Unless the Legislature saves it again, the state Temporary Commission on Investigation is set to expire at the end of March.
The Senate and Assembly, which will unveil budget plans this week, may choose to spend $3.9 million to keep the agency alive. Critics suspect the governor and legislative leaders will preserve the 52-year-old organization to hold onto some nice patronage appointments.
"No one will miss them; they've done so little," said Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group. "It became a political creature as opposed to an investigation creature, a plum appointment given the salaries." He said it would be better to consolidate all ethics oversight agencies under a single independent authority. The commission recommended in its last report swallowing the Inspector General's Office only.
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It has 22 employees who produced 30 reports on probes since 2000. The commission has six part-time commissioners, five paid $101,500 and the chairman given $109,800, to attend meetings and discuss confidential investigations.
The long-term posts have been doled out to loyalists of the appointing leader. For instance, Gov. George Pataki appointed his top deputy, John Cahill, just before leaving office.
It's the "Temporary" Committee on Investigation. Let's hold them to that and let it go.
The fight for marriage equality in New York has been on for a long time, but that fight is slowly reaching the finish line. That does not have the LGBT community sitting back and relaxing though. After two successful lobbying days in 2007 and 2008, the Empire State Pride Agenda will be in Albany again this year for their annual lobby day, Equality and Justice Day, on April 28.
In order to promote this day, the Pride Agenda unveiled a video for your viewing pleasure:
If you need a reminder of how important this is, keep in mind that today California Supreme Court justices heard arguments regarding Prop 8, the infamous ballot initiative that led to a ban on marriage equality (and thus, the suspension of equal rights for the LGBT community) in California.
If you are looking for a story that perfectly encapsulates much of what is very, very wrong with the way our state government works (or doesn't, as the case may be) this is it. Its got everything. Patronage jobs, no work jobs, crazy high salaries for the well connected, punished whistleblowers, fraud, investigations and folks named Sweeney. Read it and weep.
Inspector General Joseph Fisch has ordered an independent investigation of the State Insurance Fund in the wake of a slew of allegations of mismanagement, abuse and waste at the agency, which is being described by a whistle-blower as a landing spot for political patronage appointees.
Fisch said Tuesday he called for the probe of "the Hinton case" to respond to a sworn statement he received from Edward Obertubbesing, an insurance fund lawyer who once managed Randall Hinton, the fund's director of investigation. Hinton was featured in a Times Union story last month in which Obertubbesing confirmed that Hinton has been given almost nothing to do for most of the past decade.
Hinton said he listens to music and watches traffic outside his window while being paid almost $94,000 a year. Hinton says he's being retaliated against by Republicans controlling the fund.
"We are conducting a full investigation of the allegations relating to the State Insurance Fund," Fisch said in an interview. He said he is also monitoring a Human Rights Division complaint Hinton filed last month alleging he is being discriminated against for having sued the state during the administration of Gov. George Pataki. He is an American Indian. As part of a settlement of his suit years ago, Hinton was guaranteed a job as director of investigations at the fund. He alleges he got the post, but no responsibilities that comport with the job, and Obertubbesing said Hinton was blackballed and intentionally deprived of meaningful work by the top brass of the fund, who are serving in long-term appointments made by Pataki.
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Allegations by Obertubbesing, which were also sent to the Insurance Fund's chairman, the Attorney General's Office, the Office of the State Comptroller and the Civil Service commissioner, include the fund's practice of hiring people at the behest of Republican leaders such as Pataki or former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, giving them work that does not match up with Civil Service titles and relatively high salaries. The situation, Obertubbesing said, harmed morale among civil servants who had to pass tests for their posts and in many cases had to train the higher-paid appointees. Such long-serving employees, he said, were denied opportunities for advancement and better pay while the fund's management violated labor agreements and state regulations.
A look at the fund's payroll shows several people formerly working for Pataki in the executive branch received posts around the time of his departure from office at the end of 2006. Others got high-wage jobs well before Pataki's last term. For instance, Elizabeth Sweeney, the first wife of Pataki's first labor commissioner, former Rep. John Sweeney, was hired in 1998 as a secretary. She retains that title and is paid the same pay as Hinton, $93,803. She and the former congressman did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.
That's some prime Albany dysfunction they got there.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is taking on Republican Assemblyman James Tedisco for his drive to Albany. To some, it might not sound like much of a story. But since he got paid $21,000 to make that drive, it might be a story.
Now, I will preface this by saying that all of this is legal. Tedisco can, just like any other state legislator, submit vouchers for travel and get reimbursed for it. But considering he lives only 20 minutes from Albany, the ethics of these charges could be questioned.
Now that Albany politician Jim Tedisco has formally launched his congressional campaign in New York's 20th Congressional District, Tedisco owes voters an explanation as to why he billed them $21,343 in oil and gas receipts for his taxpayer funded vehicle, despite just a 20-minute car ride away to the state capitol from his Schenectady home in the 21st Congressional District.
"Albany politician Jim Tedisco talks tough about cutting government spending, but that hasn't stopped him from billing taxpayers over $21,000 in oil and gas receipts for his taxpayer funded vehicle, despite his 20-minute car ride to the state capital," said Jennifer Crider, Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "During these tough economic times, the very last thing Upstate New York's middle class families need is a sneaky Albany politician like Jim Tedisco sticking them with a $21,000 bill so he can keep living high on the hog. Tedisco needs to stop this hypocrisy and immediately come clean by reimbursing taxpayers $21,000."
Of course, there is a lot of hypocrisy with what Tedisco has said in the past and his actions in getting the taxpayers to pay for his travels. The $21,000 he was reimbursed was over an eight-year period, but that is still a lot of money every year that he was getting reimbursed (and taking advantage of another perk that state legislators get) for driving 17 miles to work.
History was made in Albany today when a joint committee hearing on the budget was held using Internet testimony.
The internet took center-stage for the first time in state history today, as the State Legislature marked a new era of transparency and public participation at a joint committee meeting that was conducted using internet-based technology. The meeting is a key first-step for Senate Democrats, who are embracing the use of 21 st Century technology for the Chamber as part of their goal to allow for real-time public participation in the legislative process.
The first-of-its-kind event, focused on funding for the arts, was Chaired by Senator Jose M. Serrano and Assemblyman Steven Englebright.
"This is the first time that we have conducted any kind of meeting in this way," said Senator Smith. "This is a major component of what we are doing to open up the process and bring the public into the goings-on in Albany. I applaud Senator Serrano and Assemblyman Englebright for their vision and for helping to usher in a new era at the Capitol. This is the first of many exciting technological changes that are in the works that will create a better functioning legislature."
"New technologies are increasing our ability to communicate with the public nearly every day," said Senator Serrano. "Knowing that in this day and age the vast majority of people get at least some of their information through the internet, this was an exciting opportunity to re-think the way the legislature conducts meetings, and increase public awareness of what we're doing in Albany."
Here is video of today's landmark hearing, which shows that Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith meant what he said when he told people that the New York State Senate was going to move into the 21st century in more ways than one.
Many articles have been written about the dysfunctional nature of Albany. A book has even been written about the "three men in a room" ways of Albany.
Aside from the reports that the Brennan Center has conducted, I don't think you could find a better summary of Albany than this Buffalo News article in today's edition.
In his 18 years with the FBI, John Pikus has investigated terrorists, drug dealers, bank robbers, gangs, white-collar criminals and murderers.
Then he ran into the New York State Legislature.
Despite overseeing an office with 80 agents armed with subpoenas and a battery of sophisticated investigatory tools, Pikus sounds almost humbled by the experience he had trying to crack the secrecy that defines the state Capitol.
"The legislative process was almost Byzantine in how it operates," said Pikus, whose investigators spent three years working on the case that led to last week's indictments against former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. "We have very expert investigators working on this. Some have come in from other districts and were quite surprised at how difficult it was to discern what was going on in the legislative process."
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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.
There is a lot more to the article than just the excerpts above. The piece covers a lot of ground (the flow of information, the leadership dominating the legislative process, ethics, etc.) and does a great job at summarizing the failure that is our state capital.
I do disagree with one aspect of the article though. If you read the piece, you will find a part of the article early on where the reporter ties Albany's dysfunction with things like high taxes, out of control state spending, rising state debt, business and job loss and the declining population in parts of upstate.
I don't think those are the right things to point out if you are going to make a case for Albany being dysfunctional. Sure, Albany's issues certainly don't help any of those problems mentioned above, but they hardly are the major cause for those problems. The bigger problem with the ways of Albany is that we are shut out of the process. Even the most concerned of citizens would have a hard time finding a piece of legislation on either the Assembly or Senate websites. Transparency is a foreign concept in Albany. There have been a few improvements, but a lot more can be done to make Albany truly transparent.
What it comes down to is leadership. When President Barack Obama officially took office, he announced that his administration would be more open and transparent than any in history. It was President Obama, as a leader, who stood up and said that it was time for more openness and transparency. That is what we need in Albany from the "three men in a room."
Whether we get to that point or not is up to the leaders. Hopefully the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office can get their attention. We need to be a democracy in New York. We can't have anymore of this closed system of government that shuts out everyone except those who rule each branch of government.
The economic crisis is real, folks, and it's not going to go away anytime soon. There is no viable pony plan. We aren't going to save the day by cutting "something else." All available data point to a profound halting of economic activity. And the folks in Albany need to get moving if we are going to be able to weather the worst of it.
Yes, the stock market crashed again today, but many people rightly point out that the Dow is not the economy. It isn't. This is:
The Baltic Dry Index is one of the oldest economic indexes in the world. It's been kept since the middle of the 18th century and it essentially is a gauge of the cost of shipping raw materials across the globe. It has dropped 98% since May of this year. Back then, a Capesize cargo ship would cost you about $235,000 a day to ship your iron or corn or bananas. Today, that same ship - one with at least 170,000 tons of capacity - will set you back around $5,600 a day. Yes, you read that correctly.
Put simply, the cost of shipping has dropped through the floor. Sending a tonne of iron ore from Brazil to China in early June would have set you back more than $100 (£62) per tonne, or around $15m per voyage. But freight rates have now dropped to only slightly over $10 per tonne, or just $1.5m for the 70-90 day journey.
Gleaming new Mercedes cars roll one by one out of a huge container ship here and onto a pier. Ordinarily the cars would be loaded on trucks within hours, destined for dealerships around the country. But these are not ordinary times.
For now, the port itself is the destination. Unwelcome by dealers and buyers, thousands of cars worth tens of millions of dollars are being warehoused on increasingly crowded port property.
And for the first time, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Nissan have each asked to lease space from the port for these orphan vehicles. They are turning dozens of acres of the nation's second-largest container port into a parking lot, creating a vivid picture of a paralyzed auto business and an economy in peril.
"This is one way to look at the economy," Art Wong, a spokesman for the port, said of the cars. "And it scares you to death."
That's not the port's only problem either. The loads of cardboard that are usually sent back to China so that they can repackage all those consumer goods they normally ship to us are piling up all around them because no one in China wants it anymore.
But the inventory glut in Long Beach is not limited to imported cars. There has also been a sharp drop in demand for the port's single largest export: recycled cardboard and paper products.
This material typically goes to China, where it is used to make boxes for new electronics and other products that are sent back to the United States. But Chinese factories reacting to sharply falling demand are slowing production, so they need less cardboard. Tons of paper are piling up recycling businesses around the port, the detritus of economies on hold.
That, friends, should give you a chill. Global economic activity fell off a rather steep cliff about 6 weeks ago and the signs that it will rebound shortly are awfully scarce. This recession could quite easily become another Depression and it will definitely get worse before it gets better.
That's what makes the situation in DC - where we are essentially rudderless with a numskull ideologue at the wheel - and in Albany, where one could make a compelling case for aggravated legislative malpractice and dereliction of duty, all the worse. In Washington, we are forced to wait for real leadership at east until January 20th. Not much we can do about that, though the fact that we are for all intents and purposes in a holding pattern during the most acute economic crisis of most of our lifetimes has certainly got me worried. The time for big, bold action is right now.
But the folks we send to Albany to do the People's business have no such excuse. The absolute abdication we witnessed this week should be impeachable. This crisis is real and the state's budget needs to be adjusted to reflect that. Yeah, there are many hard choices to be made, but that's no excuse for throwing their hands in the air and punting.
And this is bigger than budget cuts versus revenue increases. I personally think that the Governor's plan is flawed by it's reliance solely on cuts on the backs of the poor and middle class. I think a modest increase in taxes on those who can most afford them is perfectly reasonable if not prudent given the nature of the challenges we face. That said, I believe now is the time to take a much more comprehensive look at the way we finance state government here in New York.
Wall St is taking a vicious beating right now, but it will eventually come back. It will never be the Wall St of the last 15 years or so again though. New York was able to avoid hard choices (or even wise ones) for so long because we were able to milk the Wall St cow for so long. Those days are over and most likely are gone forever.
We need to seriously restructure how we pay for government and what it is we pay for. It's time to put all options on the table and to get serious about how we pay for what we want going forward long term - not just over the next fiscal year.
I'd suggest a radical overhaul of the public authorities to start. But, then again, I don't make $90K a year to do the People's work part time. We already elected a bunch of folks to do that for us.
They had damn sure get busy because the wolf is at the door.
I know it's a dead horse that's been flogged a million times, but the Times Herald Record has a great article about Albany out today:
There wasn't a single bill voted on the Assembly floor this year that didn't pass. Every one of more than 1,600 bill votes sailed through.
(snip)
Some Hudson Valley legislators say the bill-passing process should more public. Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, said putting more bills on the floor could spark debate and alleviate the image that decisions in Albany are made behind closed doors.
"By the time it gets to the floor, it's all over. It gives the impression that it's all happening in some back room," he said.
The key question when looking at term limits, Paterson said "is whether or not when the City Council votes there is any public policy issues that's addressed other than self-aggrandizement." When the courts confront that, he continued, they might also consider "whether or not state legislators drawing their own districts doesn't fulfill the same purpose and we should have widespread reform in the apportioning of legislative districts."
The Governor's office just sent out a press release touting the 171 vetoes by Governor David Paterson as a savings to taxpayers of New York.
It's an interesting way of looking at these vetoes, even though Governor Paterson admits that he did veto some projects that were good projects, but during this financial crisis New York is in, he wasn't about to sign some of these pieces of legislation into law.
Governor David A. Paterson has saved taxpayers $531.7 million over the next two years by vetoing bills that would have added significant costs to the State budget after it was enacted in April without identifying spending reductions to pay for them. In addition to preventing unaffordable growth to the State General Fund that would exacerbate next year's projected multi-billion dollar budget gap, the 171 vetoes he has issued since June will save money for local governments, as well.
"These tough fiscal times call for tough decisions," said Governor Paterson. "While I have signed hundreds of bills into law that will help improve the lives of our citizens in the areas of education, health care and public safety, I felt it was absolutely critical to veto bills that increased taxpayer costs beyond what we can afford in these challenging times."
Governor Paterson added: "Many of the bills I vetoed are worthy projects with laudable goals. But in the face of this current fiscal crisis, we must begin immediately to adjust our budget priorities to reflect the new economic reality we must confront."
Last week, Governor Paterson vetoed 39 bills. The bills that were vetoed ranged from a bill that would adopt smart growth principles to a bill that would prohibit "direct contact between a big cat and a member of the public." There were some good, some bad and some odd pieces of legislation that were vetoed.
This certainly is a more positive way to look at a veto. Some legislators might look at it from the perspective that their legislation got shot down. Governor Paterson is looking at this from the perspective that we are saving taxpayer dollars by not signing anything and everything that comes across his desk. That's a great way to spin it and a great way to identify these vetoes during these tough economic times.
On a chilly and blustery afternoon nearly two weeks out from a historic primary to replace retiring Congressman Mike McNulty (D-Green Island), Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings welcomed an array of elected officials, campaign staffers, union members, and regular Democrats like myself to a Unity Rally to support Paul Tonko, Democratic nominee for Congress in New York's 21st Congressional District.
It was the closing moment of a long, hard-fought primary in which five Democrats, including Tracey Brooks, Phil Steck, Darius Shahinfar, and Joe Sullivan (who did not attend) emerged with fewer votes than Paul Tonko, a 23-year veteran of the New York State Assembly and former President and CEO of the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority. Tonko won the primary on Tuesday, Sept 9, with 39% of the vote, a full nine points ahead of his nearest rival.
Cameras were there, alright, but noon-time news reports gave only a few seconds of coverage to the rally. My tape recorder was running the entire time, and below the fold is full coverage of the unity rally for any Democrat who was unable to attend.
Appoint an independent commission to redraw New York's legislative districts. "Gerrymandering has all but guaranteed that 95 percent of incumbents are returned to office," Tonello said. "That has led to zero accountability. Incumbents are just as likely to die in office as they are to be unseated by challengers. That's not what American democracy is about. Districts should mirror municipal boundaries, not political party enrollment as they are now. In Tompkins County, for example, current boundaries split the county into three different state senate districts. That doesn't make sense and it disenfranchises voters."
Limit corporate and PAC contributions to $1,000 per election cycle (current limit is $10,000) to reduce their overwhelming influence on legislators. "New York and out-of-state corporations and their PACs give millions to state senators and effectively block action on everything from the Bigger Better Bottle Bill to prescription drug purchasing reform. Since 2004, my opponent personally has accepted more than $650,000 from corporations, PACs, and committees for his campaigns, more than four times the $150,000 contributed by individuals. Anheuser-Busch, Bayer, Fortuna Energy, Met Life, Pfizer, Verizon and other companies have given George Winner thousands -- even in years when he's not running. I don't accept donations from corporations or their PACs, and I wholeheartedly reject this pay-to-play culture."
Bar legislators from accepting money or working for firms, agencies and organizations for which they seek to enact legislation. "It's an obvious conflict of interest for state senators to move bills on behalf of firms with which they have a personal relationship and derive income," Tonello said. "Yet this passes for normal in Albany. As a private attorney, George Winner represents New York State Electric & Gas and other firms, often against his constituents, and then acts on legislation that impacts those firms. His law firm, in which he has reported income as a partner, has represented Fortuna Energy, and George Winner has introduced legislation and lobbied state agencies on the company's behalf. The potential for conflict is clear."
Legislative Ethics Commission filings must be far more transparent and accessible. "Currently, legislators can hide business relationships that serve their own financial interests by lumping them together into vague and broad categories. This must change so voters can follow the money. Any and all business relationships should be clearly listed in these reports and the reports should be available online. Currently, these annual filings can only be acquired through formal Freedom of Information requests, a slow, costly and hardly transparent process."
Balance Senate resources and staff among all legislators -- regardless of party affiliation. "Under former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and now under leader Dean Skelos, the Senate Republican leadership has given its members five times the staff and resources than they allocate to minority Democratic members -- despite a 31-29 split," Tonello said. "The leadership also shuts out minority members' participation on most legislation. Like the Brennan Center for Justice, NYPIRG, Common Cause and other non-partisan good-government groups, I will demand dramatic rules changes that end these partisan imbalances and finally give all legislators an equal voice. I will act in the first 30 days to change the rules."
Reform member-item spending to eliminate partisan disparities and election-year posturing. "Of the more than $85 million handed out in 2008 for member items -- pet projects in senators' home districts -- the Senate majority took more than $75 million; the minority got barely $10 million. Senators hand out taxpayer dollars as though the money is their own benevolent gift. Member items should be largely eliminated and that money should be part of competitive and comprehensive strategies aimed at restoring local infrastructure (such as RestoreNY), promoting broad economic development strategies (via Empire State Development Corp.), and improving the lives of all New Yorkers, not just members of one political party over another. Similar reforms should be adopted in the Democrat-lead Assembly."
"States are clamoring to attract new businesses that recognize the huge global impact green-collar industries will have on job growth," Tonello said. "As senator, I will introduce and support bold legislation that will help make New York a leader in the green economy."
Tonello supports New York's proposed Bigger Better Bottle Bill, which would add a 5 cent deposit to most glass and plastic containers, many of which aren't covered by the original 1982 law. The bill also would invest the windfall generated by unreturned containers into an environmental fund that could be used to support green technology and conservation.
By expanding the law, Tonello said, New York will collect millions of additional containers and provide a steady stream of raw materials for resource recovery and reuse businesses.
"Recycled materials are gold," Tonello said. "The demand for recycled plastic is at an all-time high, and recycling companies can't get enough of it. Expanding the Returnable Container Act will feed that growing demand. That demand will lead to green-collar jobs."
Tonello is going to give Sen. George Winner a run for his money. Tonello is smart and supports changing Albany by working with others, including Republicans, to better New York.
In the third community town hall he has hosted in what was supposed to be a series of debates between himself and incumbent Republican Sen. Joe Robach, Rick Dollinger talked about reforming Albany and took questions and comments from those in attendance. An estimated 40 people attended the event held last night at Brookside School in Brighton. Unfortunately, one of those 40 people was not Joe "Missing In Action" Robach. (See photo at left.)
The town hall meeting opened with Dollinger introducing Stu Berger, President of Citizens for Better Government in New York. He talked about how our state legislature is the "most dysfunctional legislature" and brought up one item that would be heard a lot throughout the evening. That was the Brennan Center report regarding New York's legislative process and our state legislature. Berger also stressed a few other key points, such as redistricting reform, initiatives/referendums, campaign finance reform (specifically publicly financed elections) and ethics reform.
Dollinger echoed some of Berger's same sentiments and stressed the importance of instituting most if not all of the Brennan Center report's recommendations. Dollinger talked about the high tax burden and the high cost of health care in this state as well as the large gap in wealth we have here and the decline of the middle class in New York.
But Dollinger's full remarks were strong. In all, it was 16 minutes long so I broke it up into two videos. Dollinger did field many questions on these subjects and even fielded a question on property taxes and the property tax cap (I will post that video later because it was an important exchange and answer).
After Dollinger's opening remarks, I realized why Joe Robach didn't show for any of these town halls. Dollinger is very strong on the issues and is very strong on matters of policy. He isn't playing politics here. He wants to make New York a better and more efficient place. That cannot be done with a Republican state senate and it can't be done without changing the cast of characters. Dollinger said last night he won't promise the full implementation of the Brennan Center's recommendations but he will promise that most of the recommendations will be implemented. He even said that he was willing to put his political career on the line for that promise. That's how much he believes the state legislature can do this.
More on the town hall later with more video to come.
Governor Paterson spoke first about key issues, such as the need for legislation to address the subprime mortgage crisis, Brownfields reform, a Patients' Bill of Rights and expanding health care benefits for Sept. 11 workers. Paterson proposed legislation today that would benefit 9/11 workers.
After Paterson spoke, Bruno stepped up to the podium. During Bruno's remarks, you could see Silver's disgust. When Silver spoke, Bruno could be heard mumbling comments directed to Silver. Tedisco spoke, obsessing over the gas taxes in New York and how much we pay for state taxes on gas. Smith declined to speak.
When I saw the childish display Bruno and Silver put on, I looked at how Paterson was responding to all of this. It seems he, like I, thought it was comical the way these two men were carrying themselves. These are supposed to be our two top legislators in New York. They could start acting like it.
The theme of the day though was the 11 days left in the session and what legislation they could get done. Based on what was on display at the press conference today, important legislation like addressing the subprime mortgage crisis.
Hopefully the Legislature can get something productive done in the last 11 days. Still, it has been a disappointing session.
More than two dozen families from across New York State came to the Capitol today to demand that legislators and the Governor come together and hammer out an agreement to pass legislation to address New York's foreclosure crisis before the legislature adjourns in two weeks.
"If Albany sticks to business as usual, I could lose my home. Families facing foreclosure just can't wait any longer," said Migdalia Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez fell behind on two adjustable rate loans on her home in Brooklyn after she was injured in a car accident, forcing her to cut back her hours.
On May 7th the New York State Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation to institute a one year moratorium on home foreclosure (A. 9695B) as well as a separate measure, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (A-10083A) which would provide temporary financial assistance to homeowners with sub-prime or unconventional mortgages facing foreclosure. The State Senate has taken no action on either piece of legislation.
At the same time the families were calling for action, ACORN Housing released new data underscoring the need for legislation to tackle the mortgage crisis. ACORN Housing is a HUD certified loan counseling agency charged with working with families in crisis to avoid foreclosure. In the past twelve months ACORN Housing has assisted approximately 150 families facing foreclosure. According to a review of open case files in ACORN Housing's loan counseling records:
* Banks have failed to respond to requests for voluntary work-outs on 32 subprime loans handled by ACORN since January;
* For loans that were successfully worked out, the average time between a loan counselor submitting a loan for review by a bank and a work-out was 12 weeks.
* There is no standard methodology banks follow in reviewing applications for loan work-outs from ACORN Housing counselors. Nearly identical proposals receive totally different responses from different banks.
* There is massive variance between lenders in responsiveness to requests for loan work-outs;
* Legal fees and arrears continue to be added to the outstanding loan balance during the time between a work-out proposal is submitted and a bank's response - putting the loan further underwater and making a solution more elusive.
"Every day we help families attempting to refinance unaffordable subprime loans. The facts are clear: banks are not stepping up to the plate. We need this legislation to finally give homeowners with subprime loans real protection," said Ismene Speliotis, Director of ACORN Housing.
This is an issue that was mentioned at today's press conference with Governor David Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco. With 11 days left on the legislative calendar, Paterson said the the state "needs legislation" to address the subprime mortgage crisis.
Indeed, we do need this. This is something that former Governor Eliot Spitzer was discussing when he was in power and even proposed legislation to address the crisis. If our legislature accomplishes anything in the last 11 days, they should address this crisis. Many families in New York are impacted by it and it is important to reach a compromise to address this problem.
The report card does praise the Governor's office on a few things, such as comprehensive ethics reform. But even with those reforms that the report card says the Governor's office and the Legislature met, there were criticisms.
In issuing its call today, the groups released A "Report Card on Reform" that examines the Governor's office's rhetoric and reality regarding reform over the past two years. While the groups were encouraged by some of the early progress made in 2007, such as increased transparency of the executive budget process and to some strengthening of ethics policies, the Report Card shows a lack of action in most areas, including campaign finance, in spite of a three-way agreement announced last July on the issue.
The groups are also concerned that the Commission on Public Integrity, which was created to serve as a stronger ethics watchdog, is essentially and inappropriately dominated by appointees of the Governor. In addition, although the Assembly held public hearings on the issue of redistricting reform last year and the Governor's office introduced a constitutional amendment to end partisan gerrymandering, no action has been taken to enact a fair way of drawing district lines through an independent nonpartisan redistricting commission. With much fanfare, the Senate held public hearings last spring and summer on how to reform the state's campaign finance laws, but no bill ever came out of those hearings to address the dysfunctional system. The civic groups decried lawmakers' familiar pattern of failing to enact meaningful changes as the "all talk, no action" approach to reform in Albany.
Asking to be proved wrong in their assessment, the reform groups urged the Governor and Legislature to enact real reforms before the end of session to restore the public's hope that the two-year session that began with so much promise will in fact not sputter to an abysmal end.
As longtime advocates of legislation to change Albany, we know what it takes to get legislation done in June. We repeatedly urged the Administration to discuss their campaign finance proposal with the legislature prior to introduction as the most realistic path to getting a reform bill done. They appear to have refused and instead intend to introduce a program bill that could well be an academic exercise at this point of the session.
According to the governor's spokesperson, we should be rallying the public for a proposal that they apparently refused to discuss with the legislative leaders. Refusal by the Administration to fight for its own reforms "will not lead to progress."
We have a better idea -- the governor should convene a public leaders meeting this Monday to discuss possible agreement on any of the items in the Administration's proposed reform agenda.
After two years, New Yorkers want and deserve achievements, not more rhetoric.
The civic groups are key to pushing Albany in the right direction. They are the voice for millions of New Yorkers who want to see change in Albany's direction and the ways of the Governor's office and Legislature.
The recent endorsement of Congressional candidate Phil Steck by the Albany County Democratic Committee has recieved much coverage in the local mainstream press as a "controversy" for about a week now. Here on the netroots, there was much debate about the impact of the county's endorsement; the county is home to 55% of the voters in Congressman McNulty's district, and the endorsement was made from amongst a field of eight Democrats seeking to replace him after his retirement.
Phil Steck thwarts old guard and secures the Albany County Democratic Committee endorsement for U.S. representative in the 21st District
All it took was a cue from Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, said Albany County Legislator Phil Steck, and the room began to clear out-a remaining vestige of the power the mayor once exerted over the Albany County Democratic Committee. Except this time, the mayor's sway wouldn't prove strong enough.
Twenty-five years ago today, the longest-tenured Mayor in American history, Erastus Corning 2nd, died. First elected in 1941 and one half of the last political machine in the country (the Corning-O'Connel machine outlasted even the Daley family's organization in Chicago), Erastus Corning's footprint on Albany county politics continues to quitely influence recent developments in a packed and heated primary in New York's 21st Congressional District.
How the past relates to the present below the fold...
Certainly Mr. Paterson, who is seen in Albany as an accidental governor, is much different from his fiery - and ultimately self-immolating - predecessor, Eliot Spitzer. In his first week, he introduced himself to New York by confessing to several extramarital affairs and then saying that he had used cocaine in his 20s.
So it was on the serious matters of the state budget, being finished amid a growing fiscal crisis, that the governor's makeshift staff hoped to establish his bona fides. Assistants suggested that Mr. Paterson, with more than two decades of legislative experience, would navigate the process more deftly than Mr. Spitzer, who seemed to spend all of his brief tenure picking fights with lawmakers in both parties.
But Mr. Paterson had to contend with two seasoned political leaders - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a fellow Democrat, and Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate's Republican leader - as well as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, whose congestion pricing plan was coming to a head at the same time as the budget.
He succeeded in some areas, including beating back an effort by Mr. Silver to raise taxes on residents earning $1 million or more a year.
But he did not leave much of an imprint on the process, ultimately seeming little more than a bystander. First, Mr. Paterson's assistants pushed to conclude a budget by the March 31 deadline, a tall order for a governor who took office on March 17. That did not work. Then they tried to help the mayor pass his congestion pricing plan. That also failed.
In some ways, it was almost as if he were reprising his former role as leader of the powerless Democratic minority in the State Senate - more critic than participant.
First, calling Gov. Paterson an "accidental governor" is a little over the line. We have a line of succession in this state and Spitzer screwed up. Paterson filled in according to the guidelines set forth in the state's Constitution.
Also, I think we have to keep in mind that this really wasn't all of Paterson's Executive Budget. Remember that Spitzer crafted his own Executive Budget. Paterson didn't have the time or the luxury to do so. So I think that takes away his ability to show that his budget accomplished something - whatever that may be.
Here is what is being said in a few newspapers this morning about yesterday's news that congestion pricing failed to even come to a vote and ended in conference.
Bloomberg's plan, which would have brought $354 million in federal transportation funds to New York, came as the Legislature passed another emergency appropriations bill -- $83.7 million to pay for state operations, unemployment insurance, legislative activities and the judiciary through Thursday.
The temporary spending plan, which triggered angry debate in the Senate, was necessary because of the failure to finish a 2008-2009 budget of $124 billion for the fiscal year that began April 1.
Assembly Democrats came out of a closed conference to say that the congestion pricing bill lacked enough support for a vote on the floor.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he favored the measure, but fewer than 25 of his 107-member majority supported it. It called for $8 fees on cars, and more for trucks, entering Manhattan between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Bloomberg lobbied for the bill, arguing that if it didn't happen by Monday, the deadline would be missed to qualify for $354 million in federal funds.
Mary E. Peters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, said her agency will begin discussions today with other cities that might use the money to cut traffic and reduce pollution.
After state lawmakers killed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial congestion pricing bill Monday, supporters challenged opponents of the plan to find another way to fund improvements to New York City's beleaguered subway system and strained bus service.
"When people complain there are not enough trains and buses, you can point to all the state Assembly members," said Councilman Robert Jackson, a Manhattan Democrat. "It was right at their doorstep and they did not stand up for New York City."
Opponents such as councilmen David Weprin (D-Queens) and Lewis Fidler, (D-Brooklyn) said the $8 entrance fee into bustling parts of Manhattan would have been an unjust tax. "It seems unfair that a small number of middle-class people and small businesses would be taxed to pay for the entire system," Weprin said.
Fidler said he hoped the mayor "got the message" that the rich shouldn't be the only ones allowed to travel to Manhattan.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a chief supporter, also expressed disappointment. She called the Assembly's failure to act a setback, but said the Council is committed to "environmental responsibility and to improving and expanding our mass transit system."
