| Things happened fast and furious today. The Senate's Environmental Conservation committee was scheduled to meet at noon.
Chairman Antoine Thompson had put his own one-year moratorium bill on the agenda, and left Senator Addabbo's moratorium, which lasts until four months after the EPA completes its study, off the agenda. Why? It is certain that Thompson's bill has no chance of passing, if only because the Assembly won't take it up (they are moving forward with the "same as" for Addabbo's bill, sponsored by Steve Englebright). Thompson's claim that he is worried about a veto from Governor Paterson would seem at first glance to have merit, but again if the Addabbo/Englebright bill is the only one that could even get to the Governor's desk, that's not an excuse.
It seems pretty obvious that Senator Thompson is trying to kill the moratorium push. It also became obvious that there is overwhelming support for the Addabbo bill -- from phone calls and faxes sent to Thompson's office as well as the other Senators on the committee. They were inundated with them.
By the end of the day, neither bill came up in the committee meeting. Instead, both bills were removed to the Rules committee, where they would have gone anyway if Thompson's committee had voted them out.
The Rules committee is scheduled to meet this Thursday. It is chaired by Malcolm Smith, who is not (currently) a cosponsor of the Addabbo bill.
The next round of calls, to be made all day Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, is to Senator Smith's office (518-455-2701). He is the only one of seven Senators from Queens who is not a cosponsor (the bill's current lone Republican, Frank Padavan, is from Queens).
Meanwhile, the total number of sponsors is not 18, with the addition this morning of Andrea Stewart-Cousins. The list now includes:
Addabbo, Dilan, Duane, Huntley, Klein, Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Padavan, Peralta, Perkins, Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, Squadron, Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins
When calling local Senators, it wouldn't hurt to mention (especially if their district has any Marcellus shale in it) that FHA and many banks and credit unions won't approve a mortgage or other loan for land where there is a gas drilling lease, or where there is a building within 300 feet of a piece of property with a gas drilling lease. In other words, if your neighbor signs a gas drilling lease, and you have a building within 300 feet of the property line, the value of your property could drop to zero.
Call Tuesday. Find your Senator (and his/her Albany office number) at http://www.nysenate.gov/senators. |
