Colby Hamilton

By Karen DeWitt, New York State Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief

A new bipartisan coalition of former elected officials, business and civic leaders, is endorsing Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan for campaign finance reform.

The group, called NY LEAD, includes wealthy civic leaders including David Rockefeller, Jonathan Soros, the son of George Soros, and Frederick A.O. Schwartz, who is now with NYU’s Brennan Center as well as former elected officials of both major parties. Former congressman Scott Murphy says it’s simply wrong that the state’s contribution limits are at $60,000, 12 times more than the amount permitted for the presidential race. And he says donations to party housekeeping accounts is unlimited.

“This system right now is built for the big donor,” Murphy said. “It’s not built for the average donor.”

Murphy compares the battle for a level campaign playing field open to all challengers to the recent Grammy wins by singer Adele. He says she was not supported by big money recording studios- and got her start on YouTube.

Update: An earlier version of this story listed the former congressman as Chris Murphy. It's been updated to reflect the correct name.

CSEA, the state's largest public employees union, announced its leadership team was reelected without opposition.

“These are some of the toughest times CSEA has faced in our 102 year history, but there is only one way to go and that is forward,” said the union's reelected president, Danny Donohue, in a statement.

The election comes after a testing year for Donohue, who led his union's negotiations with the Cuomo administration. CSEA and other unions accepted large concessions in a new contract, including no raises for two years and increases to benefit contributions. The deals were part of an austerity program initiated by Governor Cuomo  to help the state close a budget gap in the billions.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Today we devote our program to the New York State court system.

During his State of the Judiciary address Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman told the assembled audience that the cuts to the court system have “presented undeniable and unprecedented challenges”.

We discuss some of those challenges with the Chief Judge, as well as some other stakeholders including Lisa Frisch, Executive Director of the The Legal Project,

Assembly member Helene Weinstein, Chairperson of the Judiciary Committee,

and Veteran journalist John Caher of the NY Law Journal.

For show archives, please visit The Capitol Bureau's website here.

Courtesy of the Governor's office.

How many more ways can it be said: New York voters continue to give Governor Andrew Cuomo high marks--the highest of any governor in the states polled--according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

Cuomo's job approval rating is at 69 percent among all voters, and 64 percent among Republicans. This is up ever so slightly from his 68 percent approval rating back in December. Likewise, 64 percent of those polled like him as a person.

"When will the honeymoon end? Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s job approval numbers moved up last year and they stay up. New Yorkers like him as a person and, equally, they like his policies,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement.

They might like him, but voters are split when it comes to the process to make gambling in New York State legal.

While 54 percent of those polled supported creating a destination casino resort, on par with what's available in Atlantic City, the support for changing the constitution to do so slipped to 50 percent. And an interesting gender divide has emerged: whereas only 44 percent of women support the constitutional change, 56 percent of the men polled are in favor of it.

The poll was conducted between February 8 and 13. Quinnipiac survey 1,233 New York State voters. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

By Karen DeWitt, New York State Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief

Governor Andrew Cuomo says he’s trying to make government more efficient by taking pre-audit oversight powers away from the State’s Comptroller in his state budget proposal.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli criticized Cuomo’s proposal, saying the pre-audits have saved millions of dollars by flagging potential problems in the contracts. Cuomo says he’s not taking away the comptroller’s authority but trying to speed up an inefficient procurement process. The governor suggests some of the pre audits significantly delay the contract process.

“Let’s slow down every contract for three months,” Cuomo said. “And what is the benefit, how many times do you actually find something? All of these are a balance.”

Cuomo says the Comptroller and others are simply resisting reform of what he says is a “historically dysfunctional government”.

“If you try to streamline contracting there’s going to be opposition,” said Cuomo. “Any change brings opposition.”

Office of General Services commissioner RoAnn DeStito  says the proposed change only effects a small number of contracts, and she says the comptroller can always stop payment if any red flags are raised later.

Cuomo says just because he and the Comptroller disagree on the issue doesn’t mean they don’t have a good relationship, and he says the thinks DiNapoli is a “good comptroller”. Cuomo says he last spoke to DiNapoli in early January, at his State of the State speech.

Comptroller DiNapoli, in a statement, offered a response.

“Most contracts are approved within 13 days, and one-third are approved within five days. All levels of government need checks and balances to ensure that errors have not occurred and that the process was done in a fair and open way,” the Comptroller said. “Why change something that works?

One of the biggest arguments by defenders of the public pension system as it works now is the power the funds can wield to do good in the world. New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio would like to see the city’s fund do a little bit better.

De Blasio called on the city’s largest pension fund to expand its investment in local housing and infrastructure projects. According to a statement from his office, the Public Advocate—in his capacity as a trustee on the New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS)—has sent two resolutions to the NYCERS fund: one calling for an immediate investment of $350 million in “local affordable housing investment”, and another requesting the fund put together a plan for investing in local infrastructure by May.

“We are leaving resources on the table that we should be putting to work right here in the five boroughs,” de Blasio said in a statement. “This is a very real opportunity to do right by our bottom line as a pension fund and spur job creation at the same time.”

According to a monthly review of the fund conducted in November of last year, NYCERS was falling short of its target of investing 2 percent in local investments by about half (1.2 percent). According to deBlasio, simply meeting this target would allow the fund to invest the additional money now.

Comptroller John Liu’s spokesperson Mike Loughran said in a statement that this is currently one of the investment opportunities Liu is looking at.

“We continue to review a pipeline of potential [Economically Targeting Investments] ETI investments, the flow of which has been reduced by the recession. Since last summer, we have engaged in discussions with our Trustees, including the Public Advocate, about the issue of infrastructure investments and ETIs,” Loughran wrote, noting that Liu intends to address this issue in his State of the City speech on Thursday. “We commend our fellow Trustee and Public Advocate for his focus on this issue and look forward to working with him further."

Last night a federal judge gave a lawsuit filed by a group of voters, and supported by numerous civic and good government groups, to have the courts take over the redistricting process.

But today the defendants in the case Judge Dora Irizarry issued her opinion on last night say the move was more procedure than declaration.

"She just convened the three judge court, which everyone had agreed she needed to do," said Michael Carvin, who's working on behalf of LATFOR defendants in the case. "This is just sort of the next shoe dropping. This is no big deal."

Carvin, who put the legal heavy weight behind the creation of a 63rd Senate district, says he feels the focus in the press on Irizarry's request for the appointment of a special master to take over the redistricting process is overblown.

"Obviously that's what people are talking about, but that's a decision for the three judge court," he said. "I don't even know if it's a recommendation if you parse her sentence. She's saying that you need to consider this and obviously everybody agrees that you need to consider it."

While Irizarry agreed with the plaintiffs' concern the redistricting process is moving at a dangerously slow pace, Carvin said the next legal steps are really determined by what LATFOR ends up doing.

"We're going to take a very practical approach: Do you have time to draw lines and how probable is it that the legislature is going to enact something," he asked. "If the legislature enacts something this is all moot."

Carvin did acknowledge that, unlike the appearance given by legislators in Albany, the new district lines for congress is really the issue most pressing for the court: "The obvious point is that congress needs to go first because they're under tighter time deadlines. There's no time crunch at all for the state legislative lines."

The lawyers working on behalf of some of the plaintiffs in the case called the judge's opinion "a major step forward" in having the redistricting process get handled by a judicially-appointed special master.

A person close to the legal efforts on the plaintiff's side pushed back on the suggestion that the judge's opinion was of small significance:

Until the court is convinced that New York will have a plan that’s voted on, signed by the Governor, and approved by the justice department in time for congressional petitioning on March 20, then all bets on the legislature getting its job done are off.

Courtesy of the mayors office

Joyce Purnick--WNYC political analyst, New York Times columnist and the author ofa Michael Bloomberg biography--has a piece up on the station's site today looking at the legacy of Mayor Mike Bloomberg as he turns 70:

Because of his wealth, Bloomberg was always more independent than politicians who have to worry about campaign contributions and support from special interests, ranging from real estate developers to unions. He was never one to pull many punches. But, especially when he was considering a run for the presidency during his second term, the mayor was sometimes cautious and did make some accommodations. He was not notably tough on municipal unions, did not champion same-sex marriage for many years though most assumed he favored the concept, knowing his politics.

Now, he is going for broke. His third term ends December 31, 2013, and he is not about to run for president this year, much less four years from now. There is nothing to hold him back, and Bloomberg not only wants to “make a difference” as he says so often, but, clearly, to influence his place in history.

Read the full article on the WNYC website here.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Yesterday wasn't about love, but today is. Sort of.

We start with fisticuffs. John Kane of “Let’s Talk Native” radio joins us with another perspective on the fracas that Senator Mark Grisanti was involved in over the weekend at the Seneca Niagara Casino.

Then, the love of the arts.

It's Arts Advocacy Day here at the Capitol. Actors, dancers, storytellers, museum curators, painters, sculptors all converge on Albany to lobby for the arts as both a valuable economic development tool as well as an educational one. We will spend time with Steven Kern, Executive Director at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse.

Then, Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill graces the plywood hut. As the Producing Artistic Director of the Capital Repertory Theater, she struggled to keep the critically acclaimed equity stage afloat. But after the Wall Street meltdown, the arts took it on the chin. Maggie had to choose between selling out, giving up, or agreeing to allow another, larger, organization to step in and help. She took a leap of faith and it paid off. She'll share her story on today's Capitol Pressroom.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos will be in the studio to discuss the date of the legislative primary as well as his relationship with Governor.

For show archives, please visit The Capitol Bureau's website here.

From our friends at the Innovation Trail upstate--a love letter from upstate New York to itself to New York City, so we here can also fall in love with the grand beauty that is 90 percent or so of the state we call home.

UPDATED

A federal court in Brooklyn gave the green light to a redistricting lawsuit that could see a judge begin drawing state and congressional district lines.

US District Court Judge Dora Irizarry handed down her ruling late on Monday, asking a higher court judge to establish a three-judge panel to review the lawsuit filed by a group of New York voters. The judge also asked that a special master be appointed to "oversee and draw up a redistricting plan that is in compliance with federal and state...law."

Last month Judge Gary Sharpe, who had previously established June 26 as the date for the state's congressional primary, ruled on the calendar for this year's election cycle. The decision set March 20 as the date for candidates to begin petitioning.

In her decision, Judge Irizarry noted that no congressional lines have been presented to the public, despite the fact that potential candidates for the primary have to be ready to petition in six weeks. As the process currently stands, the legislature would need to pass the lines, Governor Andrew Cuomo would need to sign it, and the Department of Justice would have to have enough time to pre-clear the proposed lines based on the federal Voting Rights Act.

After getting the one-two punch from business-backed groups critical of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's lack of support for a 401(k)-like system to be an option for future state employees, the state's two largest union--as well as the Comptroller himself--came to his defense.

CSEA President Danny Donohue issued this statement in response to the criticism leveled against DiNapoli:

The Business Council (the lobby for Big Business in New York State) Unshackle
New York (another front for big business interests) and Billionaire NYC Mayor Michael
Bloomberg are all taking shots at state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for standing up for
working people in the Tier 6 debate. DiNapoli has raised legitimate concerns that a 401K
style pension option will lead to greater economic instability.

Once again, the corporate interests and the 1 percent are at it trying to demonize
anyone who stands up for fairness and consideration of what’s right.

The other big public employee union, PEF, released this statement from its president, Ken Brynien:

Tom DiNapoli is talking about the facts, and the facts show our defined benefit-pension system is the best way to provide retirement security.

Meanwhile, the highly paid lobbyists for millionaires in the Business Council and other right-wing groups are trying to take money out of the pockets of nurses, firefighters and other workers, so Wall Street can further enrich itself at the expense of the middle class.

I understand why the supporters of Tier 6 are afraid of the truth, because the truth is their plan will hurt the average worker and make retirement with dignity an impossibility.

In a statement from DiNapoli's office, the Comptroller chose to come at the situation with a bit of humor:

I haven’t seen such a coordinated attack since Francesca was voted off Survivor.

I stand firmly behind my position that defined contribution plans are not adequate for retirement security for public or private workers. Study after study has shown that defined benefit plans cost less in the long run than 401k style plans and perform better. It is unconscionable that so many New Yorkers and Americans do not have a secure retirement, often times because corporations have stripped retirement plans for short-term fiscal gains.

He went on to say that "[t]he best public policy comes from thoughtful discussions, accurate and realistic presentation of the facts, and a long-term view."

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's position on a major component of Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed new Tier VI plan isn't a secret: he's been opposed to the idea from the start.

But today two business-backed groups took turns swinging at the Comptroller. The first was this statement from the Business Council's Heather Briccetti:

We are surprised and disappointed by Comptroller DiNapoli’s attacks on pension reform. When given an honest presentation of the facts there should be little dispute that a Tier VI plan is needed in New York.  Pension costs are exploding at all levels of government across the state and we are rapidly approaching a tipping point. Taxpayers are already struggling under the burden of existing pension obligations, and the Tier VI proposal will avoid this in future years without taking benefits away from anyone currently in the pension system.

The second came as a statement from Unshackle Upstate--an upstate business-affiliated that focuses on economic reforms like taxes and, yes, pensions--via a spokesperson:

“The Comptroller is looking out for his own politics rather than the good of the state. What he is effectively saying is he'd prefer to subject the taxpayers of New York State to the volatility of the stock market, and our property taxes demonstrate how well that has been working, rather  than back a reasonable plan that begins to lessen the risks assumed by the taxpayers.

The Comptroller fails to acknowledge that roughly 90 percent of the population of New York does not have a guaranteed retirement option. It is time he takes a step back and looks at what is best for all New Yorkers, not just a few. Someone should point that out the next time he runs for reelection.

What's interesting in this last one is that DiNapoli has brought up the issue of retirement security for folks outside of the pension system, calling for a commission to look into addressing the issue on a national scale.

"We need to put a retirement system in place that allows the middle class to retire in dignity and forestalls the profound future costs on government and individual taxpayers of providing food, housing and other support to millions of Americans--living well into their nineties--who simply don’t have enough to support themselves," DiNapoli said during a speech at the New School in December. "We must change the perception of pensions being viewed primarily as a liability and a cost to taxpayers to what they really are: a pre-funding of a legitimate, looming government liability and societal obligation."

By Karen DeWitt, New York State Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief

Grisanti back at work today, looking none the worse for wear. (Karen DeWitt / New York State Public Radio)

A State Senator from Western New York was back at work at the State Capitol Monday, following an incident over the weekend at a Niagara Falls Indian Casino where he and his wife were involved in a fight.

Senator Mark Grisanti, a Republican from the Buffalo area, says he tried to quell an argument between two tribe members at the bar of the Seneca Nation casino in downtown Niagara Falls following a diabetes fundraiser, when one of the men attacked him. A fracas ensued, and Grisanti’s wife was beaten by two women, suffering a concussion and other injuries.

Now, one of the women accused in a police report of attacking Maria Grisanti, says the Senator punched her husband as he left the casino, following the fight. Grisanti denies the accusation, and says the only people he may have hit were those holding him back from rescuing his wife.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, longevity has its place and certainly the quality of one’s life is more important.  We all want to live to a ripe old age and one of the more trying aspects of growing older is having to witness people passing on from this life.  As I age, I find myself going to more and more funerals.  This is just a reality of growing older.

The most difficult thing in all of this is saying goodbye to relatively young people.  No parent wants to attend the funeral of their child.  For them, it is a heart-wrenching experience to know that your beloved daughter or son’s life has been cut short.  So when I learned of the death of Whitney Houston my mind and heart immediately went to Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother.

Assemblywoman Meng with her husband and Knicks superstar Jeremy Lin (he's the guy in the middle).

  (Courtesy of the Assemblywoman's office)

Speaker Sheldon Silver's office announced the Assembly majority will bring up a bill, sponsored by the Speaker and co-sponsored by Assembly Election Law Chair Michael Cusick of Staten Island, to move the state's legislative primary date to June 26. The change would make the state's legislative primaries the same day as the congressional primaries--something resisted by State Senate Republicans.

"There is no good reason why our local governments should be asked to spend an extra $50 million to hold three primary elections in one year," Silver said in a statement. "This is a common sense solution that will promote voter participation and allow the state to comply with the MOVE Act without costing taxpayers any additional money."

Senate Republicans aren't keen on the date change.

"We have serious concerns that a June primary would disrupt the critical final three months of the legislative session, including the budget process and other important end of session bills," said Majority Leader Dean Skelos' spokesman Scott Reif. "While we should be focused on governing, the Democrats in the Assembly and Senate will be busy campaigning--gathering petition signatures, seeking union endorsements and raising money. That's a recipe for dysfunction."

The Senate Republicans hold all the cards in this situation. Without legislative action, the state primary will remain on September 11. That will mean voters in New York could be asked to go to the polls up to four times this year: the first for the Presidential primary on April 24, then for the US Senate and House of Representatives primary on June 26, again for the state legislative primary in September, and finally for the general election in November.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Governor Andrew Cuomo will appear on the show at approximately 11:45 am.

In her State of the City address a few weeks ago Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner announced the creation of a 3-person financial advisory board to help city leaders come to terms with Syracuse's bleak fiscal future. One member of the trio is former Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch who is credited with preventing NYC from falling into insolvency in the mid 1970's. Both Ravitch and Miner join me on "The Capitol Pressroom" today to discuss the future of Syracuse.

And what really happened to shape the health care reform debate in the months leading up to passage of President Obama's health care reform bill? Read Richard Kirsch's new book to find the answers. Richard Kirsch is an Institute Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government and a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt institute. As the national campaign manager for Health Care for America Now he was on the front lines of the battle to get what critics have dubbed "Obamacare" passed. His new book "Fighting for our Health: The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States" wryly documents the PR and political intrigue that shaped the narrative outside the beltway.

For show archives, please visit The Capitol Bureau's website here.

Check out the conversation we had on redistricting with hosts from WNYC. This spot is airing today.