Senate Pushes on the Gas

A proposed Gas Tax Holiday will be considered by the Senate Investigations & Government Operations Committee on Tuesday.
The legislation comes at a time as regular gas exceeds $4 per gallon in the capital region and suggests 33 cents of state taxes per gallon during the busy four-day Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day holiday weekends.
The senate proposal (SB 4800) was introduced by Senator Greg Ball on Thursday and almost immediately received a committee assignment, which indicates that it will likely be fast tracked through the chamber. This is likely to be contrasted by the soon-to-be introduced version from Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, whose bill will probably never even come up for a committee vote.
The bill's memorandum makes a strangely emotional plea for its enactment:

New York prides itself on the colorful diversity of vacation spots throughout the state. Whether it's camping in the Adirondacks, going to the Saratoga Race Track, hitting the beaches in Coney Island, seeing a show on Broadway or touring the grape growing regions of central and western New York, as a state we have so much to offer.

It will be interesting to see if the practice of "speculation" is ever addressed in this debate in the New York State Legislature, since that is the real culprit for our artificially high gas prices. The practice of speculation receives a passing reference in the bill memo, but it is immediately disregarded as immaterial.

Constitutionally OK!

A paperless proposal from Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, has gotten the big thumbs up from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Schneiderman said the amendment from Tedisco would not impact any other parts of the constitution, which means it is acceptable.
His official opinion has been sent to the Assembly Judiciary committee, in addition to an opinion on a similar bill from Democratic Assemblywoman Sandy Galef.
Not clear whether this means Tedisco's proposal will fly through the Assembly, but it can't hurt.

Here is the opinion:
AG Opinion

Email Threat Provokes Legislature

In the wake of threats that were sent to local and state politicians, the Assembly has introduced legislation that is supposedly a reaction to the shooting of U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords.
The legislation, advanced by Assemblymen Jim Tedisco, Steve McLaughlin and Andrew Raia, known as the "Bystander Protection Act" would increase the penalties for anyone who harms members of the public while trying to injure a public. The decision to implement this law was sparked by the threats on Friday, which mentioned "Gabby Giffords."
Tedisco said in a press release that violence against elected officials will never be tolerated, especially since it can lead to the injuries or death of innocent bystanders, like in the case of Giffords. He then waxed poetically about the duty of serving and stressed that the really important people are in fact "the people."
While an admirable goal, it is unclear why this proposed legislation would deter people more than existing penalties, as Republicans love to argue that people who want to commit a crime will do it (but apparently only when it comes to gun control legislation). Seems like this would just give assassins extra incentive to aim carefully.

Reform if Cuomo Wants It

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, said that the next priorities for the state need to be mandate relief and a property tax cap, but he said the Legislature could adopt ethics reform and non-partisan redistricting if Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushes for them.
Tedisco questioned whether the Assembly and Senate would make a "sincere" attempt to address these sincere issues without the prodding of the governor. He suggested that if Cuomo takes the lead on ethics and redistricting, he could be the adult in the room that would bring about change. "[Cuomo has] tremendous support on the bully pulpit," contended Tedisco.
He added that the threat of a veto on the redistricting plan was also a very powerful weapon in the governor's arsenal.

SAGE ADVICE

Three Republican legislators have teamed up to urge Gov. Andrew Cuomo to convene a new Tech task force, which would operate under his Spending and Government Efficiencies Commission, to help the state go paperless to save tax dollars.
This move comes a week after Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, who is one of the three members advocating this move, publicly advocated for an end to automatic printing of bills, legislative digests and daily sheets.
“We can help our environment and save tax dollars by bringing in the ‘Geek Squad’ of the world’s leading IT all-star experts to help find the bottom line savings for New York by going digital and stopping wasteful printing,” said Tedisco.
His plan, which includes state Senator Greg Ball, R-Patterson, and Sen. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, would have the tech savvy consultants discover ways the state's more than 70 state agencies, 48 public authorities, 64 SUNY schools and 20 CUNY campuses could limit their printing costs.
In an "e-mail" (stressed Tedisco's chief of staff) to the governor, they made their case to save millions in printing costs by seeking the advice of pioneers in technology from IBM, Xerox, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Microsoft and YouTube. No word yet on whether Mark Zuckeberg will handle this problem himself, or just send his understudy, Jesse Eisenberg to offer advice.
Ball noted that while the gov't was asking ordinary people to do their part in shouldering the budget pain, the state could begin to chip in by limiting their costs. "These paper reliant systems are not eco-friendly or fiscally wise, and while it may have worked for Teddy Roosevelt, it's not working anymore. Let's follow the paper trail and zoom in on the duplicative and unnecessary processes and procedures, costing taxpayers millions,” said Ball.
This announcement comes on the heels of numerous bills from this session and in the past, which would give local municipalities all the way up to state agencies the freedom to limit their required printing.
No word yet on whether the legislation announced by Tedisco last week will include a constitutional amendment to satisfy the requirement of bills on a member's desk, which currently wouldn't be fulfilled by electronic copies.

Electronic Bills Pre-Tedisco

In my attempt to mirror the efforts of the Capitol Press I got caught up in the inane process that often dominates coverage at the expense of substantive issues and people with meaningful things to say.
I'm specifically referring to Wednesday's coverage of the announcement by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, referring to his proposal to save money by eliminating the automatic printing of thousands of bills that the state Legislature introduces every year. This release, which was rolled out with great fanfare, was given far too much ink by me and people of my ilk, because the assemblyman was only introducing a version of a proposal that has been floating around the Legislature for years and has been introduced this year.
A measure that would allow bills to appear before members electronically (via computer) has been in the Assembly since 2001, from Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, and in the Senate since 2003, from Sen. Joe Robach.
Their same-as proposal would allow people to get printed versions if they wanted and guaranteed a record of any deletions or additions that might be made to a bill.
The major point that their legislation made, which was never addressed by Tedisco, was the fact that the state constitution guarantees that no bill shall be passed or become law unless it shall have been printed and placed upon the desks of members. Because of this provision, their legislation was a constitutional amendment that added language that specified that a bill shall be deemed "printed and on a members' desks" if it was presented in an electronic format and met a few other conditions.
This proposal has already been introduced again this session, in the form of Assembly Bill 5274 and Senate Bill 357.
Anyway, just thought it was important to give this original proposal its proper due and so I could feel clean. Oh yeah, and Tedisco, whose proposal is more expansive, is a co-sponsor of Galef's bill this year.

Tedisco's Cost Saving Future

With the New York State Legislature on pace to introduce a record number of bills this year, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, is suggesting we don't print all those bills so that the state can lower its bills.
Tedisco, who doesn't want to limit the creativity of legislators, mildly endorsed a limit on the number of bills members can introduce, but he argued that a better solution would be to not automatically print every bill that is written.
Tedisco will be introducing legislation that would eliminate the practice
of automatically printing every bill that is introduced, which includes
over 5,000 bills in the Assembly so far this year, and instead providing
digital copies to legislators that can be viewed on laptops and mobile
devices, with the option to print if they want.
“Going digital will stop the waste of taxpayer dollars on needless printing, not too mention its positive impact on our environment," said Tedisco. "With the availability of 2011 technology such as laptops, smart phones and e-reader tablets, there’s no reason why the New York State Legislature should be stuck using the same process that existed 100 years ago." He added that about 95 percent of the legislature could use a cell phone, so adapting to a new system of reading bills would be easy.
It is hard to gauge the entire amount of money wasted on the current system, as there is no detailed printing costs, which I found out after submitting FOIL requests to numerous entities. The Legislative Bill Drafting Commission has a budget in the millions, so it would be fair to say that each year's costs are at least in the millions. Tedisco estimates that the burden could be as much as $26 million.
Going forward, Tedisco said he expects bipartisan support for his proposal, citing a similar plan recently passing the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 399 to zero. He added that 18 other states have implemented a digital plan, with Ohio, a state that produces far fewer bills than New York, saving $1.5 million since they went digital.
Another burdensome printing cost singled out by Tedisco was The Legislative Digest, which he characterized as a 200 plus page pointless redudancy, because it is essentially a weekly reprinting of previously printed bills that the legislators get every week without asking for it. "That's a total waste of taxpayer dollars," said Tedisco.
To illuminate the burden of the Digest, the president of printing company IBT, John Paeglow, said that his company, which was recently stripped of the contract to print the Digest, had done it cheaper. He said that state Legislature didn't have the same printing capacity as his company, so IBT would always be able to provide the service cheaper. Based on a figure from the Assembly Majority and an estimate from Paeglow, IBT prints at 50 percent cheaper a page, which is a difference of about 1.25 cents per page.

Racing Surcharge Quacks like a Tax

"If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then in New York it's probably a tax," said Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, regarding a racing purse surcharge that was proposed in Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget on Monday.
Downplayed as a fee by the governor, Tedisco took serious umbrage with the surcharge, which he characterized as a tax.
He said that the state should be encouraging people to get involved in racing at this point, while this fee will have the opposite effect.
The surcharge in question is a 2.75 percent surcharge on purses for all horse races conducted within the state. The money is designed to eliminate the deficit being run by the Regulation of Racing account. The idea of the proposal is that that account, which is part of the Racing Board, will now be funded by the racing industry and not taxpayers. The fee is designed to generate $7.6 million in the upcoming fiscal year and $8.5 million for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
This proposal in the budget was roundly rejected by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, who characterized the charge as a slap in the face and counter to the governor's pledge not to raise taxes.
"Regardless of how you dress this up, this is an almost 3% tax on New York horsemen," said Richard Violette, president of the horsemen.
Tedisco concluded, "That's a tax and there's no way around it." His spokesman noted that this decision is in addition to the state again withholding VLT funding for the area.

Silver's Quid Pro Quo

Speaker Sheldon Silver appears to have named his price on the Senate's tax cap, with the Assembly's passage of the rent control legislation on Monday.
The varying goals of the two chambers were laid out at the beginning of the week, according to Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville. He argued that the tax cap will probably only make it through the Assembly if the Senate acts on rent control legislation.
"Our house didn't pass a property tax cap," said Tedisco. "We passed a rent control bill."
Shortly after the rent control bill was passed, Silver introduced a copy of the tax cap bill. This came after a weekend of ambiguity surrounding the tax cap's future in the Assembly, with its passage almost a guarantee in the Senate (as evident by its easy passage on Monday).
Tedisco contended that Silver was making a very overt gesture to the senate, which was that he will move the tax cap after rent control makes it through the senate. "I think they are tied together," he said.
Going forward it will be interesting to see if the two chambers continue to negotiate this way, especially with the budget, which doesn't seem to offer a lot of wiggle room.

Malfeasance for Malfeasance's Sake

In order to prevent a future economic crises like the one New York is currently engaged in, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, has introduced the O.U.T. of Debt Act.
The legislation would require the Comptroller to be immediately notified of any over-expenditure of taxpayer monies and that all leftover funds are allocated to the general fund to pay down debt
“For New York’s government it should be O.U.T. with end of the year spending binges. Too many agencies attempt to empty their coffers at the end of the year to justify their budgets. This is when deficits build up,” said Tedisco.
“Oftentimes, a state agency will have a small amount of money left over at the end of the year and unilaterally go on a last minute spending binge. Pretty soon this impulse spending adds up to big dollars."
One recent offender, according to Tedisco, was the senate democrats, who overspent on their staff by $10 million. He also cited $1.2 million in so-called “discretionary” raises at the end of the year that were handed out by SUNY honchos.
“This bill won’t erase New York’s $10 billion deficit on its own, but it will provide the kind of spending transparency the state needs to get out of debt and save taxpayers from getting fleeced by end of the year spending sprees,” said Tedisco.

Tedisco's Assignments

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, has been assigned to the Assembly Economic Development, Cities, and Racing and Wagering Committees.
As the floor whip for his party Tedisco didn't expect any ranking positions on committees, but he said he is happy to be on Racing and Wagering, where he hopes to advance a bill that would return VLT money to Saratoga County.
The bill, which is currently referred to the Ways and Means Committee, might need to pass through Racing and Wagering too, but Tedisco is prepared. "I'll make the case in that committee too," he said.

Equal Staffing Bill Introduced (Again) in Assembly

Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, has reintroduced a bill in the assembly that has been floated over ten times since 1992.
The bill (AB 1487) requires the equal distribution of legislative staff and resources for every member of the legislature, and it has never even come up for a vote in any past session. Every year the bill is referred to the committee on Governmental Operations, where it is usually not addressed or is held for consideration, which is code for, "THIS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED."
The bill is aimed at ending an unbalanced dynamic that rewards the majority party members with an uneven amount of staffing compared to their peers in the minority, even though they have a comparable number of constituents (as is argued in the bill's memorandum).
In the assembly this reality is reflective of an overwhelming ineffective minority, which is a pointless objector to the whims of Speaker Sheldon Silver and his huge majority.
Tedisco's bill would call for an even split of the current resources, with members in leadership posts or committee chairs receiving extra staff, with the caveat that they can't be used for constituent services.
This is the type of bill that exposes a reality that makes people shake their head in disgust, but doesn't actually motivate them to care at all. It is that sad truth that allows Assemblywoman RoAnn M. Destito, the chair of the governmental operations committee, the freedom to refrain from even considering the bill in her committee.
This bill has no companion in the Senate, where equal distribution of resources was never even considered until the aftermath of the Senate Coup in 2009, when a more equitable distribution of resources was realized.
Anyway, if you've made it this far in the blog post, then I apologize for wasting your time, because my rant should be held for consideration while I wake up to the corrupt system I'm living in.
Time to watch Jersey Shore now. Night.

Obama postpones local trip

President Obama has announced that he is postponing his trip to Schenectady following the tragic shooting in Arizona on Saturday morning.
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville, endorsed the president's decision.
“President Obama has made the right decision to postpone his trip to Schenectady due to the national tragedy in Arizona," said Tedisco.
"Right now, all of our thoughts and prayers are with Congresswoman Giffords, her family and the family and friends of all the victims of this senseless violence.There will be plenty of time to celebrate good news in Schenectady and when the President is able to reschedule his visit, I look forward to welcoming him to the Capital Region.”
The date of the president's trip has not yet been rescheduled.

We (don't?) Need a Hero

"New York doesn't need a Superman," said Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Glenville. "It needs a Solomon. We had a governor who thought he was the Man of Steel and would steamroll anyone who got in his way (a reference to Gov. Elliot Spitzer)."
Tedisco said that Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to be wise enough to understand when to pick his fights, but also be reasonable enough to use persuasion.
In addition to a Solomon, though, Tedisco said Cuomo could use Teddy Roosevelt's big stick. "That big stick is the support of his agenda by the voters and taxpayers of New York State," he said.
Even with his legislative stick, Tedisco said that Gov. Solomon will need to serve as an addiction counselor to a Democratic Conference that is addicted to taxing and spending.
“His real challenge is to ween them off their addiction of taxing and spending. That has been the challenge for all of the [recent] governors," said Tedisco.
No word yet if the Comptroller's office needs a Green Lantern or whether Eric Schneiderman should be replaced by King David.

Future of the Property Tax Cap

Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, surprised a packed Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon when he signaled his willingness to embrace a property tax cap.
The cap, which has been passed by the senate at 4%, has never really been considered in the Assembly. During the 2010 election season the cap gained a lot of traction, but it didn't appear to have gained the support of Speaker Silver, who would basically decide what moved through his chamber. Now it looks like Silver, and by extension the Assembly, is ready to act.
But hold your horses say Republican lawmakers. "The devil is in the details," says Republican Senator Roy McDonald. He warns that Silver may not be prepared to do what is necessary to alleviate the tax burden of New Yorkers, which McDonald says is a 2% tax cap.
McDOnald, who wanted to give Silver the benefit of the doubt, said that Silver might embrace the 4% cap, which would fall short. Ultimately, though, he predicted the 2% cap would pass the Assembly, because that is what voters want.
Assemblyman George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, suggested this issue could be a bargaining position for the Speaker. He said Silver might trade in this chip for something else down the road.
Assemblyman Jim Tedisco took the cautiously optimistic approach saying, "I like what the speaker had to say, but I take it with a grain of salt, because actions speak louder than words.”

Farley's First Bill of 2011

Senator Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, has proposed his first bill of the new legislative session and it is a throwback from the past.
Senate bill 982 amends election law and state finance law, and is aimed at creating an informed voting public by requiring the listing of the total debt expected from a bond act that is on a ballot proposition.
The bill argues the current dynamic, which now mandates that the proposition must show the principal amount of proposed debt is misleading and hides the actual costs to the taxpayers. Farley argues that this an especially sharp contrast on the issue of long-term debt, where interest payments can end up doubling the principle costs.
This proposal has been floated numerous times since the early 1990s, but has never gained traction in the NYS Assembly, where it has been proposed by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, R-Schenectady.