Three Men In A Room Reach Budget Deal

by: robert.harding

Sun Mar 29, 2009 at 20:38:40 PM EDT

Governor David Paterson announced tonight that a deal has been reached with Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The deal includes several spending cuts, a tax hike on the wealthiest New Yorkers and reforms to Medicaid that are being touted as necessary changes to the system.

"Over the last year, New York faced a historic fiscal crisis that tested our resolve. But by working together cooperatively with our partners in the Legislature, we made the tough choices necessary to address that challenge through shared sacrifice and responsible budgeting," said Governor Paterson. "The agreement we are announcing today closes the largest deficit in State history, stabilizes our finances, and institutes critical reforms that will help eliminate waste and inefficiency in our government. We have produced a budget that provides a solid foundation to move forward and address the challenges ahead. We have accomplished this with a budget that holds government accountable to the people of New York, and protects those who can not protect themselves."

There are several items in the budget that were cut, but then restored thanks to funding from the federal stimulus package. Some of these items include funding for public schools, which would have been slashed $1.1 billion under the Deficit Reduction Plan. But in the budget, there will actually be a $405 million increase in aid - a modest increase, but better than the original cut that was proposed.

There will be $2.3 billion in cuts to health care in New York, which is a lower figure than the proposed $3.5 billion in cuts that Governor Paterson was aiming for in his Executive Budget. Among items in the health care portion of the budget are reforms to the Medicaid hospital reimbursement system.

Here are some of the other highlights (you can also read the full list below the fold):

- The budget will expand the bottle bill, albeit slightly. So far, all that is being expanded is bottled water. Based on the summary given, that doesn't seem to include drinks like Gatorade, which do not have deposits on them. Even with the inclusion of bottled water, the state is expected to gain $115 million with that move.

In addition, the state will retain 80 percent of unclaimed deposits. In the past, bottlers kept 100 percent of unclaimed deposits.

- One of the more talked about changes this year is the STAR rebate program. The budget will eliminate the STAR rebate program along with the enhanced New York City STAR tax credit, which is a $1.5 billion savings to the state.

However, the STAR exemption program and the New York City STAR credit will remain in tact and still provide $3.3 billion in property tax assistance to New York's taxpayers.

- It's not Fair Share Tax Reform, but it's a lot better than nothing. Overall, the budget will produce $5.3 billion in revenues from taxes and fees. Among those taxes and fees are two new tax levels that will produce $4 billion in revenue. This is how it breaks down:

- From 2009 to 2011, married couples filing jointly will pay the following rates:
      - Income over $300,000: 7.85 percent
      - Income over $500,000: 8.97 percent

Again, you can read the full summary below the fold.

The budget is far from perfect. A lot of what was cut in Governor Paterson's proposal was still slashed, but it was also saved by the economic stimulus package funding the state received. Still, there are plenty of individuals and groups in this state that will be in quite a bind, including schools. So while having an on-time budget is a feel-good story, the impact of this budget still will leave plenty of New Yorkers hurting.

We don't hate the Assembly. Period.

by: robert.harding

Thu May 08, 2008 at 02:34:50 AM EDT

I might be speaking for myself here, but I have nothing against several assemblymembers. I know some of them and know of others and they are working hard. I can recall Assemblyman Joe Morelle, for example, attending the New York State Democratic Rural Conference and taking Saturday morning off to work on legislative items from his hotel room.

This is about, simply, the culture in Albany. We would like to see a more open, more progressive and more functional government. That isn't limited to the Assembly. That includes the Senate where the Republicans are king and includes the Executive Branch.

The reason we could be targeting the Assembly more is due to our side (the Democrats) having a strong majority there. By my count (and I could be off here) there are 104 Democrats in the Assembly compared to 42 Republicans. That is a dominant majority.

However, being that the majority IS Democratic, I know I expect more from our solid majority. I have low expectations for all Republicans. That is why I have been advocating for Democrats taking back the Senate in November. The Senate Democrats are fighting for it. They have played underdog for years now. They want the majority to better the Senate and better Albany. I just wish our Assembly majority acted the same way.

As for Sheldon Silver, I must repeat myself when I say that ON THE ISSUES, there is little to disagree with. Has he proven himself a progressive on the issues? Sure. I can't disagree with that, at least on the surface. What I disagree with are the tactics that create this same culture we are criticizing and complaining about. Silver is part of that problem as the Speaker of the Assembly.

To close, I hope that we can build a better relationship with more Democratic assemblymembers. I welcome all of the Democratic assemblymembers here to post or even if they want to conduct an interview just to reach out to a (somewhat) new frontier - the blogosphere.

That said, I also hope that these same assemblymembers will push for openness in government and increased effectiveness coming out of Albany. That is what we need and that would be the progressive and Democratic (AND democratic) thing to do.  

Only the faces change

by: simonstl

Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 17:27:39 PM EDT

I think I found this through CapCon this morning, but just stumbled on it again while closing a pile of windows. Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio shares his views on how Albany works with The Observer:

"Eliot may wish he had another way, but there’s only one way the budget is ever going to get done, son... It’s three people, each getting a piece of the pie, and that’s it....

"And it’s not that he did anything wrong. He thought the process should be done one way, and he thought, you know, he could accomplish it. And now I think he must understand—I can’t speak for him, certainly; you know he’s a brilliant man. I can’t speak for him—but I think he understands now that, hey, you have to sit down, and it’s a give-and-take.

"The only thing that ever changes in Albany are the faces. The system stays intact."

That's what we're up against.

VIDEO: What Party Switching Looks Like

by: phillip anderson

Wed Feb 07, 2007 at 13:39:36 PM EST

Former state Senator Seymour P. Lachman has written a book about his experiences in New York state government called Three Men in a Room: The Inside Story of Power and Betrayal in an American Statehouse that we will be discussing with him next Monday for the first edition of Book Club. We spoke with Senator Lachman a couple of weeks ago and will be posting clips of our interview all week.

After Minority Leader Smith raised the possibility of some party switching last weekend, this clip has become much more relevant.

In this clip Senator Lachman describes a meeting in Joe Bruno's office and a phone call from George Pataki. The governor offers him loads of member item dollars and "the best district in the city. You'll never be challenged."

I think it can be useful to hear from someone who has actually been approached by the other side as we contemplate the possibility that something similar may be happening right now.

VIDEO: Senator Seymour P. Lachman On Party Switching

by: phillip anderson

Tue Feb 06, 2007 at 11:04:39 AM EST

After Minority Leader Smith raised the possibility of some party switching last weekend, this clip has become much more relevant.

In this clip Senator Lachman describes a meeting in Joe Bruno's office and a phone call from George Pataki. The governor offers him loads of member item dollars and "the best district in the city. you'll never be challenged."

I think it can be useful to hear from someone who has actually been approached by the other side as we contemplate the possibility that something similar may be happening right now.

Now, I'm off to Nassau County. Keep an eye on this space for updates, alerts and results all day long...

Book Club Announcement: Please Read

by: NYBri

Fri Jan 26, 2007 at 10:01:42 AM EST

We will not be meeting here to discuss "Three Men In A Room" this Monday evening. We are rescheduling this event for Monday evening, February 12 at 6:30 PM.

We have interviewed the Senator on tape and we will be airing portions of that interview during the next two weeks.

Be sure to grab a copy of the book and give it a read. The man knows his stuff and it will be a great time to really get into what is wrong with Albany...and how we can fix it.

Announcing The TAP Book Club

by: phillip anderson

Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 00:27:58 AM EST

First, some ground rules:

1. The first rule of Book Club is that everyone talks about Book Club. Tell your friends. Tell anyone and everyone. Not only that, but everyone is welcome at Book Club and that all are encouraged to participate.

2. Anyone can nominate a book for Book Club. Hell, it doesn't even have to be official. Start one in the diaries if you want. Doesn't matter.

3. Have fun and hopefully learn something from both the books and the discussion. Dissenting voices are always encouraged.

Our first book chosen for the Book Club was chosen by myself. (Feel free to tell me why I and the book itself suck in the comments.) It was chosen because a number of TAPpers received it as a holiday gift. (Thanks, Hannukah Harry! Thanks, Santa! Or, ya know, Mr and Mrs NYBri, as the case may be...) It is also a rather new release and is therefore pretty easy to find in bookstores and libraries for those who may have found themselves on the "naughty" list. What book am I talking about?

I'm talking about Three Men in a Room: The Inside Story of Power and Betrayal in an American Statehouse by Seymour P. Lachman (w/ Robert Polner). This book seems to me to be a perfect one to start our discussion from as it deals most intimately with the subject most pertinent to most of the discussion here at TAP. Hell, just read the first two sentences from chapter 1:

Democracy takes decades to take root and flourish. New York is learning that it takes just three men in a room to maim and seriously harm a vigorous and representative system of government.