensation at $250,000, instead of the multi-million dollar salaries most city hospital executives currently draw.

If any one of the controversial recommendations were to be eliminated in a compromise, it could have a severe impact on the governor’s goal of cutting $2.3 bil-lion in this fiscal year.

The governor has said that if the Legislature cannot agree on the right amount of reductions, Department of Health Commissioner Nirav Shah would have unilateral authority to make cuts. But cuts made without the con-sent of the Medicaid Redesign Team could damage the aura of compromise around the initial proposals.

Seward said the only certainty about the Medicaid budget this year was that it was changing, rapidly.

“I couldn’t tell you what will happen if I wanted to,” he said. “Right now, it’s a moving target.”

[email protected]

“ It seems to me that that wasn’t a very strong effort to try to cut back on the real costs,” John DeFrancisco said, adding, “It seems like the MRT tried to do everything they could to avoid the hard decisions.”

SavingS from medicaid reform ProPoSalS

by Category, Fys 2011-12 and 2012-13 (dollars in millions)

PerCent PerCent 2011-12 oF total 2012-13 oF total

Provider payment rate reductions $753 26% $860 20%

Utilization controls $491 17% $669 15%

limits of eligibility $67 2% $109 2%

new revenues $478 17% $769 18%

other $1,061 37% $1,951 45%

Spending cap $328 12% $1,058 24%

medical malpractice reform $209 7% $234 5%

revision of program baseline growth $475 17% $650 15%

other $49 2% $9 0%

Total $2,850 100% $4,357 1Bold:Areaswhereproposedcutsaren’tagreeduponnote: Totalamountofsavingsindispute:$940million,or33%Source:CitizensBudgetCommission,NYStateBudgetOffice

www.nycapitolnews.com www.nycapitolnews.com6 MARCH 28, 2011 THE CAPITOL

THE CAPITOL MARCH 28, 2011 7www.nycapitolnews.com

Choosing ChoiceAs anti-abortion atmosphere thickens in DC, legislators prepare to fight back closer to home

By Laura Nahmias

The way she tells it, State Sen. Liz Krueger bolted out of bed the morning after the November elections with a sinking feeling.

“I was realizing that a major agenda of the right wing and the Tea Party and new Republican forces in this country, among other things on their list, was...to take on reproductive rights,” Krueger said.

Krueger says her motivation to form a caucus of pro-choice legislators was “to put a flag in the ground saying, ‘Not here.’ We are the State of New York, and if you’re coming to New York on a scheduled attack plan, you will have to come through us first,” Krueger said. At issue are pieces of federal legislation Krueger and oth-er pro-choice advocates argue are harmful to women’s reproductive health and restrictive of abortion rights, such as the Pence Amendment, which would prohibit Title X funding from going to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that also provide abortion services.

The vote to defund came so rapidly it surprised family planning advocates around the state. If the amendment were to make it into the final budget, the state would lose funding at Planned Parenthood sites, which provide half the family planning services in the state.

Were the Pence Amendment to pass, Krueger said she would “absolutely” introduce legislation to fund the health centers through state funding.

Loss of funding will cripple the other health centers that lack the capacity to provide the services Planned Parenthood did, said Tracey Brooks, CEO of Family Planning Advocates.

“It doesn’t cut the money out of the budget,” Brooks said. “It just means the state will lose a large service pro-vider. That’s really inappropriate.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler is currently researching ways to in-validate the amendment as a “bill of attainder,” and U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer have force-fully denounced the legislation.

While roughly 70 percent of New Yorkers self-iden-tify as pro-choice, advocates say several recent events concern them. Several of the state’s congressional del-egation, including Peter King, Michael Grimm, Nan Hay-worth, Chris Gibson, Ann Marie Buerkle and Tom Reed voted in favor of the Pence Amendment.

At the state level, bills proposed by Assembly Mem-bers Bill Reilich and Annie Rabbitt seek to change pro-

cedures for abortion providers in the state. One would require parental consent for abortion procedures and another would mandate a 24-hour waiting period be-fore women can receive an abortion after an initial consultation.

Reilich said his bill had little to do with either side of the issue, framing it as a parent’s right to know when a child receives an abortion. He questioned the need for the caucus.

“You could have a caucus of people who want to wear red shirts. I don’t think its counterproductive—I just don’t know what their objective is,” Reilich said.

As unlikely as passage may be for Reilich’s bill in the heavily Democratic Assembly, choice advocates say leg-islation like that should not go unnoticed.

Family Planning Advocates pointed to protests in Syracuse against Buerkle for her vote against Planned Parenthood. The vote ignited a letter writing campaign and series of protests statewide as an expression of “our disappointment with members of our delegation who are finding women’s health to be a bargaining chip,” Brooks said.

Two budget proposals nestled within the recom-mendations of the Medicaid Redesign Task Force would also help prop up those groups targeted by the defunding effort in the House. One, generated by the state’s Department of Health, would increase federal matching funds for family planning. Another, proposed by New York City Deputy Mayor for Health and Hu-man Services Linda Gibbs, would expand coverage of post-partum Medicaid benefits statewide, including to undocumented immigrants.

The first choice caucus meeting drew out approxi-mately 50 legislators and their aides, including some Republican Assembly Members. Krueger declared it a success, saying that the group would form a core of pro-choice legislators able to coordinate quickly when leg-islation begins to move at the federal level. The caucus could also allow lawmakers to present a unified front for lobbying efforts in other states where legislation to limit reproductive choices is being considered.

There will also be an internal listserv maintained for caucus members to communicate with one another, but a set schedule of meetings yet to be determined, said Krueger spokeswoman Katie Kincaid.

The group plans a “teach-in” May 9, in the lobby of the Capitol’s Legislative Building, to educate lawmakers on the current status of reproductive rights-related legisla-tion, Kincaid said.

Changes to the state’s abortion laws do not seem to be on the horizon, but legislators should prepare none-theless, said Miller, a Republican representing parts of Poughkeepsie.

“You shouldn’t just use history as a basis for the fu-ture,” he said. “New York State has to become a very se-cure haven for women’s rights.”

Asked whether the state that made abortion legal one year before the Roe v. Wade decision had been lulled into a false sense of security on abortion issues, FPA CEO Tracey Brooks said that activism remained strong.

“There isn’t apathy in New York around this issue, but sometimes it just takes this kind of significant attack to motivate people,” Brooks said.

[email protected]

“ You could have a caucus of people who want to wear red shirts. I don’t think its counterproductive, I just don’t know what their objective is,” said Assembly Member Bob Reilich, who opposes abortion.

www.nycapitolnews.com8 March 28, 2011 THE CAPITOL

ElsEwhErE

Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee On Verge Of

Approving Wine In Grocery Stores

By Ismail Muhammad

While Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature seem to have omitted the possibility of selling wine in grocery stores from their budget plans, the concept is gaining steam in other states,

especially in Tennessee, where backers of wine-in-grocery-stores (or WIGS) have won the support of the public, as well as executive and legislative leaders.

Tennessee State Rep. Jon Lundberg and State Sen. Bill Ketron have co-sponsored legislation that would allow Tennessee grocery stores to carry wine, one of many bills seeking to change Tennessee’s Prohibition-era alcohol laws. The measure is finding support with the public, which Lundberg says is due in large part to the economy.

“A couple of things make it more prominent, and the economic condition of Tennessee is one of them,” said Lundberg. “The passage

of this bill will bring millions of dollars into the state as well as tax revenue, and research shows that this bill will create 1,200 jobs in Tennessee.”

He said he believes that the prospect of new revenue and jobs has made his constituents look at the proposal through fresh eyes.

Polling bears this out. A recent sur-vey by Middle Tennessee State Uni-versity shows 69 percent approval for selling wine in grocery stores. That is an increase of seven points from poll-ing done last year. Lundberg says that some polls show support as high as 83 percent. The legislation has also found support with the state’s political leader-ship, with House Speaker Beth Harwell and Lt. Gov. Michael Ramsey backing the bill.

Lundberg denies, however, that in-creased or improved lobbying efforts have anything to do with the jump in his legislation’s support. Rather, he believes constituents and leaders are coming to a consensus over a bill that will be friendly to business and help Tennessee improve its economic condition.

Rep. Mike Turner, a Tennessee Demo-crat who opposes the legislation, has a different take. Though he believes the legislation has a better chance than last year’s version, he doubts that it will pass in its current form.

“There are still a lot of concerns with that bill,” said Turner.

Among them, he said, are fears that, because the legislation will also allow convenience stores to sell wine, alco-hol will fall into minors’ hands and that increased access will exacerbate the state’s problem with health issues such as alcoholism. There is also concern that liquor stores, which Turner describes as “mom and pop stores,” will go out of business despite legislation that allows them to sell products beyond alcohol.

Turner says that, because of these concerns, he doesn’t see the bill passing out of the State and Local Government Committee. He cautions that increased constituent support does not mean elect-ed officials agree with the rosy predic-tions of the bill’s proponents.

“They’re moving in the right direction, but right now, I don’t think there’s the will to pass this bill,” he said. “I know people, both Democrats and Republicans on the Committee, and I don’t think they want to pass that bill.”

New York Assembly member Joe Mo-relle, a Democrat who introduced similar legislation similar to Representative Lun-dberg’s, says he hopes that some of the economic dynamics that are lending Ten-nessee’s legislation momentum take root in this state.

“I never had real expectations that it was going to be advanced in the propos-als by the Assembly and Senate,” he said. “I’m not surprised that it’s not in the reso-lutions, it’s a sensitive issue. But it’s im-portant enough that doing a discussion post budget is worth it.”

[email protected].


Tunnel WarsWith ARC dead, officials promote alternate plans to ease tunnel congestion

BU JKJ LAJ P V

Thanks to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, the Access to the Region’s Core commuter train, or ARC tunnel, is dead. In its place, two proposals

have arose: One is Amtrak’s “Gateway Tunnel,” a proposed $13.5 billion rail connection from New Jersey into Manhattan’s Penn Station. The other proposal is an extension of New York’s No. 7 subway line from midtown Manhattan to Secaucus, N.J.

Transportation insiders say it is difficult to predict whether either one will be built, given the years of plan-ning still required and the need to secure high-level po-litical backing as well as billions of dollars.

But as for which of the two is more viable, the Gate-way Tunnel has an early edge.

“The Amtrak one is probably the better of the two,” said Robert “Buzz” Paaswell, a civil engineering profes-sor at City College. “It’s more likely to be funded, and it’ll serve more demand on the Northeast Corridor.”

“It’s probably got a little more legs right now, although they’re both so expensive the real question is where’s the money going to come from,” Paaswell added.

The federal designation of the Northeast Corridor as a high-speed rail corridor in mid-March gave another boost to the Gateway, which already accounts for high-speed rail. It also allows the project’s backers to seek

federal dollars as part of any high-speed expansion.“Given that the Northeast Corridor was just designat-

ed a high-speed rail corridor earlier this week, that does bode really well for Amtrak and the Gateway project,” said Veronica Vanterpool, the associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

The Gateway tunnel is estimated to be completed as early as 2020. Amtrak earmarked $50 million for the ini-tial four-year design, engineering and environmental re-view phase, though the spending will hinge on whether or not Republicans in Congress succeed in scaling back Amtrak funding.

“We’re still looking for revenue streams and funding partners for the project, but Amtrak is committed going forward to dedicating future appropriations of unknown quantity toward the project too,” said Cliff Cole, an Am-trak spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the city is reaching out to many of the same key players that would likely be involved in the Gateway project, including New York, New Jersey and the Port Authority, while pushing ahead with an analysis of its No. 7 subway extension.

One advantage the city cites is that it is already spending $2.1 billion to extend the No. 7 to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, which is closer to the Hudson River. The subway extension, which would be the first outside of the city, would also provide a direct connection to Manhattan’s east side, unlike the Gateway.

“It could accomplish what the ARC tunnel would have with additional benefits for less money, but there’s a lot of work to do,” said Andrew Brent, a mayoral spokesperson.

Amtrak says that the Gateway plan could accomplish some of the city’s goals with a connection of the No.7 line to Penn Station, where commuters could transfer from the trains to the subway.

Neysa Pranger, a spokesperson for the Regional Plan Assocation, said she is optimistic that the various play-ers could find a compromise. Whatever the solution, it won’t be built any time soon, she added.

“Normally you’d start this conversation a decade ago, and ARC was really two decades in the making,” Pranger said. “The fact that we’re at capacity now, and now we’re just starting to talk about it, we’re way, way, way, way behind.”

“ It could accomplish what the ARC tunnel would have with additional benefits for less money, but there’s a lot of work to do,” said Andrew Brent, a mayoral spokesperson, of the No. 7 extension.

Mayor Bloomberg is pushing toextend the No. 7 subway line from midtown to New Jersey

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MOMENTSEIZING THE

THE CAPITOL MARCH 28, 2011 11MoMent

“It does not require a majority to prevail,” said Samuel Adams, “but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”

The other quote is short, and oddly sourced. “The cause is just,” said Russell Crowe—not a line from Gladiator, mind you, but from a state legislative clerk

with a famous name. Kolb said he liked it well enough to frame it and hang it under the Adams quote. Both quotes exemplify Kolb’s approach to the job he has held for close to two years now: eternally opti-

mistic about the course he has charted for his members, pragmatic about the challenges they face, and de-termined to continue pushing conservative causes that, until recently, seemed more in the realm of science fiction than reality: a property tax cap, reduced government spending, ethics reform.

That approach, he said, has served him well so far. “I focus on solutions and ideas to problems,” Kolb says, “not just complaining about them.” At a recent meeting with representatives from McLane Co., a food service supply company that stocks

chain restaurants like Applebee’s and Panda Express, Kolb was mostly silent, listening as his fellow business men and women (Kolb is the former president of Refractron Technologies, a company that manufactures “technical ceramics,” and a co-founder of the North American Filter Corporation) tick through the litany of problems of growing a business in New York. They want tax relief. They want exemptions from onerous gov-ernment regulations. And they want Kolb to come visit their plant. Please.

But there are no immediate solutions to discuss. After all, Kolb is just the minority leader in a chamber domi-nated by Democrats. His members chair no committees, have zero sway over the budget and cannot even intro-duce their own bills without Democratic co-sponsorship. Even the Republican conference newsletter is edited by Democrats before being mailed out.

But the winds of change are blowing, and the McLane people are hopeful that Kolb, with his business-friendly smile and a handshake that seems to suggest lower taxes, may be rising up the ladder of influence.

The Assembly Republicans are having something of a moment this year. Kolb’s conference recently grew by almost 40 percent, which, for the first time in 20 years, has deprived the Assembly Democrats their veto-proof majority. The Republicans are back in control of the Senate. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo is talking about capping taxes, consolidating government agencies, slashing spending and ending unfunded mandates, all of which the Assembly Republicans claim as ideas that originated in their conference.

Much like Bill Clinton is touted as the nation’s “first black president,” many of them hope—with apologies to George Pataki—that Cuomo, despite his name, office and party affiliation, may turn out to be the state’s first Assembly Republican governor.

ON FEB. 16, MoRE THAN four months after the general election, the state Board of Elections certi-fied Tom Kirwan, a former New York City narcotics officer and ex-Assembly member, as the winner in the race for his old district seat, the 100th. The decision was a milestone for Kolb, both sym-bolically and politically. With Kirwan’s win, Kolb’s conference stands at 51 members, robbing the

Democrats of the needed votes to override a veto from the governor.But so what? “It’s still 51 to 99,” said one Assembly Democrat.“Irrelevant,” chuckled another Democrat. And why would the Democrats want to override one of Cuomo’s vetoes, Democrats wonder. Besides, next year

the economy will be better, obama will be back on the ticket and the Tea Party will havecooled down substantially since its debut three years ago. By the time voters go to the polls in November, 2010 may seem like a distant fever dream. The Democrats might even pick up a few seats, winning back those areas in and around urban districts like Buffalo and Rochester that they lost by ignoring some of the larger trends afoot.

Very few Democrats were willing to talk openly about their colleagues across the aisle, citing ongoing bud-get negotiations. But some Republicans sense a growing fear among the once dominant majority conference. Not fear of a takeover, which is hardly imminent, but fear of actually having to acknowledge the Republican conference’s existence.

“I don’t think it was a fluke,” Kolb said of 2010. “We were outspent $8 million to $2 million. We had 33 incum-bents come back. We didn’t lose a single incumbent. We had nine retirements and we won every one of those….Between the special election and general elections, we took 11 seats that we’ve added to our conference, on the least amount of money spent by anybody in New York state politics.”

The freshman class of 2011 is certainly an intriguing bunch. one of those members is Nicole Malliotakis, a former flack at Con Edison who defeated Janelle Hyer-Spen-

cer in her Brooklyn/Staten Island district to become Republican Assembly member number two within the five boroughs. (Lou Tobacco, a fellow Staten Islander, is the other.) Knocking out Hyer-Spencer was a priority for the Assembly Republicans, and Malliotakis accomplished just that. She is often touted by the leadership as exactly the type of candidate they wish they could clone: young (she is 30), ethnically diverse (she is half Greek, half Cuban) and female.

“There’s a lot of new blood and new ideas,” Malliotakis said. “It’s a good mix.”Aside from Malliotakis though, only one other female Republican, Claudia Tenney, was elected to the Assembly

last year. The conference’s leadership acknowledge that this is a problem. Instead, the conference added a lot of candidates like Kirwan, a 77-years-old white guy and ex-lawmaker to boot.

or Dean Murray, the first elected Tea Party activist elected to office in New York. or Steve Katz, a veterinarian who

There are two framed quotes hanging outside Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb’s ninth-floor legislative office. one is so well-known by Assembly Republicans that many can recite it by heart.

Brian Kolb’s quest to make

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won Greg Ball’s former Assembly seat and says he is unin-terested in making friends with the Democrats who control the chamber, or for that matter, even following Kolb’s lead of polite opposition.

“I hear from the different leaders that it’s not right if you’re in someone’s house to kick the host in the shins – okay?” Katz said by phone from his home in Mohegan Lake, N.Y., where he was laid up with a broken leg. “I don’t agree with that at all. Whose house are we talking about here? The people’s house?”

In a tone that sounds distinctly like Carl Paladino, Katz said he has not discussed his shin-kicking strategy with Kolb, but believes he and the other 16 freshmen members of the conference need to speak with one voice in opposi-tion to Silver and the Democrats.

“Silver been here for 18 years,” Katz said. “I’m a busi-nessman. If he were working for me, he’d have been fired.”

No offense to Steve Katz or the rest of the rootin’-tootin’ freshmen Assembly Republican gang, but Silver is not going anywhere. If anything, he is probably happy about losing nine seats of

his conference, his members argue. Ninety-nine members, after all, are much easier to manage than 107.

So all the talk about victories and milestones among Assembly Republicans is probably premature. Unless, as many believe they will, the conference can grow even more in 2012.

“No one said 51 would be realistic,” said Assembly Member Will Barclay, co-chair of the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee. “I think there’s still seats out there that could help us get to 60.”

Barclay said he has not discussed with Kolb yet what the conference’s goals for 2012 would be, nor have they begun to map out a strategy in earnest. But he and many others in the minority seem to believe that future victories are not just a pipe dream.

As of January, RACC has just under $200,000 in its ac-count, and another $54,000 in its housekeeping account. By comparison, the Assembly Democrats have over $750,000 in their housekeeping account and a $26,000 deficit in their campaign account.

Michael Fitzpatrick, a Suffolk County Republican who often brags about being the most conservative member of the chamber, said New York City could keep its 68 Demo-cratic members. The state’s other Assembly Democrats, though, should be worried.

“There will be some members in rural and suburban dis-tricts, who are going to be looking over their shoulder more often, as they should,” Fitzpatrick said.

Many of the pick-ups last year were marginal Demo-crats in suburban or exurban swing districts. Democrats wonder whether there is any low hanging fruit left for Re-publicansto pick.

“One of the things that happens in an election like that, the number of marginals that you have decreases,” said one Assembly Democrat.

Assembly Republicans are unlikely to get much help from the state GOP, despite Chairman Ed Cox’s effusive praise for the minority conference and what they have been able to accomplish with so little. Much of the fundraising and candidate recruitment will be left to RACC, which has struggled to raise as much the Democrats.

The real battle in 2012 will be in the State Senate, where Republicans hold a slim two-seat majority. Re-publican operatives predict that whatever funds are raised in the state over the next two years will go toward strengthening the party’s hold on that chamber, with lit-tle left over for Assembly races.

Cox said that despite limited resources, there will be a trickle down effect for Assembly Republican candi-dates in 2012.

“Every time we make a campaign stop and get earned media, we make sure our Assembly candidates are

there,” Cox said. The conference can continue to serve as a back bench—

although Kolb prefers “farm team”—for races for higher office. Members are quick to note that George Pataki was once an Assembly Republican, as was Teddy Roosevelt. Fifty-one members are, technically, 51 candidates for State Senate, for statewide office, for Congress.

Marcus Molinaro has already tossed his hat into the race for Dutchess County executive. Likewise Jane Corwin for Congress. And if Democratic Reps. Bill Owens, Brian Hig-gins or Tim Bishop decide to pose for any shirtless Craig-slist ads anytime soon, there will be a crop of local Assem-bly Republicans eager to fall in line.

Bob Oaks, who chairs RACC along with Barclay, said that so many of the conference’s members have moved on to higher office, he sometimes feels like the reluctant parent, watching his children graduate to bigger and better things.

“You may not like seeing where they’re going, but you can’t help but be positive and encourage it,” said Oaks. “Obviously losing people, it means another election. We know that’s part of the effort…It makes the burden a little bit greater.”

But then there is redistricting, Armageddon for Assem-bly Republicans.

James Conte, a Long Island Republican and minority

leader pro tempore, remembers the post-1990 redistrict-ing—a time he calls “the great unequalizer.” That year, the conference was positively swelling with 56 members. But after the lines were redrawn, several Republican members were forced to run against each other in primaries. The same thing happened in 2000, when the conference lost one upstate seat and one in Long Island.

“We’ve been here before,” Conte said. “We’ve always been backtracked by a very partisan redistricting plan.”

A district like the 127th, which is represented by Assem-bly Republican Peter Lopez, is ripe for redrawing, say sourc-es close to the redistricting process. Lopez’s district, which was once held by former gubernatorial candidate John Faso, covers five different counties: Otsego, Deleware, Schoharie, Greene and Columbia. In other words, a few too many.

“How do you work a district like that?” said one Demo-cratic source.

On the Assembly floor in early March, the As-sembly Republicans huddled in the southeast-ern corner of the chamber, laughing and snack-ing on fruit from the break room. Few seemed

to be paying much attention to history-in-the-making on

the other side of the aisle. They didn’t need to. The Democrats were in the process of electing three

new members to the state Board of Regents, among them the panel’s first openly gay member, James Cottrell. Dem-ocrats from both the Assembly and Senate spoke in praise of the new members. But the Republicans were having none of it. And as Silver began calling the role, one after another, they voted no.

Not on the candidates, but on the institution. Many argued the Board was unnecessary and du-

plicative, performing many of the tasks that could be done by the state education commissioner. Some skipped the vote, complaining that the joint-session of the Assembly and Senate to elect the new board mem-bers wrongfully put all the power in the hands of the Democrats. Others griped about only being told about two of the new members just hours before the vote.

Privately, the Republicans bragged that without the Senate Democrats in the room, the Assembly would lack the necessary votes to elect the members.

Assembly Republicans often boast about being an incubator for ideas. That while they lack the power to pass legislation or lead the chamber, they still put out policy proposals that eventually worm their way into the main conversation. They claim credit of work-ers’ compensation reform during the Spitzer admin-istration, as well as killing the ex-governor’s plan to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. This time around, they are taking credit for a few of Cuomo’s ideas: government consolidation, mandate relief, prop-erty tax relief.

“They keep coming up with new ideas and advancing them,” said Tom Reynolds, a former Assembly Republi-can, congressman and chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. “They may not have their name on it, but they’re going to get some results.”

This is how the Assembly Republicans can stay rel-evant through the 2012 elections, Kolb said. And they have not abdicated their role as thorn in the side of the Assembly Democrats. Not by a long shot.

Take for instance the recent letter sent to Cuomo arguing for an extension of the millionaires’ tax. Only 69 of the 99-member majority conference signed the letter. In the past, Silver might have gotten more of his marginal members—those representing rural and con-servative districts—to sign on in support of extending what Kolb calls “the success tax,” but not this year.

“They’ve lost cover for some their marginal mem-bers,” he said. “That makes a difference in the dynam-ics of what bill might come out or not come out.”

Bragging about restricting the number of Demo-crats who chose to sign on in support higher taxes for the wealthy shows just how desperate the Assembly Republicans are for a voice in state government.

To be sure, at the end of the week, when each mem-ber makes the long (or short) trek back to the district, the burdens lift and the frustrations evaporate. There, Assembly Republicans can still hold their heads up high. In Albany, the majority party sneezes, and the capital press corps falls all over itself to cover it. At home, Assembly Republicans field requests from TV new reporters (TV!) for interviews on local talk shows.

But once Monday rolls around, it’s back to Albany. And back to the minority.

“Where do we go next?” Kolb asked. Last year they made out like gangbusters, sure. But

their ability to hold the line or grow the conference is, like most things in the Assembly, completely out of their hands.

“I’d like to think we did a pretty darn good job of taking advantage of the right time, with the right mes-sage, with the right candidates,” Kolb said about 2010. “Can that happen in 2012? Well, big question mark.”

[email protected]

Kolb, left, and Will Barclay both acknowledge that redistricting will hurt the conference.

EVEN THE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE NEWSLETTER IS EDITED BY DEMOCRATS BEFORE BEING MAILED OUT.

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There’s been no effective conver-sation about ethics reform in Albany. The main reason is the political

danger of thinking differently about the problem. Governors, editorial writers and the “good government” groups have been swift and merciless when the prevailing orthodoxy is questioned. The debate’s been remarkably sterile, and legislators are not willing to engage in serious public conversations lest their policy concerns be attacked as moral failures.

Let’s try a real conversation.Three caveats: 1) Put aside the rhetoric; No

name-calling, no “dysfunction,” “quagmire,” “sewer.” We have a real problem that needs a real solution, and moral people can disagree on the remedy. 2) Focus on the whole govern-ment, not one branch—remember, going in to 2010, four of the last six governors in the tri-state area had serious ethical problems and three resigned because of them, yet no one describes the executive branch as inher-ently immoral. 3) Distinguish between ethi-cal failures and policy disagreements—late budgets, taxes, poor school performance, the things that are cited as evidence of “dysfunc-tion” are not caused by immoral public offi -cials. They’re policy and political problems.

What’s the ethical problem? Obviously, many elected offi cials have behaved wrongly. Some have committed personal transgres-sions, unrelated to offi cial corruption (Gov-ernor Spitzer, Senator Monserrate, Senator Ada Smith) Others (Assemblyman McLaugh-lin, Assemblyman Seminerio, Comptroller Hevesi, Senator Velella, Senator Leibell, Sena-tor Kruger, Assemblyman Boyland, Senator Espada) have been charged with offi cial mis-conduct involving bribery and self-dealing.

These cases break down into two cat-egories: First, misuse of government funds by not-for-profi t organizations sponsored by the offi cial (Espada, Leibell, McLaughlin) and second, lobbying the executive branch for contracts or grants (Seminerio, Velella, Kruger, Boyland).

So, the problems are abuse of not-for-prof-it funding and contract lobbying, right?

Switch to the heated public debate about ethics. It’s focused on disclosure of private clients by lawyer/legislators. The argument is that private clients, even those not involving state government, should be disclosed. (Cli-ents with involved with state government are already subject to both disclosure and con-fl ict laws). The response is that such clients (divorce, criminal defendants, abuse victims) don’t involve confl icts and don’t want their names published.

Read the comments from pundits and pro-fessional opinion-givers, and client disclosure separates the moral from the immoral, and a reform which will “clean up Albany.”

Well, probably not.There is an enormous amount of law to

catch real crooks. The bribery and confl ict laws are tough and used effectively. Public of-fi cials willing to violate them are probably not

going to disclose it in advance.So we have two real problems. Are there

real solutions?Sure. No Governor or Legislator or

close associate should be allowed to re-ceive any money from an organization that receives tax dollars they sought or enabled. So much for Espada, Leibell, Vellella. Nor should they be allowed to advocate before any government agency for any person or organization that pays them. And every such fi nancial relation-ship should be disclosed. So much for

Thinking Hard About Ethics Reform

Perspectives By Richard Brodsky

THE CAPITOL MARCH 28, 2011 13

harges made by a recent article in the New York Times al-leging systemic abuse in the state developmental disabili-ties system are serious and disturbing. Abuse of clients un-

der any circumstance is unacceptable and never to be tolerated. New York’s developmental disabilities system is far from perfect and we all want better care, better oversight and a better quality of life for the individuals and everyone else associated with the system. But looking at anything narrowly will miss important facts and context. The recent portrait that has been put forth to the public is not representative of the system as a whole. There is a broader perspective that should be considered by anyone seek-ing reform.CSEA represents about 18,000 people who care for nearly 40,000 individuals with developmental disabilities. Only a tiny a fraction of those employees have ever been brought up on disciplinary charges of any nature. In fact, most state develop-mental disabilities employees are some of the most caring and dedicated professionals you will ever meet. It takes a very special individual to work in this field. The jobs are challenging, physically and emotionally. Many of the indi-viduals in care have multiple disabilities, medical and behavioral issues and a wide range of special needs. Direct care staff help severely challenged individuals with the most basic daily tasks from washing and dressing, to feeding them, to physical and psychological therapy. They are not just caretakers, but friends and even family in the process.The overall quality of care for most individuals in the state sys-tem should not be doubted. It might not be appropriate or prac-tical for the general public to spend significant time observing

the care in a group home. Still, more firsthand reporting about group home care and services would provide the public with much greater appreciation of the thousands of people who do this work and the positive way they impact individual lives.Recognize also that maintaining quality care has become has become increasingly difficult for staff in recent years due to cut-backs and short staffing. The difficulty has been compounded as independent oversight by the Commission on Quality Care has been undermined by a lack of adequate resources and authority to do the job effectively. CSEA is prepared to be part of meaningful change for better care. CSEA has a long and proven history in this area. CSEA members were the original whistleblowers calling public atten-tion to the horrific abuse at Willowbrook; CSEA worked with Gov. Hugh Carey’s administration to improve care in the wake of the Willowbrook consent decrees; CSEA was instrumental in helping to transform the developmental disabilities system

from institutions to the com-munity during the tenure of Gov. Mario Cuomo. CSEA has consistently advocated for adequate resources in recent years so that corners would not be cut.We all want better care for people with developmental disabili-ties. It starts with recognizing that the system’s greatest assets are those thousands of individual employees who go to work and do the right thing every day. They must not be taken for granted.Danny Donohue is president of CSEA— committed to a better New York for all.

Developmental Disabilities Workers are Dedicated, Caring Professionals

By Danny Donohue

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8638_Advertorial.7.458x10.indd 1 3/22/11 11:13 AM

Seminerio, McLaughlin, Kruger and Boy-land (if convicted).

There could be quick agreement on this. And then we would have to face the real ethi-cally corrosive dynamic: the grotesque pro-cess of raising campaign funds. Unsurprising-ly, the people who give big money are those who have a personal stake in the decisions government makes. Legislators raise tens of thousands from interested people with mon-ey. Governors tens of millions.

So, after we’ve toughened the disclosure laws and used the criminal laws to purge the bad guys, we’re still going to live in the moral haze of the electoral system.

It’s painful because the legal remedies

are so limited, and the anger and sadness so real. It would be nice to acknowledge that as bad as things are they are infi nitely better than at the time of Boss Tweed, or Commodore Vanderbilt or Richard Nixon. Our problems are not, in the end, prob-lems of immorality and corruption. We’re in a long-term economic decline, there are enormous disparities of wealth and power, and our most successful private economic institutions gambled away our prosperity. None of that changes when we make im-portant but marginal changes in disclosure laws. We should do it, but then get back to the job of making the diffi cult decisions that lie ahead.

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healthcareissue spotlight:issue spotlight: traNSPOrtatION aNd INfraStructure

Point/CounterpointTimes are tough for parents, teachers and students in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seeking billions of dollars in cuts in

education spending. The teachers union is locked in a struggle for survival. And state tests are under going a massive overhaul. The Capitol asked Senate Education Committee Chair John Flanagan and Ranking Member Suzi Oppenheimer, the former

chair, to size up the various issues to see how their answers staked up against each other.

John Flanagan Suzi Oppenheimer

Flanagan: The top issues are school aid, testing, curriculum, and student evalua-tions. We have to look at how we do testing of students in the state of New York, and whether or not they are college-ready. We have to have discussions about the teacher evaluation process. Also, property taxes and a property tax cap. The single largest com-ponent of every person’s property tax bill is their school tax, and we have to find a way to provide some relief for property tax payers.

Oppenheimer: First would be restoring some of the money that was in the deep cuts made in the GEA—Gap Elimi-nation Adjustment. I felt that the cuts were too severe and my Demo-cratic conference who I speak for on the committee feel the cuts were too severe. So we want to restore some of the money that had been in those cuts…. Next would be to bring down the exorbitant property tax. …Next—it’s hard to prioritize these things—very important to me was support of our 4201 schools. They are for the deaf, blind, and the severely physically disabled. We have supported the 4201 schools for over 190 years. This is not a new commitment. And I felt it would be a serious embarrassment to withdraw our state support and put the burden on the local school district.

Flanagan: We need to make sure the kids are college-ready. I think we have issues involving GED testing. And we have to focus some more intensity on graduation rates. Oppenheimer: I think the challenges are to try to maintain the quality of education where it exists and to improve the educational outcome in districts that are not achieving. And we want to do a lot more with teacher preparation. So much depends on the quality of the teacher in the classroom. We will be devising a new method for dismissing teach-ers that are ineffective, as well as principals. And regulations for that should be coming from the state education department in June.

Flanagan: We are fulfilling our responsibility. I believe that. I think that the [Campaign for Fiscal Equity] court case, at the time that it was decided, the approach that was taken was much more significant state-wide. The court was focused on New York City, but Governor Spitzer decided to try and adopt a statewide approach. Having said that, there are those who will disagree with me, but I believe we are meeting our obligation, and we have fiscal crises and deficits now that mitigate what we are able to do right at this juncture. But, you know, foundation aid has been maintained, and there are certain components of the legisla-tion that came about as a result of that court case that are still intact. All the money may not be there, but the broad parameters are still there. The issue is always something to pay attention to, but I don’t believe it rises to the level of something that’s overwhelmingly important.

Oppenheimer: To avert serious cuts, we need to change the expiration date of the surcharge on the millionaires’ tax. We have to find some money, and until the economy starts to pick up, we’re kind of stuck. And we don’t want to raise taxes, we don’t want to discourage busi-ness and individuals, and we don’t want to encourage them to leave our state. It’s tough to figure out right now. I do think times will get better within a couple of years, but right now it’s hard.

Flanagan: On school closings, I don’t know that it has to be an either-or approach. First of all, I think there should be some respect for local control. I don’t know that the state legislature or the state education department should nec-essarily be jumping in right away on an issue like that. Certainly, we have broad oversight and regulatory authority which we should have and should maintain, and there are obviously issues that de-serve some state input and oversight. But I don’t believe it would be appropriate, whether it’s in the city of New York, or the big five, or other communities throughout the state, for the state to just come in automatically and say, “you’re closing and you’re opening.” In many respects, outside New York City, you have duly elected school boards—residents of local communities—and that of course has a significant impact.

Oppenheimer: Well I think you put your utmost efforts into improv-ing a school for a year or two. After that, you might have to look at other options. I don’t know if closing should be one of them, but you’d need to look at other options.We have seen a number of proposals to deal with the issue of teacher tenure and layoffs. What will be the end result of this process?

Flanagan: I’m hoping we have further discussions on the [last in, first out] issue, but I would say it’s equally important to try to expedite the process of creating new evaluations for teachers. I think if we can get that done as quickly as possible, that will help address a number of considerations and concerns that many people have.

Oppenheimer: I think there are a lot of very wonderful teachers that have gotten considerable mastery of their professions and are dedicated and we should definitely be holding on to them, but I also want to hold on to the young teachers who come in with such en-ergy and enthusiasm. I think it’s a tough issue. …We feel we will be removing ineffective teachers from the classroom, and I think that with or without “last in, first out” that will happen. Our teachers have the opportunity to object to the process, but if they don’t make a good case they will be dismissed. So that’s how we’re going to keep good teachers in the classroom.

educatIONissue spotlight:


Educationissue spotlight:Dick Ianuzzi, president, new York State united teachersWithout a doubt, public schools -- that means local school districts as well as SUNY, CUNY and our network of com-munity colleges -- have suffered devastating budget cuts over the last three years. These cuts threaten to erase the progress we have made. We share everyone’s vision of revitalizing New York’s economy. The best way to make that happen is for our state leaders to again see education as an investment in the future of New York’s chil-dren, not as a line in a budget that can be repeatedly cut.

Unfortunately, many have lost sight of the state’s court-ordered obligation to eq-uitably fund public schools. After years of legal arguments, the Court of Appeals ruled the state had unconstitutionally denied students in New York City and other low-wealth districts the sound, basic education they were entitled to. The state agreed in settling that case to increase education funding by nearly $5 billion over four years. After two years of increases, however, the state walked away from its obligations. Stu-dents need New York State to uphold that agreement.

Sound-bites

Billy Easton, executive director, alliance for Quality EducationWe have two system of public education, one for the well off and one for the poor. After 15 years of public debate that re-sulted in a legislative settlement of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, we are in great danger of seeing this gap grow wider not narrower. People living in wealthy suburbs know that money matters for their children’s education, why do some of our elected leaders act as if money is not a priority in the schools that serve poor children?

A lot of attention is paid to fashionable sound bites about school reform, but people are ignoring what the bulk of the research says. The way to improve our neediest schools is to invest in extended learning time, a demanding curriculum, collabora-tive approaches to improving the quality of teaching, supports for students social and emotional needs, and to engage parents, teachers, students and the community in partnership to improve these schools.

Joe Williams, executive director, democrats for Education ReformThe whole way we evaluate the work of our professional teaching force is becoming some of the most important policy work facing K-12 education. There is potential here to finally treat great teachers with the overdue respect they deserve, but there will be plenty of opportunities for a new teacher evaluation system to become derailed.

New York, like the rest of the nation, needs to figure out how to pay for a public education system that is starting to look fiscally unsustainable. And we need to do it in a way that convinces taxpayers that the bold actions we’re going to need to take to balance the books are produc-ing an even better system of schools. It’s going to be a tricky balancing act.

Tim Kremer, executive director, new York State School Boards associationFor our children to succeed in the 21st century, it is im-perative for local school officials to continue to press for greater cost containments and new ways of doing busi-ness. After all, how will larger class sizes, reductions in extra help for students and eliminating summer school help students meet the new proficiency standards on state exams? How can the adoption of common core standards help raise stu-dent achievement across the state, particularly in those schools with a history of poor performance, if schools are laying off teachers?

School districts are forced to bear much greater costs over which they have little or no control – defined benefit pension plans, special education obliga-tions that far exceed federal requirements, an archaic 3020-a procedure and the Wicks Law, for example. These mandates place financial burdens on local taxpayers who themselves recognize little value after paying the bill.

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Affiliated with AFT / NEA / AFL-CIO

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Representing more than 600,000 professionals in education and health care.

Richard C. Iannuzzi, President

Andrew Pallotta, Executive Vice President

Maria Neira, Vice President

Kathleen M. Donahue, Vice President

Lee Cutler, Secretary-Treasurer

Keep New York learning

Don’t erase our progress:Invest in public education

In these tough times, we must redouble our efforts to provide what our students need to succeed. More than 10,000 teaching and other education positions have already been cut statewide. Courses have been eliminated, class sizes have increased and access to higher education has been compromised. Despite the worst recession in generations, 79 percent of New Yorkers steadfastly say we must continue investing in public education — an investment that has New York leading the nation in closing the achievement gap and is key to revitalizing our economy.


educationissue spotlight: By Andrew J. HAwkins

By Johanna Barr

After a floor debate regarding whether the board should still exist, the Legislature elected three new members of the Board of Regents during a

joint session in early March.Dr. James Cottrell, Kathleen Cashin, and James O.

Jackson will each serve five-year terms. Cottrell will serve as a Regent-at-large, while Cashin and Jackson will represent the 2nd and 3rd Judicial Districts, respectively.

The 17-member Board of Regents sets educational policy in the state, from pre-kindergarten through higher education. The members also oversee and regulate the 48 teaching professions that are licensed by the state. Merryl Tisch, who was first elected as a regent in 1996, has served as chancellor since 2009.

Cottrell is currently chair of the department of anesthesiology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology. He has taught at numerous universities and hospitals across the state and he once served as president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Cottrell said his medical expertise will prepare him to oversee the Office of the Professions. Of the 48 professions that the state regulates, all but eight are related to health.

“As a medical professional, I think I’ll have a unique perspective on the Board of Regents,” he said. “You can look at medication errors and standards of practice to help professionals provide safer care. That’s what I’m qualified to do, and that’s where I have experience and knowledge that I can bring to the table.”

Technological innovations are also a priority, Cottrell said.

“I’m interested in trying to improve collaboration across institutions by using better web-based technologies and efforts,” he said. “Recently SUNY Downstate teamed up with other universities to work on nanotechnology, and the collaborative aspect of that was very important.”

Cashin has worked in the New York City school system for over 40 years. She has taught in both Catholic and public schools and served as a principal, superintendent, and regional superintendent. Currently, she is a clinical professor in the education department at Fordham University.

“The first priority for me is to be a good listener and learn how to be a good regent,” she said. “I’m going to be for the kids 100 percent. I have a lot of experience working with children, so I plan to share my experience and my knowledge, but I intend to keep learning as well.”

As someone who will have to regulate an educational system under severe financial strain, Cashin shared her thoughts on the budget crisis facing the state’s schools.

“Broadly speaking, I think the principals really need to analyze their staff, and look at their ability to deliver services to the children in the most effective way they possibly can. Having collaborative discussions between the principals and staff is important,” she said.

At this early stage in her service, though, Cashin said she was hesitant to lay out concrete goals for her service.

“Once we get into this I will be specific about my priorities, but right now it’s premature,” she said. “I’m the new kid on the block, and I haven’t even attended a meeting.”

James O. Jackson worked for over 40 years as a teacher and principal at Shaker High School in Latham, NY. He is a member of the University at Albany Council and the Albany Medical Center Board of Directors.

Like Cashin, Jackson was reluctant to comment on his priorities before consulting with his fellow Regents.

“I am looking forward with great expectations to joining my colleagues on the Board Of Regents in their important mission of serving the children of New York State. While I am eager to get started, it would premature to comment publicly on issues before the Board in advance of my first meeting,” Jackson said in a statement.

“I do, however, trust that my long service as a teacher, supervisor, principal and active citizen will be an asset to the Board as they strive to fulfill their responsibilities,” the statement continued.

Chancellor Merryl Tisch had nothing but praise for the new Regents, saying “in all three cases, they add expertise to the work that we do.”

“As you know, we license professions, and since we deal with a lot of healthcare professions, having Dr. Cottrell at the table will be very significant,” she said.

Cashin and Jackson, meanwhile, will be instrumental in developing the state’s new graduation requirements, building a statewide curriculum, retooling state exams and improving science and engineering policies, she said.

“Dr. Jackson, Dr. Cashin, and Dr. Cottrell round out the work of the board very well,” Tisch said, “and we are delighted to welcome these three new colleagues.”

-- [email protected]

New Members Bring New Perspectives To Board Of Regents


The publication for and about New York State Government

By Chris Bragg

City Hall: Why run for district leader after three decades in Congress?Ed Towns: That little corner around there, we’ve sort of been the district leader of it for quite some time between me and Darryl, and, of course, Darryl is mov-ing on, so I thought maybe I would just come back and help because that corner is sort of at the end of the borough and sometimes it’s forgotten. That’s basically the reason for it.

CH: Council Member Erik Dilan, who wants to run for district leader also, has argued that a young-er person should be in the position. What do you make of that?ET: I think what the party needs is an experienced, stable hand. I think that’s very much what it needs,

more than ever. I think that’s part of our problem to-day, not having a stable situation in our political or-ganization. I’m concerned with the fact that people running for national office in the most populated Dem-ocratic county in the nation and people will run for national office and never come to Brooklyn. So I think that we need to have folks that need to be able to stop this from occurring. Can you imagine one of the most populated counties in the nation, that people run for national office and never come here? I’ve been around a little longer and have more contacts and ties around the nation than post people. I also think we need to bring the county organization together and I feel I can be helpful in that regard.

CH: The Dilans have also said your son’s Assem-bly seat should now be filled by a Hispanic and are running Council Member Dilan’s chief of staff Rafael Espinal. Do you buy into that logic?ET: I don’t have a problem with that—my daughter’s Hispanic. She’s from the Dominican Republic. She’s

adopted. She’s been with us since she was six weeks old. So those kinds of arguments should be eliminat-ed. It’s not something that I make a case of, but when people make statements like that, I have to respond.

CH: The Dilans say they will be in control of who gets the Democratic nomination for both the dis-trict leader and Assembly seat. Do you agree with that?ET: I think that’s logical, but that doesn’t stop us from running. You can go out and create a line and it’s a special election, there have been a lot of situations where people in a special election have won. Charlie Johnson ran up in the Bronx in a special election and won. Bobby Garcia ran for Congress in a special elec-tion on the Liberal Party line and won. When there’s nothing there but that race, the Democratic line is one you would always like to have, and I think you make

your life a lot easier if you do have it. That does not stop us from going out and running. The name Towns is known in the district.

CH: Have you thought a name for the bal-lot line? The Towns line?ET: Save Our Children? There’s a lot of things that can be used. Rent’s Too Damn High and the Gas Too? [Laughs.] CH: Are you planning on running for re-election to Congress in 2012?

ET: Oh, I’m running. I feel good, I feel good. I know some people have mentioned by age, but I’ll take on whoever’s mentioning my age. If they want to have a track race, I’ll race with them on foot, I’ll take that. And I really mean that, whoever it is. You just tell them I’m prepared to give them a foot race, a contest to see how many hours we can go in a day. Whatever.

CH: You’re in training?ET. Oh yeah. I enjoy what I’m doing. It’s hard to beat somebody who enjoys what they’re doing.

CH: Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries is looking at running for your seat. Does that worry you?ET: That’s one of the weaknesses of democracy—that people are able to run against me. But no, no, I have no problem with that. If people are eager, that’s it. But would I be worried? Absolutely not. I mean, really. I’ve represented this district 29 years. And I’m prepared to take on whoever or whatever. And I’m the kind of guy who’s had a lot of races throughout the years.

CH: Jeffries is seen as an up-and-comer though…DT: I think he has a lot of potential. And I person-ally like him. But I understand how politics go. That doesn’t stop him from being eager or wanting to take my place or thinking I should retire when I don’t want to.

CH: Charles Barron is also talking about running, what do you think about that?ET: The more the merrier. If you hear of anybody else, tell them, ‘Come on.’

CH: Was it difficult losing your spot chairing the House Oversight Committee, and then your spot as ranking member?ET: No, no. All my advisors and all my immediate staff felt that I should get back to Energy and Commerce. Because when you’re the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, you really have no say. Being on the Energy and Commerce committee is one of the most prestigious committees in the United States Con-gress. Fifty-five percent of all legislation in the House goes through that committee.

CH: What issues are you working on right now?ET: We’re still looking at the student athletes’ right to know, in terms of the college and universities re-porting college graduation rates with athletes. Be-cause what had happened in many instances is that you have young people who sign up with a univer-sity and have no chance of graduating. In fact, some schools have gone 10 or 20 without graduation an athlete. So making sure athletes or anyone advising them have the information that anyone advising them knows, that in the letter offering them a scholarship to the university, they have to put that information in. We’re working on a bill called bathroom parity, which is very important. That’s making sure any building funded with government dollars has an a comparable amount of bathrooms for women. You see women standing in long lines to go to the ladies room and we need to correct that. In the old days, women didn’t go to sporting events and things like that, so therefore, they didn’t provide for them. Up until a few months ago they didn’t even have a bathroom for women on the floor of the House of Representatives. So we’re looking at issues like that that are very, very impor-tant.

[email protected]

Big Towns

Back Forth

Back & Forth

Back & Forth&

& &

&

Blue JayRep. ed Towns has been popping up in a lot of Google alerts lately. His son,

Assembly Member Darryl Towns, just took a job in the Cuomo administration. His daughter is running to replace her brother. And the congressman wants to run for his son’s old district leader spot. All the while, the Dilans—Sen. Martin Dilan and his son,

Council Member Erik Dilan—are angling to get those seats in their corner. Meanwhile, Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries’ advisors have been making noise about Jeffries running for Congress against Towns. In an interview, Towns talked about his daughter’s political prospects, his training regimen for 2012 and one of his top legislative priorities: building more women’s bathrooms.What follows is an edited transcript.

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New York State trial lawYerS aSSociatioN

Protecting New Yorkers Since 1953

How Much is a Family’s Pain and Suffering Worth?

“Such a limited cap on nonmedical, noneconomic damages in malpractice cases is the wrong approach. Bad doctors and careless hospitals

should pay a stiff penalty when they destroy people’s health or lives…”

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2011

“Whatever the reason, [a medical malpractice cap] is the wrong way to go. It will unfairly punish patients badly injured by medical negligence.”

SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2011

Tell Albany: You can’t put a cap on a lifetime of pain and suffering

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March 28, 2011 Issue of The Capitol

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