How Gov. Cuomo Is Getting His (Political) Groove Back

The union workers who organized a rally celebrating a wage board's decision to raise the minimum wage to $15-per-hour for fast-food workers introduced Andrew Cuomo as the governor. And then, they added, “our brother.”

The outpouring of support from hundreds of workers who packed the streets around a state department of labor office in Lower Manhattan last month was clear: Cuomo delivered. After all, Cuomo appointed the wage board that voted for the measure. 

The rally was a significant victory for the governor who, during the legislative session, did not actually deliver a minimum wage bill for all workers, as he wanted to do.

The governor who boasted stunning victories in his first term on big-ticket items like gay marriage and gun control could not bring the two chambers together on the statewide minimum-wage hike or other key priorities in his legislative agenda.

His two negotiating partners from the first term — Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — were both arrested on federal corruption charges. 

Cuomo was now forced to negotiate with their replacements, two new leaders who were trying to find their own footing and carry out the demands of their party members that sometimes conflicted with Cuomo's agenda.

When the session ended, not only did Cuomo fail to secure a deal on a statewide increase in the minimum wage. He also failed to pass his plan to help undocumented workers get tuition assistance, an education tax credit for private schools and an end to the criminal justice system’s practice of incarcerating 16- and 17-year-olds in adult facilities. All were tabled.

He did reach agreements on rent control for New York City, and roll out an ethics reform plan. But both fell short of what he wanted and progressives expected. It was a long way from January 1, when began his second term with a stirring inaugural address that captured all the hope, yearnings and struggles of real New Yorkers.

Cuomo also butted heads with members of his own party, like Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who complained about being excluded from negotiations during budget talks. On a personal level, he faced the death of his father, three-term governor Mario Cuomo, and the illness of his partner, Sandra Lee.

With the disappointing session behind him, Cuomo appears now to be on a mission to convince various factions of his base that he can still get things done, even without the legislature as his partners.

Here, in front of the unionized workers, Cuomo spoke about the minimum wage, about children living in poverty, even police brutality — all themes he talked about during his inaugural address.

Weeks earlier, he used an executive order to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the deaths of civilians in police encounters.

Like the minimum wage hike, this appointment is weaker than what Cuomo wanted out of the legislature, because it's only for one year, not permanent.

He also has promised to use his executive order to have youth under 18 placed in facilities separate from adults. That, too, falls short of what progressives wanted — a permanent change in the law that legally prevents 16- and 17-year-olds from being treated like adults.

Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, a state government watchdog, said the end-run around the legislature is in character.

"All governors, but certainly this one in particular, is a guy who views his sessions as wins and losses," Horner said. "And so if he was unable to get legislation passed, he was willing to use his executive powers."

SUNY Political Science Professor Gerald Benjamin said Cuomo is making political calculations that will benefit him later. But Benjamin cautioned the executive branch should not make it a habit to be making laws alone.

Cuomo has said he will try again in the next session to get legislation on a special prosecutor. For now, he's showing his supporters he can still get deliver — with or without his fellow lawmakers.