Campaign Roundup: Skelos Sticks with Paladino
By Mike Connery on 09/20/2010 @ 02:45 PM
TODAY'S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP....Today's installment of campaign-related news. Skelos continues to support Paladino; Cuomo stands up for the Democratic-controlled Senate; and David Patterson vetoes rent relief for HIV/AIDS patients.
- Sticks, Stones and Votes: At The Albany Times Union, Jimmy Vielkind notes that Carl Paladino's candidacy continues to pose problems for Republicans down ballot. That doesn't seem to bother Dean Skelos, though. The Senate Minority Leader continues to support the controversial Paladino.
- Cuomo Rolls Out Republican Co-Chair, but Not Republican Endorsements: While most Republicans are running from their own candidate, David Freedlander at PolitickerNY reports that Andrew Cuomo has endorsed a continued Democratic Majority in the state senate.
- Morally Reprehensible and Fiscally Irresponsible: The Daily News, Capitol Tonight, and the New York Times all report on David Paterson's veto of legislation that would have protected NYC renters with HIV/AIDS. Senate Democrats slammed the veto as both morally reprehensible and fiscally irresponsible, and called on the Senate Republican Minority to stand up for these most vulnerable of New York's citizens and override the governor's veto.
- AFL-CIO Endorses Andrea Stewart-Cousins: The AFL-CIO of New York State has endorsed the reelection of Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, citing her history of fighting for New York's working families.
- How About a Local Debate? Susan Savage, the Democratic candidate in the 44th Senate District, has challenged her opponent, Hugh Farley, to seven public debates. Albany incumbent Farley has rejected Savage's invitation.
Campaign Roundup: Skelos Stock Portfolio a $2B Conflict of Interest
By Mike Connery on 09/14/2010 @ 02:45 PM
DAILY CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP . . . Our daily roundup of campaign related news and events. The Daily News uncovers a $2 billion conflict of interest in Dean Skelos' stock portfolio. Susan Savage gives Schenectady residents a tax cut. And Mike Kaplowitz sits down with The Albany Project.
- Dean Skelos has stake in companies that do business with state - The Daily News uncovered a $2 billion conflict of interest in the stock portfolio of Republican Minority Leader Dean Skelos.
- Schenectady County Promises a Tax Trim - Thanks to the sound fiscal management of Susan Savage, Schenectady voters can expect a tax reduction for the fourth time in the last six years. According to Savage, "we've had a lot of economic stresses, but instead of just throwing our hands up, we've been able to find real solutions."
- Meet Mike Kaplowitz - The Albany Project sits down with Democratic candidate Mike Kaplowitz for a talk about rebuilding the Tappan Zee Bridge, pension reform, ethics reform, and much more.
George Sava: Dean Skelos Asleep at the (LIRR) Switch
By Mike Connery on 08/31/2010 @ 02:26 PM
Geoge Sava, a military veteran and lawyer on Long Island, is running against thirteen-term incumbent Dean Skelos. Like so many in Nassau County, decades of rising property taxes are pricing George out of his community, prompting his run against long-time Albany politician and Republican "Leader" Dean Skelos.
Yesterday, George Sava called out Dean Skelos for his part in creating the current problems with LIRR that have caused crippling delays.
“Skelos has been asleep at the switch and ignoring the LIRR”s outdated equipment in dire need of replacement for the 10 years he oversaw MTA capital spending.”
Skelos, as Sava points out, never spoke up about the potentially dangerous outdated parts. He should have fought to replace the switches installed decades ago.
“Skelos can’t evade responsibility for the management - or mismanagement - of the railroad. We never heard him sounding the alarm about the perilous state of the railroad’s equipment.”
As Sava points out, Dean Skelos has had the opportunity to do something about the state of the LIRR while he oversaw MTA capital spending. Instead, he did nothing. What does this say about Skelos’ dedication to his constituents who travel on the LIRR daily?
Daily Campaign Roundup: Sava Campaign Garners Attention
By Mike Connery on 07/01/2010 @ 02:44 PM
TODAY'S CAMPAIGN ROUND-UP.... Today's installment of campaign-related news. George Sava receiving press. Sen. Darrel Aubertine provides support for New York's farmers.
- Democratic Candidate George Sava’s candidacy profiled by Long Island media - George Sava, who is running against Minority Leader Dean Skelos in Nassau County, - was profiled by the Long Island Herald. “I’m running for one main reason: Like so many of my friends and neighbors, I’m getting priced out of Nassau County,” said Sava, who is an Army reserve veteran. Sava cited numerous tax-hikes from Albany as a major motivator for his candidacy.
- Sen. Darrel Aubertine pushes legislation that will help farmers - Legislation co-sponsored by Senator Aubertine to increase the amount of linked deposit loans an eligible farm business may receive from $1 million to $2 million and extend the term of linked deposit from four to six years passed the Senate yesterday. “By making more money available and extending the length of loans we are giving farmers greater financial incentives to reinvest in their business,” said Sen. Aubertine. “These capital improvements will increase productivity, cut energy costs and create and maintain jobs.”
George Sava to Challenge Dean Skelos in Nassau County
By Mike Connery on 06/02/2010 @ 09:14 PM
Celeste Katz at Daily Politics breaks the story that George Sava, a father, local lawyer, and former JAG is challenging Minority Leader Dean Skelos for the 9th Senate District seat in Nassau County.
Sava received the official nomination of the Nassau County Democratic Party at last night's county convention. Moments later he sat down for a brief talk about his candidacy, property taxes, and why Nassau County can't afford another two decades of Dean Skelos:
Dean Skelos: Taking Credit Where it is Not Due
By Mike Connery on 06/01/2010 @ 11:26 AM
News LI reports that Republican Minority Conference Leader Dean Skelos is trying to take credit for the charter school reform measures passed last week. The reform measures more than doubled the amount of charters schools allowed in New York, positioning the state for a better showing in the next round of Race to the Top grants, which could bring $700million in much needed aid to New York's schools.
There's only one small problem - Skelos and the Republicans had nothing to do with its passage. The measure was unanimously supported by Democrats, providing the necessary votes for passage. What's more, the reforms were opposed by half of Skelos's caucus, because of limits placed on the ability of for-profit corporations to exploit our children's education just to make a buck.
Not only was Dean Skelos not responsible for helping to pass this legislation, he couldn't even bring his own conference to the table to pass truly bipartisan reform on behalf of New York's schoolchildren.
The Truth About Budget Extenders
By Mike Connery on 04/27/2010 @ 12:18 PM
Yesterday the Democratic Majority Conference passed another round of budget extenders. The extenders are receiving the lion's share of media attention this morning, so it's worth taking some time to know what exactly is included in the extender, and why Republicans who vote against the extenders are not only hypocritical, but also working against the interests of the public, who rely on the jobs and services the extenders provide.
First, a look at what, exactly, the extender's fund:
- $2.57 billion mandated payments to schools for General Aid Payments not associated with the Executive’s delays of school aid payments.
- $2.5 billion for local providers of the Medical Assistance Program including:
- $1.45 billion for payments to Medicaid providers including:
- $900 million for medical services provided by State facilities operated by OMH, OMRDD and OASAS.
- $311 million for nursing home services.
- $261 million for managed care services.
- $234 million for long term care services.
- $172 million for hospital inpatient services.
- $137 million for pharmacy services
- $67 million for non-institutional and other spending.
- $30 million for outpatient and emergency room services
- $29 million for clinical services
- $12 million for transportation services
- $7 million for dental services
- $40 million for contracts approved prior to April 1, 2010 where payments must be made during the period from April 1, 2010 to May 2, 2010.
- $40 million for contracts approved in the period from April 1, 2010 to May 2, 2010 where payments must be made during the same period.
As is readily apparent, these are all vital services that New Yorkers rely upon, and represent thousands of jobs that are putting food on the table and a roof over the heads of New York families. Those who support this extender are supporting our troopers, guardsmen, corrections officers, nurses, and social service workers who care for our veterans, the homeless, and mentally disabled.
Which leads me to my next topic. Seventeen Republicans voted against the extender: DeFrancisco, Flanagan, Golden, Hannon, O. Johnson, Larkin, Libous, Marcellino, Maziarz, Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Griffo, Winner and Young. Many of these Republicans have been in office for a decade or more. They had no problem voting for budget extenders when they controlled the chamber.
- 2008: 9 days late/ 2 extenders
- 2004: 133 days late/ 12 extenders
- 2003: 42 days late/ 5 extenders
- 2002: 42 days late/ 8 extenders
- 2001: 125 days late/ 12 extenders
- 2000: 39 days late/ 3 extenders
- 1999: 126 days late/ 19 extenders
- 1998: 14 days late/ 4 extenders
- 1997: 126 days late/ 10 extenders
- 1996: 104 days late/ 14 extenders
- 1995: 68 days late/ 10 extenders
Plainly, Republican opposition to the budget extenders isn't about taking a principled stand. It's about showboating for voters and shirking tough decisions. It's playing politics with people's lives and jobs. New Yorkers deserve more.
Quick Hits from the Trail: Skelos's Conflict of Interest, Klein's Legislation, Stewart-Cousins Responds
By Mike Connery on 04/27/2010 @ 11:01 AM
The latest news from the Democratic conference, candidates and campaigns:
- Andrea Stewart-Cousins responds to an attack by Yonkers Mayor Phil Amicone.
- Senator Auburtine wants to make the Power for Jobs program permanent.
- 10 new Sunshine laws sponsored by Democrats were signed into law yesterday.
- Republican Leader Dean Skelos' Long Island law firm has a lobbying arm that raked in $284k last year, making it the third fasted growing lobby in the state. Conflict of interest anyone?
- Some of the grassroots are lining up behind Senator Breslin. Here's a positive post on the Senator by a blogger at The Albany Project.
- Senator Jeff Klein passed a bill to protect homeowners from loan modification scams. Watch him talk about the need for the bill in this video:
Poison Party?
By Mike Connery on 04/21/2010 @ 11:10 AM
Helping children is usually about as uncontroversial an issue as you can find in politics. Children are our future. Everyone is for children. Unless you're in the New York GOP.
Yesterday, as part of a package of Earth Day related legislation, the State Senate passed a bill sponsored by Brian Foley that prohibits the use of certain toxic chemicals for pesticide and weed control at schools.
Bill Before New York State Lawmakers Would Ban Use of Pesticides on School Playing Fields
Chemical companies are pressing lawmakers to vote against the bill. They say pesticides are highly regulated and safe to use.
Children are especially susceptible to pesticides because of their small size and still-developing organs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Rather than a purely chemical approach, the agency recommends schools use Integrated Pest Management, which combines several more organic and less toxic techniques to manage pests and weeds, such as overseeding, mowing grass taller, watering less and applying “compost tea,” a liquefied form of compost.
“Put simply, IPM is a safer, and usually less costly option for effective pest management in a school community,” EPA regulators said.
It's not just safer, though. It could also save schools money in the long term:
Schools would see a slight increase in cost during the first two years of IPM, but after the third year, the price would fall about 25 percent below the costs of chemical lawn treatment, according to a study by Grassroots Environmental Education, a nonprofit public health advocacy group in Nassau County. That group has offered free training to school groundskeepers on ways to care for fields without pesticides.
Keeps kids healthy? Check. Fiscally responsible? Check. So why are 22 GOP Senators opposed to this again?
Would Senate Republicans Prefer a Government Shutdown?
By Mike Connery on 04/20/2010 @ 01:26 PM
Yesterday the State Senate voted to pass budget extenders that will fund the essential functions of government and protect vital services on which millions of New Yorkers depend. The budget extenders allow the state to continue paying our troopers, guardsmen, corrections officers, nurses, and social service workers who care for our veterans, the homeless, and mentally disabled. They provide funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and Unemployment.
Without these extenders, the state cannot function, and New Yorkers already struggling to make ends meet with take yet another hard hit. This is a big deal, with an immediate impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of the state's residents. So it's worth noting that 16 Republicans - as they have so often since they lost the majority - said 'No' to a functioning government, 'No' to services for their constituents, and 'No' to paying the first responders we rely upon in emergencies by voting against the budget extenders.
Here is the list of Republicans who voted against yesterday's bill. It's a wall of shame if ever there was one:
- John DeFrancisco
- John Flanagan
- Martin Golden
- Joe Griffo
- Kemp Hannon
- William Larkin
- Ken LaValle
- Tom Libous
- Carl Marcellino
- Michael Nozzolio
- Michael Ranzenhofer
- James Seward
- Dean Skelos
- Dale Volker
- George Winner
- Catharine Young
Here's my question. With so many New Yorkers struggling, and the state facing one of the biggest fiscal crises in recent memory, does this gang of 16 really think shutting down parts of the government and letting vital services lapse is a good idea? I wonder if their constituents would agree with their answer.
New York Senate Dems Hits Republicans on Taxes and Budget
By Mike Connery on 04/16/2010 @ 05:26 PM
Yesterday was tax day, and once again hard-working New Yorkers sent too much of their tax dollars to Albany.
While New Yorkers continue to pay more than their fair share, Republicans are sitting on the sidelines, running from decades-long record of taxing, spending and borrowing away the financial stability of our state. To add insult to injury, they are refusing to participate constructively in the current budget process, and trying to blame Democrats for their own mess.
New York Senate Dems are determined to hold Republicans accountable for these actions.
Today we launched a series of robocalls into the districts of 14 Republicans who are ducking and dodging their record on taxes while the people of New York foot the bill. Calls were placed into the districts of Dean Skelos, Steve Saland, Hugh Farley, Roy McDonald, Owen Johnson, Kemp Hannon, John DeFrancisco, Tom Libous, Joe Robach, Michael Ranzenhofer, Ken LaValle, James Alesi, Frank Padavan and Joe Griffo.
Voters in each of those districts received a call informing them of their Senator's record on the budget and taxes, and asking them to call and ask their Senator to work with Democrats to resolve our state's budget crisis.
You can listen to a few of those calls below:
Dean Skelos
Kemp Hannon
Owen Johnson
Senate Republicans bear the brunt of responsibility for landing us in our current fiscal straits. They owe it to their constituents, and to all New Yorkers, to engage in good faith negotiations to help fix their mess.
We're not going to let them run from their record any longer.
Ed Note - We're still in beta and working out the hiccups, and this post was accidentally deleted from our system on Monday April 19th. A new copy was uploaded on Tuesday April 20.
Skelos Demands to Attend Budget Meetings (Except When He Doesn't)
By Mike Connery on 04/14/2010 @ 05:01 PM
Just last week Dean Skelos was complaining that no one invited him or his fellow Republicans to budget meetings:
Minority leader Dean Skelos, R-Long Island, referred to a recent meeting between Sampson, Gov. David Paterson and Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch at Peter Luger's steakhouse in Brooklyn. "I wasn't invited to that even for an appetizer," Skelos said.
Today, in response to an invitation from Leader Sampson to participate in budget meetings, Skelos is crying a different tune:
The stalemate over crafting a state budget is continuing in the Senate this morning with the latest episode centering on a leaders meeting and a rejection/call for conference committees.
Basically, Senate Democratic Majority Conference Leader John Sampson yesterday sent a letter to Republican Minority Dean Skelos inviting GOP leaders to a 1 p.m. meeting today.
The response boiled down to this: that’s a public relations stunt and why haven’t you convened conference committees like you are supposed to in which lawmakers from both parties discuss budget issues in public.
Republicans can complain about not being included in the budget process, or they can actively reject any constructive role in shaping the budget. They don't get to do both. Certainly not when our state is facing a fiscal emergency and the economic well-being of so many New Yorkers is on the line.
Earlier today I linked to an op-ed by Senate Majority Leader John Sampson calling out Republicans for their lack of ideas and good faith in this year's budget process. Sampson called Skelos and fellow Republicans "the Party of No Credibility," a play on the "Party of No." Seems like Republicans are all too happy to live up to those titles.
Tough Budget Choices: Sampson Spars with Skelos
By Mike Connery on 04/02/2010 @ 02:26 PM
Watch John Sampson spar with Dean Skelos over the 2010 - 2011 budget. Democrats made tough but fair choices on the budget, preventing over $1 billion in tax increases and providing $500 million in property tax relief.
