Colby Hamilton

Redistricting is a once-a-decade chance to make government look more like the people who live in New York. It cuts to the quick of the idea of representative democracy: that our elected officials are the ones that best represent us. But the process can wind up benefiting politicians and political parties more than voters.

Democratic Assemblyman Karin Camara and State Senator Kevin Parker announced today their introduction of legislation that would establish an New York City Police Department independent inspector general position. The office would be housed within the New York City Department of Investigations. As it stands, the police department's only oversight comes from internal affairs, which report to the police commissioner.

The announcement, which came out of Parker's office, used strong language in talking about the need for independent oversight of the police department:

In recent years we have witnessed serious abuses by the NYPD, whether for racially and religious discriminatory policies such as stop and frisk, the wholesale surveillance of the Muslim community in New York City and other jurisdictions, and the mistreatment of the Occupy Wall St. protesters. In some of these situations the public was given misinformation and even deliberately misled.

"No one is above the law, not even law enforcement," Parker said in a statement. This legislation seeks to restore the public trust and honor the heroism and service of thousands of officers. By creating an independent inspector general, the NYPD will have an independent watchdog to ensure the integrity of the Department like other state and federal law enforcement entities."

"While the overwhelming majority of NYC police officers are exemplary in their conduct and beyond dedicated in serving and protecting the public, several recent incidences of alleged abuse and possible egregious misconduct call for greater scrutiny and accountability of the police department," said Assemblyman Camara in a statement.

New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams, who has been a vocal critic of the department's actions after a run in with police officers near his district in Brooklyn over the summer, praised the bill, saying in a statement, "No agency should be allowed to police itself, including the police. Independent oversight is essential to making sure we enjoy the best possible NYPD, on that serves all of our communities equally and respectfully."

Another Brooklyn elected official, Republican Senator Martin Golden, was less enthusiastic about the intent of the legislation.

"I don't believe that the New York City Police Department needs an inspector general," Golden, a former police officer, said when reached by phone. He said he hadn't seen the legislation yet, but felt that the department's internal affairs bureau has done "an excellent job going into its ranks" to deal with police misconduct.

By Innovation Trail's Marie Cusick

Ask just about any politician these days, and he'll likely tell you that a big part of his job is to create jobs.

So how does the government attempt to do that?

Here in New York, industrial development agencies (IDAs) are one of main job creation mechanisms for local communities.

In 2009, IDAs gave away close to half a billion dollars in tax breaks to companies in the name of economic development.

IDAs are known as "public benefit corporations" - they're supposed to help their local communities, and create jobs.

But in their four decades of existence, they've been accused of everything from failing to comply with state laws, to simply being inefficient.

Former Yonkers state senator Nicholas Spano plead guilty to tax fraud today in federal district court. Spano was charged with fraudulently deducting $180,000 in non-existing rental expenses, as well as failing to report $45,000 in income received from the sale of a building in White Plains.

“Former Senator Nicholas Spano is the latest in a regrettably long line of lawmakers turned lawbreakers," US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "When elected officials put padding their pockets above the law, they tarnish our government and undermine people’s faith in their public servants. We will not tolerate this conduct and will continue to aggressively prosecute those who engage in it.”

Spano faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss derived from the crime, whichever is more. He's scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on June 11.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joins us to explain how the $25 billion state and federal mortgage settlement he signed with other attorneys-general around the country will help New Yorkers facing foreclosure.

Democratic redistricting expert Todd Breitbart says the Senate’s redistricting lines are like Sirens, designed to lure your attention away from some of the more egregious issues within the plan.

Dr. Rick Timbs of the Statewide School Finance Consortium says the Governor has unequivocally stated there is a problem with how school aid is distributed around the state. What’s next?

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

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

With just six weeks left in the state’s fiscal year, the Cuomo Administration has still not settled labor contracts with some significant unions, including all of the state’s prisons guards, and professors and other staff at the State University System.

Governor Cuomo sought $250 million dollars in workforce savings in the current state budget, which expires on March 31. He said the money would come either through union concession in new contracts, or from up to 10,000 layoffs.

The two largest state worker unions have already settled on new contracts with givebacks, though one of them, the Public Employees Federation, had to hold a second vote, after the agreement was initially voted down. The contract only passed after the Cuomo Administration targeted 3,500 workers for termination, and improved some retirement arrangements.

PEF and CSEA agreed to contracts that freeze wages for two years, require employees to pay more for their health insurance benefits, and nine furlough days, which they will be reimbursed for at the end of the contract.

On Thursday, the law enforcement segment of the state prison guards union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, or NYSCOPBA, settled on a new contract with the state on very similar terms. State Operations Director Howard Glaser announced the agreement. The union had been working without a contract since 2009.

“It’s a win- win,” Glaser said.

In exchange for the give backs, union members receive greater lay off protections, Glaser said.

“There’s an additional level of job security in exchange for the sacrifices and the contributions that the union members have made toward meeting the state’s fiscal challenges,” said Glaser. But, he added, “it’s not unlimited.”

There still could be layoffs in the future if the state’s economy experiences a sudden downturn, or if more prisons are closed. New York shuttered 8 prisons and 4 work camps last year, but nearly all of the guards and other staff were transferred to new jobs. The governor has not proposed any new closures in his budget for the next fiscal year, which begins on April 1.

And the layoff threat remains for the majority of the correctional officers, as well as other outstanding unions that have not yet agreed to a contract. The law enforcement officers represent just 1600 of the 26,000 members of NYSCOPBA. Union President Donn Rowe, says those talks are ongoing, but he praised the Cuomo Administration negotiators for achieving the agreement with at least part of the union.

“Both sides did it with respect,” said Rowe.

The agreement with the law enforcement workers saves the state $12.5 million dollars. The NYSCOBPA law enforcement union members will finish voting on their contract by early March.

By WNYC's Ilya Marritz

The agreement will result in principal and interest rate reductions for millions of Americans — and as many as 118,000 residents of New York state — whose outstanding balances on their mortgages are worth more than their homes.

State and federal officials had been in talks with the major mortgage servicers for over a year, and there have been rumors for months that an agreement was close.

But until the last minute, it was unclear whether New York would join. In August, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, left the negotiation table, claiming the draft agreement would have given banks broad immunity from prosecution on the origination and packaging of mortgages. Now the Schneiderman has given the settlement his enthusiastic support.

"For a year, the proposed settlement was simply inadequate,” Schneiderman said in a statement, “and I applaud all those who fought with us to hold banks accountable for their role in the foreclosure crisis, provide meaningful relief to New York’s struggling homeowners, and allow a full airing of the facts to ensure that abuses of this scale never happen again.”

Read more here.

LATFOR public hearing in the Bronx. (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

[UPDATE: Judge Gary Sharpe ruled today that the Democratic proposed election calendar--see the Kellner-Aquila doc below--will be used for congressional elections. ]

The final public hearing in New York City on the draft maps drawn by LATFOR, the legislature-controlled task force responsible for redistricting, was in Queens this week. An earlier meeting in Brooklyn had reportedly brought out just a few dozen people, with the one in the Bronx appearing to be slightly better attended. The hearing in Queens, however, saw a line out the door a half an hour after the meeting started.

Inside, angry community members blasted the members of the committee for hours over what many in the room felt were maps meant to divide the ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Queens.

But the conversation was focused almost entirely on state legislative lines for Assembly and Senate. Meanwhile, the clock on the lines for Congress is quickly approaching midnight. A federal judge has set the primary date for congressional candidates up from September to June. So far, LATFOR has yet to release a congressional draft map.

Meanwhile, candidates are planning on running in districts that will look radically different than they do now—if they exist at all. And the leaders of the Assembly and Senate are sending mixed signals on where the state will lose its two mandatory congressional seats.

So should we be freaking out about congressional lines?

When the Let NY Work coalition unveiled its mandate relief program back in November, pension reform was literally at the top of their list. The coalition consists of business, real estate and municipality groups pushing for major changes to the obligations localities have to the state and public employee unions.

Today Let NY Work doubled down on their push for pension reform, hailing Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposal for a new pension tier that would give new state employees the option of enrolling in a 401(k)-style retirement plan.

“New York cannot afford to not pass this legislation," Peter Baynes, the executive director of New York Conference of Mayors, said about the Governor's plan in a statement. "Without it, local governments will steadily lose the fiscal capacity to hire employees, much less pay their pensions. This is a critically important step on the road to sustainable property tax relief for New Yorkers. If state legislators are serious about authentic mandate relief, they must pass the governor’s Tier VI plan."

"The Tier VI retirement proposal advanced by Gov. Cuomo is a fair and balanced approach to containing pension costs in New York," said Unshackle Upstate's executive director Brian Sampson in the statement.

The new Tier VI plan is opposed by labor unions. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has signaled his resistance to the idea, suggesting that the logic behind a new tier--that the current economic problems justify a long-term change to the system--"might not be the smartest move.”

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Hydrofracking: There is reportedly an effort underway in Chenango County to develop a "pilot" gas drilling operation at Camp Pharsalia, a former prison. Is this simply the spark of an idea or something more advanced? Is this an end-run around the SGEIS process, or a valid way to test the technology in New York State? We are working on the story.

Why does the state spend 70 million dollars on remedial education for high school graduates? State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher discusses the problems that have lead to this frightening statistic she recently shared at a budget hearing: That 50% of all students who enter community college in NYS need remedial and developmental education to prepare them for a higher degree.

When it comes to creating public-private partnerships, nobody does it better than CNSE Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Alain Kaloyeros. He joins me in the studio to discuss why the College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering at the University of Albany has been called a template for economic development projects like the one Governor Cuomo hopes to spark in Buffalo.

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

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

Courtesy of the Governor's office.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is taking some heat for a series of actions being criticized as consolidating more power for the executive branch, at the expense of the legislature and even some other statewide office holders.

When Cuomo’s tax commissioner authorized nearly three dozen members of the New York State Inspector General’s staff to look at state employees’ tax returns as part of an investigation, it was met with reservations by members of the state legislature.

“There are just general privacy concerns,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Silver says, ordinarily, tax returns can only be viewed under a judge’s order. The Cuomo Administration insists it was merely the result of a restructuring to increase efficiency in state government.

The action came as the Governor had already beefed up his newly created Department of Financial Services to claim some investigatory powers traditionally controlled by the State Attorney General. In his budget plan, Cuomo also seeks to eliminate the State Comptroller’s role of pre-auditing state contracts, a move strongly objected to by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

“I don’t know that that trade off really makes sense in the long run,” said DiNapoli. “Sometimes our pre audits actually point out situations where we can get a better deal for the state and for taxpayers.”

Di Napoli says for example, the pre audits saved $700,000 in a review of a medical contract from SUNY Stony Brook, and red flagged a state contract for $14.5 million dollars from the Office of General Services with an energy company, after his office discovered the firm included an alleged member of the Gambino crime family.

Cuomo is also getting push back for more changes he wants to make in the state budget.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

If the state constitution were a used car, would you want to see the Car Fax? While the constitution has been overhauled several times, no one has really looked under the hood since 1938. There are plenty of people who think it’s time for a tune-up, but three constitutional mechanics have determined that the time has come for a selective re-build.

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, the New Roosevelt Institute’s Bill Samuels, and Dr. Gerry Benjamin of SUNY New Paltz comprise the Citizens’ Committee for an Effective Constitution. They want your input! Their mission is to restore “New York State's reputation as the national policy leader by uncovering outdated New York State Constitutional provisions that have contributed to statewide dysfunction”.

A new poll out from Siena College held two pieces of bad news for unions like CSEA. First, that voters overwhelmingly support pension reform for state workers. And second, that voters also support the Governor proposing the aforementioned pension reform. What’s a union president to do?  CSEA President Danny Donohue will share how his union is trying to reframe the issue on today’s show.

No, bananas don’t grow in the backroom of the local Price Chopper. But kids could be forgiven for thinking that. Most of us are more disconnected from our food and the farms that produce that food than we would like to be. But there are reasons for that --- Mara Schechter of Food & Water Watch says a Fair Farm Bill Campaign could bring everyone closer together and fix what ails the country’s farm policy.

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

Check out more of WNYC's coverage of the Giants' Super Bowl victory parade here.

Comptroller John Liu takes part in the Giants' Super Bowl parade. (Stephen Nesson / WNYC)

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli gave Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed executive budget a mixed review today. DiNapoli applauded the Governor and state legislature for making "progress toward aligning state spending with revenue" but criticized Cuomo for proposing changes that would give him and future governors "greater powers that would reduce long-established checks and balances".

“This year’s Executive Budget proposal continues that trend and substantially reduces out-year deficits," DiNapoli said in a statement. "However, this progress should not be made at the expense of transparency, appropriate checks and balances, and the realistic and necessary safeguarding of public dollars.”

DiNapoli has warned before of the threat the sluggish economy poses to the state's finances. He reiterated his concerns over tax receipts, the potential for a global economic slowdown and the potential for decreased federal funds "that could make achieving the expected level of revenue or savings challenging" in this year's budget.

He also took Cuomo to task for a number of proposals in his executive budget plan:

• Allow the Executive to move spending authority from one agency to another with minimal oversight, or legislative input, and without regard to the original intent of the funding in the Enacted Budget as approved by the Legislature.
• Strips the Comptroller's office of its power to review and approve contracts issued by state agencies.
• Doesn't put a price tag on the implementation of a Tier VI pension plan, which would give state employees the option of enrolling in a 401(k)-type plan.

A request for comment was put into the Governor's office.

Here's a statement from Budget Director Robert Menga, in a somewhat oblique response to DiNapoli's criticism:

We can no longer abide by the Albany status quo that allows for out of control spending and contracting that wastes taxpayer dollars. To avoid cuts in services, local aid or tax increases, the Executive Budget directs State agencies to be more efficient and focuses resources on their core programs and services. The flexibility language will allow for a range of operational measures and will improve functions such as procurement, real estate, and information technology.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

If you're involved in the education reform movement, you've probably heard of Valerie Babb. She is the Director of the Charter Parent Action Network at New York City Charter School Center. City & State named her one of their 40 under 40. She has butted heads with Dr. Hazel Dukes of the New York State Chapter of the NAACP. Now Dr. Babb has her sites on improving the work and image of the education reform movement. She is in Albany today and will be dropping by the Plywood Hut to chat about the issue.

On the Capitol Pressroom last week Senator John DeFrancisco (R – Syracuse) accused the New York Public Interest Research Group of shilling for the Democratic Party since the group was more critical of the Senate's newly redrawn district maps, than it was of the Assembly's. Bill Mahoney of NYPIRG has a few things to say about that.

And we continue the conversation on hydrofracking from two perspectives:

Deborah Rogers is the founder of the Energy Policy Forum (www.energypolicyforum.com).  She's also served on the Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas since 2008. She was appointed in 2011 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to a task force reviewing placement of air monitors in the Barnett Shale region in light of air quality concerns brought about by the natural gas operations in North Texas. She also joined a regional steering committee for the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) in 2011 with responsibility for economic questions.

Ken Smith, Cornell Cooperative Extension director for Chenango County, will cover latest developments of natural gas in New York, as well as some of the issues that farmers will face if fracking goes forward.

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

Courtesy of the Attorney General's office.

With WNYC's Ilya Marritz

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a lawsuit Friday against some of the nation’s largest banks, accusing them of initiating fraudulent foreclosures throughout the state.

The suit revolves around the electronic, national mortgage database created by the banks known as MERS.  The Attorney General said the legal paperwork filed through the system to foreclose on homeowners had “numerous defects” that included “misrepresentations of fact.”

“The banks created the MERS system as an end-run around the property recording system, to facilitate the rapid securitization and sale of mortgages,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “Once the mortgages went sour, these same banks brought foreclosure proceedings en masse based on deceptive and fraudulent court submissions, seeking to take homes away from people with little regard for basic legal requirements or the rule of law.”

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Josh Fox, Director of “Gasland” was arrested for “unlawful entry” this week on Capitol Hill while trying to record a Congressional hearing on hydrofracking. He joins us to discuss the incident as well as his upcoming day in court.

We will discuss Fox's arrest on our reporter roundtable this week which features NY Daily News Bureau Chief Ken Lovett and the Gannett Albany Bureau's Jon Campbell. Also on the docket: JCOPE's new Executive Director; the Governor's call to arms at NYSAC, and a new disorder afflicting DEC employees tasked with scanning the thousands of hydrofracking comments that have been submitted: It’s been called many names from Envirositis to Scanning shoulder.

The Albany Times Unionhas a new Editorial Page Editor. Jay Jochnowitz is a long-time reporter and former TU Capitol Bureau Chief. I am hoping that he'll shed light on how newspapers determine which issues will be the subjects of editorials, and how the newspaper comes to its positions on those issues.

The NAACP is angry over the newly proposed redistricting maps. Dr. Hazel Dukes, President of NAACP NY wants the Governor to issue a veto. She told Gannett's Albany Bureau, “We’ll be ready to do whatever it takes to overturn this." She will share her thoughts with us on the issue.

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

NYPIRG's Bil Mahoney has a new report out detailing the cash flow into the state political parties. According to his analysis, 127 donors gave $50,000 or more to state-wide candidates and political parties over the past year. These 127 all told gave nearly $17 million. As Mahoney points out:

Many of these donors took advantage of the various loopholes in New York’s campaign finance law: individuals gave more than the $150,000 annual limit by donating to political parties’ housekeeping accounts, and businesses used corporate subsidiaries and multiple LLCs to greatly surpass their corporate $5,000 annual aggregate limit.

And who was the single biggest recipient of these generous donors' bucks?

Of the donors who gave $50,000 or more, Governor Cuomo received the most money: $2,959,426.04 from 79 of these 127.

It's also worth noting that, out of the top ten donors, the Senate Republicans' campaign committee got the single largest donation from seven of them. So while Cuomo may have banked the most overall, Senate Republicans are the most favored political group of the top donors.

The full report is after the jump.