Senate Indys on Inspector General

The Senate Independent Democratic Conference held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to announce a plan to streamline the state's Inspector General system of operation and save taxpayers millions of dollars.
Sen. David Valesky, D-Cuse, said their report addressed the possibility of saving money by eliminating redundancies in the Inspector's office without limiting their ability to perform their job. He estimated that their recommendations will save tens of millions of dollars.
Sen. Jeff Klein chimed in that one plan would be to remove the exemption that prevents the Inspector General from investigating agencies that already have an inspection unit. He added that another measure would be the creation of a dedicated MTA Oversight Unit within the State Inspector General’s Office. Klein noted that former Inspector General Fisch had previously stated that he would investigate the MTA if he had the statutory authority to do so.
Sen. David Carlucci said that the MTA is a multi-billion dollar agency, which means it is important to ensure its money is wisely spent.
Senator Diane Savino stated that their plan for consolidation could save a combined $37 million.
During questions, the conference ducked questions about the millionaire's tax, but Klein said he supports the tax and wants the funds used toward property tax relief. Savino also said she supported an extension of the tax. She stated that she supports extension of the tax and sees it as a matter of fairness.
Senator Valesky waffled on the question and waxed on about right sizing and tough decisions.

NYS Senate Heroes Promise Action! (updated)

NYS Senate Democrats called on their Republican counterparts today to join with them and pass the tenets of Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch's "New York Uprising Heroes of Reform pledge," as the senate's first order of business in the new year.
“Keep your promise. Pass the pledge,” said Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, referring to Republicans who signed Koch's pledge during the election season and joined the team of super friends that were supposedly championing reform.


The reforms in the New York Uprising pledge will allegedly:

• Create an independent redistricting commission so legislators can no longer draw their own districts.
• Strengthen ethics and disclosure laws and create an independent oversight commission to improve the standards of conduct and accountability for all elected officials.
• Take the politics out of budgeting to stop the practice of fiscal manipulation that encourages the state to spend more than it has.

Of the current senate's 62 members, 53 of them have committed to the reforms.
The bill for redistricting was proposed this year by Senator David Valesky(SB 660) and was referred to the committee on Senate Investigations & Government Operations. It was previously introduced by Valesky in 2009, when it failed to gain any traction, and again in 2010 when it died in the Senate Finance Committee.

Update: NYS Senate did nothing today.

Senate Shakeup

Following the escape of four Senators from the Democratic Conference, Senator Neil Breslin remains hopeful that they'll come back.
It was shortly after 10 a.m. that Senators Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, David Carlucci and David Valesky announced that they were leaving the Democratic Conference to form their own Independent Democratic Conference .
"I hope we convince them that they're part of a team," said Breslin. He argued that if the Democrats all stick together they'll be back in the majority.
Breslin, who is a moderate, said he wasn't approached by the four Senators about joining their Conference. He said he wasn't surprised either, because they know he is part of a team (The Democratic Dodgers?). As part of a team, Breslin said it is your duty to stick it out when you don't agree with the direction and try to change things internally.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see what role the new Conference has on the floor. Additionally, I'm wondering who the next floor leader will be for the Dems, as Klein is probably losing that post. It will probably be a lawyer, with one person close to the state Senate suggesting it could be freshman Senator Mike Gianaris.