Skelos on the Budget

Senator Dean Skelos had this to statement about the state's three-way budget agreement:

"This budget agreement keeps our Senate Republican commitment to reduce spending, cut taxes and empower the private sector to create jobs, and will begin to put New York on the path to fiscal recovery. By working together to reach consensus on a responsible spending plan that eliminates a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes, we have tightened our belt and protected middle-class families in every region of this State. I am particularly pleased with Governor Cuomo's commitment to making UB2020 a reality, which will bring jobs and hope to Western New York, as well as improvements to the other university centers, which are important priorities of our Senate Republican conference. Today's developments ensure we are moving full speed ahead to an on-time budget."

Nothing in here about the governor's win on the regional economic development councils or the prison closures.

Krueger Offers Amendments to Senate's Budget Office Bill

Depending on the commotion of the budget process, the Senate is likely to address the creation of a Legislative Budget Office on Monday, which has Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger raising some serious concerns in a letter to Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
In a letter from Tuesday, Krueger expanded on some of the concerns she had espoused earlier that day during a Senate Finance Committee.
During the committee she highlighted the fact that the proposed LBO (SB 4006) was a variation of a proposal she had advanced for years. Additionally, she noted that there could be some constitutional concerns with the bill, because it provides 20 percent of its funding with money from the Division of the Budget.This constitutional concern was echoed by an internal memorandum from the governor's office and by Blair Horner of NYPIRG.
Krueger also stressed language in the bill that was missing, which would allow the Legislature to unilaterally "declare" the budget balanced, instead of relying on generally accepted accounting principles.
In her letter to Skelos, Krueger expanded on her concerns that the LBO wouldn't actually comply with GAAP at all, which is why she endorsed the idea of an independent review board model to ensure certain standards. This proposal (SB 414) was suggested earlier in the year by Krueger, in addition to a bill (SB 445) that would ensure the budget office protected the rights of the minority party.
Strangely enough, though, Krueger voted for the proposal in the Finance Committee, with only Democratic Sen. Bill Perkins not voting aye, as he chose to vote without recommendation.
(Additional reporting by StateWatch reporter Tim Atkins)

Millionaire's Tax a Possibility After the Budget

As Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver remained relatively mum on Thursday morning about the possibility of a millionaire's tax in the final budget, it appeared to be officially killed when Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, emphatically denied its future existence.
This "read my lips" approach from Skelos comes in the wake of a proposal (SB 4171) from Republican Sen. John Bonacic, which would institute a genuine millionaire's tax for the next two years and provide property tax relief, and remarks from two Republican Senators, including local Senator Roy McDonald, suggesting that they were open to the millionaire's tax.
By Thursday afternoon, Michael Veitch, McDonald's spokesman, had clarified the Senator's position. He said McDonald is not currently considering the millionaire's tax as part of the budget or considering the proposal from Sen. Bonacic. He added that this stance was not the product of any internal pressure from the conference that he was aware of and argued that McDonald's position has remained constant.
“He is an open-minded legislator, so it is something he would consider after the budget is done,” said Veitch.
This is a far cry from the rigid stance of Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, who objected to the Bonacic plan in its theoretical stages.
The proposal from Bonacic and the possibility that it might have some Republican support, has drawn the attention of the Alliance for Quality Education, which is a loud supporter of the millionaire's tax.
"Senator Bonacic stepped to the plate and did the right thing by joining the State Assembly in support of millionaires and billionaires paying they fair share to help fund schools, I believe that privately many of his Republican colleagues agree with him," said Billy Easton, the executive director of AQE.
It remains unclear how the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget will rectify their stark disagreement about how to proceed on the millionaire's tax.

Independent Budget Office Proposed

The creation of an independent budget office was proposed on Sunday by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre. This measure was part of a larger package (SB 4006) on the budget process, which includes a balanced budget requirement.
The creation of an independent budget office is something good government groups support, as Blair Horner, the legislative director of NYPIRG, recently voiced in his column.
Horner wrote:

[Independent Budget Offices] offer unbiased, comprehensive analyses of budget plans. Since New York has no such entity — although it should — the governor should fill that information gap by issuing an executive order to require that the state's Division of the Budget offer unbiased analyses of the state's fiscal situation as well as plans to deal with the states' budget deficit.

The IBO proposal from Skelos would provide legislators with a report on the proposed budget by March 1. The language of the bill also puts a strong emphasis on gauging the costs of any legislation with the IBO, to the point where it feels like a primary job, especially considering the order of the language.
The IBO is also tasked with judging the direct costs of state mandates, projecting state revenues and assessing the state's fiscal condition.
The proposal also includes some language about public disclosure, but it is very vague, as it requires published reports "from time to time" and requires information be made accessible online "to the extent practicable." This seems a far cry from Horner's position that an independent body should "Make publicly available on the Internet line-by-line accounting of state agencies' spending and with specificity that affords the public detailed access to underlying budgetary information."
Especially worrisome in this vein is language in the bill that basically says there is no guarantee for disclosure of information if it is deemed secret by state or federal law.
Also straining the "Independent" theme of this budget office is the fact that it will be composed of people chosen by legislative leaders.
Now I'm not an expert on the budget or budget language, in fact I'm more of a semi-literate clown, but I can't tell how serious this proposal is about removing all accounting gimmicks from the budget process. At first glance it seems like this proposal supports accountability, but the roundabout language (which to be fair is in all bills) has me a little concerned. Now if Dick Ravitch was to come out and say this bill addressed the budget tricks he tried to tackle last year, then I would be satisfied.

Mo Money Mo Tax Cuts

Senate Republicans are predicting the state will have more money in the upcoming fiscal year than Gov. Andrew Cuomo predicts, and they don't want it used for additional spending.
They feel that the $438 million, of estimated additional revenue, (which is $23 million less when factoring in shortfalls from last year) should be used for tax relief or state reserves.
"While a forecast of additional revenue is good news, it should not be used for additional spending," said Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre. "I should be used to support the state's reserve fund or for items that provide state and local tax relief."
Senator John DeFrancisco, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the next step is a joint public conference meeting in mid-March, which would be in keeping with the 2007 Budget Reform Act. "THis process bodes well for an orderly budget process and hopefully a timely budget," said DeFrancisco.
What doesn't bode well is that the Senate's released estimates differ from the Assembly's, which means they'll be heading to the bargaining table with different goals and different starting points. (We'll have more on the Assembly numbers later in the day).
The Senate's projections were compiled by IHS Global Insight, a nationally recognized group of fiscal consultants. In 2007 they coordinated with WalMart on their "Save Money Live Better" campaign.

The Redistricting Reformer?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's redistricting proposal was unveiled this past week to great fanfare, with good government groups fawning over the measure. The reception from politicians was mixed, with the Senate's Democratic Conference and Democratic Conference-lite expressing their self-righteous support, while Senate Republicans expressed concerns.
"A number of proposals have been advanced and we have to take a close look at what makes the most sense," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
Diving into the bill, though, it's interesting to see what actually counts as reform. In this case its a multi-step process that begins and ends in the legislature's hands.
Good government groups, like the Brennan Center, argue that the change is that the process will be in the open and therefore won't be susceptible to backroom shenanigans. They argued that the secrecy in the past has ruined the process, which will be fixed by public involvement and oversight this time around.
"Governor Cuomo's proposal will open up the process and allow public engagement," said Erika Wood, of the Brennan Center.
According to the proposal's justification, the public involvement would mostly consist of the following:

The Commission would be required to hold numerous public hearings throughout the State and, prior to its first hearing, would post on its website extensive information concerning the plans under development and the data involved in order to facilitate public review, assessment, and critique of those plans, and the development of alternative plans. In particular, the Commission would be required to post its own assessment of its draft plan's compliance with and service of the requirements and principles set forth below, including the plan's protection of minority voting rights.

What has been downplayed is the actual decision making process, which begins with a nominations committee that is picked by legislative leaders and the governor. They then choose 40 people, 15 Dems, 15 GOP and 10 Blanks, to make up a nominations pool, where the final Independent Commission members will be chosen from. (Enough layers? Well baby it's cold out, so pack them on.)
Those 8 members are chosen from the nominations pool by (who? You guessed it!) the legislative leaders. Then three other members are chosen from the pool by the 8 commission members, with two of the new people serving as co-chairs.
Then we get some data and shake it all around (with public involvement!) and come up with a redistricting recommendation.
Done? Not quite. The legislature must approve the plan. If they don't, the Commission must change the plan and resubmit it. Rejected again? Then the commission submits a third plan, which THE LEGISLATURE COULD AMEND BEFORE VOTING ON! No word on another failure to pass the Commission's plan...
Apparently this is what passes for reform in New York. An open process that involves the same players who, based on the short-term memories of the voters, have no reason to respect any sort of positive changes.

Skelos on the Budget

Real Rules? Too Soon for Senate

Over strenuous objection from the Senate Minority, the chamber adopted its operating rules for the next two years. The mildly newsworthy change had the effect of silencing a meaningful proposal from Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Righteousville, that was squashed by Republicans on the Rules Committee.
Senate Resolution 357 from Krueger would have strengthened the changes made in 2009 after the failed Senate Coup. Those procedures, while meaningful, were still only a semi-success for the cause of good government. Now, though, the rules from Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos represent two steps back.
In the committee meeting, Chair Tom Libous essentially said it wasn't time for these radical changes and also found a way to tie his argument back to the fact the Democrats overspent by millions on their staff when they were in the majority.
Libous added that the chamber might be exploring more rules in the future, which would be advanced through discussions that were agreed upon by Skelos and Minority Conference Leader John Sampson.
Here are some of the highlights from Krueger's rules:
1. Term limit of 8 years for the Temporary President
2. The number of committees would be reduced (I think it was like 32 to 23)
3. 8 year term limits for Committee Chairs.
4. The RUles Committee can only report a bill if it has been on a published agenda for at least 24 hours, unless there is a message of necessity from the governor.
5. There basically needs to be a heads up on all Committee activities.
6. All committee members must be present in order to vote on any bill or matter
before the committee.
7. You can only vote YES or NO in a committee. None of this "without recommendation" waffling.
8. All Senators shall have equitable access to the resources of the Senate
9. No member initiative funds shall be distributed to organizations for whom the Senator or family member serves as a board member or officer.
10. Bills shall be considered for final passage that do not appear on the active list except with unanimous consent of the Senate unless a petition for chamber consideration shall have been received pursuant to section 3 of Rule XI of the Senate rules.

The Fun in Unfunded Mandates

In the wake of a bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, earlier today, a related bill has been introduced that seems to be its partner in crime.
Senate Bill 2707 has been introduced by Stephen Saland, and it would essentially require the state to pick up the tab for any mandates on local municipalities and school districts. (GOD I NEED BILL MEMOS! This stuff is indecipherable without them!)
The intent of the bill is to prevent "irresponsible state actions" that take away the control from local municipalities.
The bill would basically prevent any unfunded mandates that create an additional cost for a municipality or school district.
It is likely that this bill will be passed on Monday, as it seems to go hand in hand with SB 2706. There are currently no companion bills in the Assembly for either bills, and it is doubtful that Speaker Sheldon Silver would ever let these bills pass, let alone come up for a vote in his chamber.
It should make for great theater though...

School Tax Cap Introduced:Updated

On Saturday the Senate introduced a bill (SB 2706) from Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville, which establishes limitations upon school district and local government tax levies.
According to the bill's text, it was introduced at the behest of the Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and it likely represents his opening gambit before he unveils his budget on Tuesday. While it hasn't been scheduled for a committee meeting yet, the bill was back dated for Friday so it will have aged enough to pass on Monday.
The bill seems to exempt New York City from these restrictions on tax levies, but the rest of the language is jargon that goes way above my head.
I have deciphered the fact that a local government can exceed the tax levy with a 2/3 majority vote of that local government body.
There are other exceptions in the bill, like when two organizations consolidate.
For the entire bill language go to the Assembly Public Info site and input the bill "s2706". If anyone has added insight into this legislation, leave a comment or shoot me a tweet @poozer87.
A teacher in Western New York had this comment: "all they will do with this tax cap is make small school districts and town government go bankrupt so that they can force them to consolidate."

Sampson's Whimper

In a response to Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos', R-Rockville Centre, victory lap on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader John Sampson has reiterated his cry baby posture.
Characterizing the potential rules changes as a brazen power grab, Sampson scoffed at the idea that Skelos was promoting an era of bipartisanship. Skelos had argued that because he had elevated three minority members to committee chair posts, which is more than ever in the past, he was essentially extending a meaningful olive branch.
"True bipartisanship is not about responding to the pleas of politicians for committee chairs," said Sampson.
His more weighty allegation was that the Republicans were introducing a constitutional crises by removing power from the Lt. Governor's position, just because it is currently held by a Democrat.
He said, "It is political pandering at its worst, and something Republicans never would have attempted were the Lt. Governor a member of their party.  Threatening the integrity of our State Constitution, which has protected New Yorkers for over 200 years, is politics at its lowest form.  There must be a better way."
The rules reform are likely to pass the Rules Committee on Monday, when all the Republicans members will be present. They will then probably pass the Senate with all of the Republicans voting in favor and possibly some of the Independent Dems who were awarded committee chairs.

Majority RULES in the NYS Senate

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, released a letter today for Minority Leader John Sampson, which basically tells his Democratic colleague, "Tough."
The disagreement stems from an attempt on Tuesday by the Senate Republicans to pass a series of rules changes, which would have the impact of lessening the authority of the lieutenant governor and would ease some term limit restrictions. The changes stalled (temporarily) in the rules committee on Tuesday, when one Republican on the committee was missing from the 85 minute meeting. Because Republicans couldn't muster 13 votes, the proposal ended up being pulled by the chair.
Now, though, Skelos has said that the rules changes will happen in the upcoming week, as they advance out of committee and to the floor. "I expect that these rules will also pass the Senate with bipartisan support," he said.
In addition to accusing Democrats of delaying the senate from acting on critical issues, like the looming budget deficit, Skelos argued that he was actually being more conciliatory than his immediate predecessor. Specifically, he cited the assignment of committee chairs as evidence of his bipartisan approach.
"I have selected three Democrats to serve as committee chairs, which is more members of the minority party than any Majority Leader has ever chosen to head up Senate Standing committees," said Skelos.
The rules meeting has not been scheduled yet, which is in keeping with the impromptu nature of these meetings.

A Message From Dean

It's Good to be the King

Here is a picture of new Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, on the day he becomes the official leader of the Senate.

(Photo by All-Star Barry Sloan)

Republican Composition of Finance Committee

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, has appointed Senator John A. DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, to serve as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
DeFrancisco previously served as the Ranking Member of the committee, during which time he gained some notoriety for his floor battles with Chairman Carl Kruger over Democratic budget maneuvers.
“I am honored that I have been named Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee,” said DeFrancisco. “This is a very important position in the Senate and for our State, given the fiscal crisis our State is facing. I am anxious and excited to begin the hard work that is needed to remedy our State’s financial situation.
Skelos commended DeFrancisco's previous work on the committee, and classified him as a stalwart fighter for exposing the problems with the state budget (remembers those battles I mentioned?).
Skelos said, "I am very confident that he will do a tremendous job leading the Senate Finance Committee, working with our conference and all the members of the Senate, as well as the Assembly and Governor Cuomo, to meet the difficult budget challenges we are facing right now.”
Senator Owen Johnson,R-Babylon, will serve as Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee, which will also include Senators Jim Alesi (R-C Perinton), John Bonacic (R-C-
I, Mount Hope), Hugh Farley (R-C, Schenectady), John Flanagan (R-C-I, East Northport), Charles Fuschillo (R, Merrick), Martin Golden (R-C, Brooklyn), Kemp Hannon (R-C, Garden City), Bill Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson), Ken Lavalle (R-C-I, Port Jefferson), Betty Little (R-C-I, Queensbury), Carl Marcellino (R, Syosset), Mike Nozzolio (R-C, Fayette), Joe Robach (R-C-I, Rochester), Steve Saland (R-C, Poughkeepsie), Jim Seward (R-C-I, Oneonta) and Senator Cathy Young (R-I-C, Olean).