Colby Hamilton

By the Innovation Trail's Marie Cusick

As of Monday, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) had received a record-breaking 20,800 public comments on the latest draft of its review of hydrofracking.

But by Tuesday, the agency had its hands full with thousands of more comments arriving at the 11th hour.

The deadline for submitting a public comment to the DEC about hydrofracking is Wednesday, January 11th.

Governor Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to the heads of the State Assembly and Senate today, declaring his desire to work with them "in a spirit of cooperation" on the details of the development of a convention center in Queens.

"Given the past history, while I may have the legal authority to proceed unilaterally, I choose to only proceed in full public view and with support of the legislature in a spirit of cooperation," the Governor wrote.

Cuomo hits on a number of contentious points critics of the plan have pounced on--transportation to the site, labor agreements, competition with the Belmont site, whether or not the city needs a new site, specifically in Queens--in an attempt, certainly, to help smooth the process his office has committed the state to, in a non-binding agreement.

"The state is not building anything. We are not spending public money on a convention center," the Governor wrote. "The bottom line is that this is a low risk, high reward business opportunity for the state."

The Governor also again stated his desire for the legislature to take up the legalization of gambling this session.

"I will also ask the legislature to consider passing language authorizing a Constitutional Amendment to allow casino gaming in the State of New York. That referendum would be at best two years from now – if ever – and should be considered as a separate issue from these current proposals," he said, and went on to state that he hoped the Aqueduct deal would be finished well ahead of the gambling legalization.

The full text is below, after the jump.

Assemblyman McEneny, left, and Senator Nozzolio, right (Courtesy of the LATFOR Committee.)

Late in the workday last Friday the long-anticipated LATFOR bomb dropped. There was no press release or announcement. Instead, a word or two were changed on the committees website and a new link to a document were all that indicated that the size of the New York State Senate would increase from 62 to 63 seats next year.

The move has been bashed by Senate Democrats (the Governor and Assemblymembers have been tellingly silent) and good government groups since it was noticed after 5 pm on Friday. They argue its a purely political attempt for the Senate Republicans to manufacture and maintain their majority. Senate Republicans are defending the decision as constitutional.

How the GOP can justify a new seat requires a bit of state constitutional knowledge. Unlike the Assembly, which has its number firmly set at 150, the Senate’s number is dictated by a formula that allows it to grow alongside the state’s population. (Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union has a detailed breakdown of the math behind the change.)

At least that’s the idea. The problem really lies in the fact that the formula was decided upon and made law before a pretty big development occurred for New York: the incorporation of the City of New York in 1898. The Senate’s formula didn’t take into account the dividing of Queens County into the borough and Nassau County, nor the creation of the Bronx as its own county in 1914. Likewise Staten Island and Suffolk County were grouped into one Senate district.

This is the crux of why there’s even a debate over how many seats there are in the Senate. From 1972 to 1992, there was one agreed upon interpretation of how to apply the formula, per a ruling by the state’s highest court. The reason Senate Democrats are so angry over the 63rd seat announcement is because they believe Republicans are, again, changing how they want to count the counties that have morphed since 1894.

According to a new report released today (see after the jump) by Common Cause NY, companies with heavy interest in hydrofracking's legalization in New York have made more than $1.34 million in campaign contributions to New York politicians over the last four years. National Grid, ConEdison and National Fuel led the way in expenditures.

The report identifies Republican State Senator  George Maziar, who chairs the Senate's energy committee, as the recipient of the most donations from the industry, with more than $38,500 coming his way.

The top 10 list is below, but it's worth noting the one Assemblyman on the list--Democrat Kevin Cahill of Ulster County. He chairs the Assembly's energy committee.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

If you have something to say about hydrofracking, you need to tell the DEC today. Why? Tomorrow is the deadline for public comment on the issue. Advocates on all sides are expected to rally in Albany today. We will speak to members of a pro-drilling land owners coalition, as well as to a contingent of anti-frackers from Tompkins County including Jannette Barthe and Martha Robertson.

One analysis of the State Senate majority’s plans for an additional seat suggests that the extra representation would negate the effects of the GOP’s loss in the prison gerrymandering lawsuit. Whew. That’s a mouthful. With analysis from the Democrat’s perspective, we speak with Senators Michael Gianaris, D – Astoria and Liz Krueger, D – Manhattan.

We also hear analysis from the Republican’s perspective.

Lara Kassel of Medicaid Matters updates us on the progress of the Medicaid Redesign Committee.

Yesterday SUNY’s Chancellor Nancy Zimpher presented her State of SUNY address. Today she joins us with details. We will also ask her to weigh in on the explosive teacher evaluation issue stemming from New York City’s failure to come to an agreement on the issue, prompting State Ed Commissioner Dr. John King put the brakes on some funding.

According to a number of reports (and an executive order), Governor Andrew Cuomo has called a special election for a number of empty legislative seats--including disgraced former senator Carl Kruger.

The Governor's spokesperson has confirmed that the special elections will take place on March 20. The move will surely come as a disappointment to Republicans who had hoped to have the elections on their presidential primary on April 24. The hope was to drive up Republican turnout--most importantly in Kruger's former seat--to try and make gains in the state legislature.

When asked about the Governor's decision, a Senate Republican spokesperson stated simply, "The date of the special election is set by the governor."

State of Politics' Liz Benjamin (who was the first to post the executive order below) has this run down of the other races for the Assembly:

As for the Assembly seats, three of them opened up when lawmakers moved on for other jobs.

Assemblyman Mike Spano, a Republican-turned-Democrat departed his post in the 93rd AD to become Yonkers mayor. Assemblyman Mark Schroeder, a Buffalo Democrat, left the 145th AD unrepresented when he became the city comptroller on Jan. 1.

Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, a Republican who represented the 103th AD, is now Dutchess County executive. Several candidates – including former Assemblyman Pat Manning, who preceded Molinaro – are interested in running.

The fourth vacancy came when Assemblyman Tom Kirwan died in office last November. Democrat Frank Skartados, who ousted Kirwan in 2008, only to lose a 2010 rematch, is running for the 100th AD. Kirwan’s daughter, Victoria Kirwan Fabiano, has said she intends to seek the Republican and Conservative lines to run for her father’s old post.

Executive order after the jump.

It looks like local governments are coping with the state's tax cap after all.

According to a report from State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office, 70 percent of localities were able to bring their budgets in line without overriding the 2 percent tax cap. The audit report also found that some five percent of localities had illegally exceeded the tax cap.

“Our review assisted local governments by providing insight into common issues and errors calculating the new tax cap, and I have directed my staff to develop additional training and expand our outreach to eliminate these errors," DiNapoli said in a statement.

The Comptroller found that 22 percent of localities voted to exceed the tax cap.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Carol French is a dairy farmer in Bradford County Pennsylvania. She leased her mineral rights to East Resources in 2006 for a 5 year term. East sold her lease to Chesapeake, which, though the term of the lease has expired, is still on the deed. While neither gas company ever fracked her land, she lives within a couple miles of 9 active wells. She claims her water has been ruined, and her property value has plummeted. But more urgently, she claims her daughter's endocrine system has been so battered by processing contaminated water that the chemicals caused her spleen to rupture; the daughter ultimately had to move away from the family farm. Today, two days before the end of the DEC’s fracking public comment period, we will hear excerpts from an interview with Carol who spoke with us on her farm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the DOH hasn't responded to anti-fracking activist Doug Wood's FOIL requests for correspondence between that Agency and the DEC regarding the health impacts of hydrofracking. He joins us to tell his story.

Then Seneca National President Robert Odawi Porter has some thoughts on the Governor's commitment to expand gambling in New York.

And Brian Sampson, of the pro business group, Unshackle Upstate weighs in on hydrofracking and the Governor's SOS.

Below is the letter that LATFOR has posted on their website justifying the increase of the State Senate from 62 to 63 seats. The move had been anticipated after Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos indicated last week that there was "a good chance" the Senate would add a 63rd seat.

Senate Republicans, according to an official, are saying the methodology used in 2002 to create 62 seats is the same being used now, and that the increase is mandated by the formula set by the New York Constitution.

In a phone interview, Democratic State Senator Michael Gianaris of Queens said Senate Republicans have reached "a new low in old Albany partisan politics."

"Just when we thought we'd turned the corner, with Governor Cuomo leading the way, to a new way of doing business in Albany, the Senate Republicans remind us that they're nothing but everything that's wrong with state government," Gianaris said. He said this gives the Governor even more of a reason to make good on his promise of vetoing the maps LATFOR produces.

One person close to LATFOR noted that Senate Republicans could have, instead of posting a memo at 5 pm on a Friday, made the announcement at the LATFOR public hearing scheduled for this coming Tuesday.

One of the big questions outstanding is whether or not Assembly Democrats cooperated with or were made aware of the Senate Republican's plans to announce the 63rd seat. As the message was posted to the LATFOR site, and one person close to LATFOR said Assembly Democrats were often the ones posting new documentation to the website, there seems to be a very high likelihood.

Senate Size

Brooklyn State Senator Martin Dilan has a set of somewhat rhetorical questions for his Republican colleagues reported plans to try increasing the chamber's size from 62 to 63. In a statement released this afternoon, Dilan, who sits on the bicameral committee responsible for drawing new district lines, preempted a rumor that Republicans could be releasing draft maps today.

"Comments made earlier this week by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos indicated that a draft redistricting plan will include a 63rd Senate District and that it could be introduced as early as today. I hope that it is not the case, as such a determination at this time would be disconcerting to say the least, and an affront to our State Constitution and a deeply vested public," Dilan said.

Dilan pointed out that the recent agreement on prisoner reallocation has so far not been finalized, and wondered how the Senate Republicans could put together maps without knowing where to count the more than 46,000 prisoners.

“I hope for the sake of all New Yorkers that this act is not a sign of what’s to come as the redistricting process moves forward," the Senator said.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Is the teacher evaluation process in the state “a failure”? Richard Iannuzzi doesn’t think so. We will speak with the President of NYSUT, New York State United Teachers about the Governor’s pronouncements that the evaluation system doesn’t work, and children have no lobbyists in state government.

Dr. John King, the Commissioner of the Department of Education joins us with his take on the teacher evaluation battle, as well as an in-depth conversation about other critical education issues.

While the Governor's State of the State was busy with references to economic development in the North Country, there is some concern among the green community that he failed to mention the environmental & conservation needs of the Adirondack Park. John Sheehan of the Adirondack Council joins us to discuss the Governor’s environmental track record, as well as how some of Cuomo’s proposals (think energy highway from Canada) could affect the future of the Park.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman wanted a shot at the 9th Congressional District during the special election back in September. Since the man Queens party boss Congressman Joe Crowley picked for the seat, Assemblyman David Weprin, lost to Republican Bob Turner, Assemblyman Lancman has kept up a steady stream of criticism of the new congressman, potentially portending a run against him next year.

Today's critique is over Congressman Turner's position on gun control (something the city takes very seriously).Or, I suppose, lack there of: Turner, according to theQueens Chronicle, won't take a position on a bill to strengthen gun background checks.

“Congressman Bob Turner’s troubling position on guns leaves Queens families and New York’s finest vulnerable,” Lancman said in a statement. “It’s extremely unsettling that someone who represents me and my community would put our safety at risk to satisfy the gun lobby.”

Lancman went on to tout his own record on gun control as an Assemblyman, which earned him an "A" from New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and an "F" from the National Rifle Association.

While Lancman almost certainly has strong philosophical differences with Turner, and vice versa, whether or not he'll be able to turn those into campaign fodder will depend entirely on how the Congressional lines are drawn in redistricting.

Hoping to get a response from Turner's folks on this. I'll post when it comes in.

Governor Andrew Cuomo delivering the 2012 State of the State address (Marie Cusick / New York Public Radio)

Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out his vision for New York State in 2012 and beyond on Wednesday. In a three-point outline that was led off by a set of economic plans and anchored by a proposal for a new convention center in Queens, Cuomo framed his sophomore effort in Albany.

“We've only just begun to do the work this state needs done,” Cuomo said during a review of this past year’s achievements. In 2012, the Governor said, education, jobs development, gambling legalization, energy, and pension reform as some of his top areas for improvement.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver gave his comments before Cuomo spoke, arguing for a minimum wage increase and a tax cut for low-income New Yorkers. Afterwards the Speaker praised the Governor for a “great speech.”

“I think he framed his agenda for this year and perhaps for a few years to come,” Silver said.

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

On The Capitol Pressroom radio show, we hear from long-time political analysts Bruce Gyory & Dave Catalfamo who are both familiar with the inner-sanctum of the Capitol’s 2nd floor.

Plus we’ll be joined by Lawence Levy, long-time award-winning journalist at Newsday and current Executive Dean at the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra.

Courtesy of the Governor's office.

Governor Andrew Cuomo will give his second State of the State address starting at 1:30 pm today in Albany. We'll be live-streaming video of the speech, as well as a live chat during it.

So what can we expect to hear? As others have noted, the Governor's office hasn't let a lot of public details slip about the speech but a few key components have come out in the press.

You can expect to hear an emphasis on economic development, which will include a push to legalize gambling in New York. Reducing the size and cost of government will be heard. There have also been reports that the Governor will address education and potentially call for a blue-ribbon panel to make recommendations, but people close to the Governor have downplayed the scope reforms would take.

There are also things you won't hear: hydrofracking and "The Big Surprise" will likely be absent from this speech. In general expectations are the Governor will use a good amount of time to tout the past year, while outlining a less overtly ambitious program for 2012.

But if you're listening to the Governor's speech, be on the look out for words and phrasings that try to reframe an issue in a deliberately new way from the usual two-sided issue, as he did with the tax reform. Rather than making it about raising or lowering taxes, he turned it into a chance for "reform." Watch for a reframing of issues as an early indicator of bigger policy items down the road.

Disgraced former State Senator Carl Kruger may have been found guilty on corruption charges, but he will still collect his pension as an elected official, per the state's constitution. New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wants to try again to do something about it.

The Comptroller's office released a statement saying Kruger has submitted the necessary paperwork to collect his pension today. In response DiNapoli will resubmit a bill that would go beyond the recently-passed ethics reform to penalize lawmakers monetarily, as well as make Official Misconduct--currently a misdemeanor--a felony.

"Former Senator Kruger's actions were a breach of the public's trust, but the State Constitution prevents the forfeiture of his pension," DiNapoli said in a statement. "Public confidence in government has been bruised and battered. This bill will be a strong step toward rebuilding trust."

Lawmakers who took office after this past November are subject to losing their pensions if convicted of corruption. But acts that occurred before the law went into affect--as was the case with Kruger--are exempted. The Comptroller's bill would impose a fine of twice whatever monetary amount a lawmaker is convicted of (so let's say you're convicted of stealing $5,000, DiNapoli's law would fine you $10,000) as well as the aforementioned penal class increase.

"My bill would ensure that those public officials who engage in corrupt practices and wrongdoing will suffer a cost to themselves and their families if they abuse their position for personal gain," DiNapoli said.

By Karen Dewitt, New York Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief

PEF President Ken Brynien speaks at the People's State of the State Tuesday (Karen DeWitt / New York Public Radio)

The President of the Public Employees Federation, Ken Brynien, says he’s drawing a line in the sand with Governor Cuomo, and has asked the governor not to expect more givebacks from state worker unions.

“I told him you can’t come back to us for anything else,” said Brynien. “You’ve got as much as you are going to get, you’ve got to look elsewhere.”

The unions agreed to new contracts in the fall that contained concessions including a partial pay freeze, and greater contributions for health care.

Brynien spoke at a pre-State of the State rally at the site of the former Occupy Albany encampment, where he suggested that instead of closing the state’s $2 billion dollar budget gap through state agency consolidations, and other cuts, corporate tax loopholes should be closed instead, and “high priced” private consultants curtailed.

Happy New Year!

Today on "The Capitol Pressroom":

Mark Dunlea of the Hunger Action Network

Nikki Jones of the Alliance for Quality Education

On-line higher education featuring Excelsior College’s John Ebersole; SUNY Empire State College’s Alan Davis & Russell Sage’s Susan Scrimshaw.

Will the Governor have another MVP year? (Courtesy of the Governor's office.)

On Wednesday January 4, Governor Andrew Cuomo will deliver the 2012 State of the State in Albany, marking the beginning of a new legislative session. We spoke to numerous political consultants, lawmakers and good government groups to find out what New Yorkers can expect from state government this year.

The budget

Perhaps the real genius behind Cuomo’s on-time, balanced budget last year was that it also finalized most of this year’s budget as well. Through budget cuts and offsets, the Governor and the legislature were able to close a $10 billion gap last year. While far smaller,a gap has also opened up this year. The tax reform deal pulled together earlier this month helped close that gap significantly, but how the remaining $2 billion or so gets filled this time around is still an unknown.

“We know that they did the deal to do a temporary restructuring of the tax code which is going to bring in some new revenues, and now the question is, what are they going to do in the budget,” said Elizabeth Lynam with the Citizen’s Budget Commission, which has put out its own read on the upcoming budget.

She said she hoped the Governor and legislature resist the temptation to find new sources of revenue (i.e. raising taxes) and instead “move forward with the continued restructuring of the state’s obligations” (i.e. cut state spending on programs).

Democratic State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan—the ranking member on the Senate’s finance committee—is worried the Governor will do the opposite. “I'm very concerned there will be pressure to cut even further into critical programs,” she said. She argued that the tax reform didn’t go far enough, and favored revisiting corporate tax loopholes and other potential revenue generators.

Health care

One of the big outstanding issues in the coming budget process will be health care. The Governor has promised a four percent increase in spending on health care this year as part of the budget deal last year. But Senator John DeFrancisco, chair of the Senate’s finance committee, says this is the first place lawmakers should be looking to continue to trim the fat.

“I think the most important thing to do this year is to keep the momentum going that we started last year with the $10 billion in cuts in the budget and two percent property tax cap. In other words the fiscally conservative things we have done to try and…get rid of the structural deficit in the State of New York. And that means continual cuts,” DeFrancisco said.

The first place he said he and his Republican colleagues in the Senate majority see that happening is in Medicaid. “That’s the part of the budget that keeps rising exponentially and has to be dealt with in a way that will have year-after-year savings,” he said, pointing to a number of areas, such as limiting what Medicaid will cover and enforcing prescription copays.

Education

The other major area of the budget that will likely come into play is the other promised four percent spending increase made by Cuomo last year—to education. The issue is not whether the spending will go up, but about who will get it and if it will be enough.

“I really think this whole aid to education is going to be a sticking point, and how it's being divvied up,” said Assembly Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb. He was critical of what he called the Governor’s “cookie cutter approach” and that upstate and poorer districts weren’t getting what they need.

“This is not about teachers, this is not about defending the status quo,” Kolb said. “It’s going to come down to how well we spend the money we do have."

Bob Ward of the Rockefeller Institute at the University of Albany thinks there could be a push to increase the amount the state spends.

“I think the key question will be, can more dollars be found to add to the existing four percentage increase? Certainly the legislature will want to do that.” Ward said. “The teachers unions will be pushing very hard for increases."

Cheers!