ALBANY -– The Seneca Nation of Indians is expanding its lobbying and communications presence in an effort to block proposals at the state Capitol threatening to bring new casino competition to its gambling ventures in Western New York.
The tribe has added a lobbying firm whose partners include former Buffalo mayor Anthony Masiello. Seneca officials declined to immediately provide Masiello’s retainer information. He was hired only a few weeks ago so his required financial disclosure reports with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics is not yet due. Masiello’s portfolio includes Kaleida Health, Niagara County and National Fuel Gas Co.
The brouhaha over the Obama administration's proposal to require contraceptive coverage by religious affiliated institutions -- including Catholic hospitals and colleges opposed to the process -- drew reaction Thursday from the New York political community on the local, state and federal level.
First came a rare but pointed statement from Erie County Republican Headquarters, which enlisted local Republican Catholics who called on Reps. Brian Higgins and Kathleen C. Hochul to oppose the administration plan.
The News features a live chat on Politics Now weekly at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Today's is hosted by Denise Jewell Gee, with the focus being on Erie County politics and the happenings at County Hall.
The schedule for other Politics Now chats is: First Thursday of month: Aaron Besecker on Buffalo City Hall; third: Tom Precious on Albany; fourth: Jerry Zremski on Washington. The News' Bob McCarthy also joins the chats when available.
ALBANY –- What a difference a couple weeks, and some criticism, can do for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s opinion of the Legislature.
It was only last month during his state budget submission, and before that at his State of the State address, that Cuomo spent considerable time thanking the Legislature for being his partner over the past year and for all the deals they had crafted together.
But a couple hours' drive from Albany today, the rhetoric was a tad different.
"I believe the Legislature is influenced by the special interest money and I’m trying to fight that," Cuomo told reporters in Syracuse after a speech.
As part of a regular weekly feature on the Politics Now blog, Tom Precious of The News' Albany Bureau posts an audio interview with a newsmaker from the Capitol.
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ALBANY — The Legislature's top Republican is suggesting Western New York and New York City could be the locations for where the state will lose two of its congressional seats in the redistricting process raging on behind closed doors at the Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said talks are intensifying between the GOP-led Senate and Democratic-controlled Assembly to try to produce a deal for New York's 27 congressional district boundaries under the once-a-decade reapportionment exercise. ... Read more
Last week in Congress: How our representatives voted with analysis from News Washington Bureau Chief Jerry Zremski
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WASHINGTON — For the first time this year, major legislation passed both chambers of Congress last week -- and the major bill that passed the House showed two local Democrats siding, surprisingly, with Republicans.
By a vote of 267-159, the House passed a bill repealing the "CLASS" program, the long-term care effort included in the 2010 health reform law. Republicans argued that the government just can't afford to start a long-term care program of its own -- and Reps. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, and Kathleen C. Hochul, D-Amherst, agreed with the GOP on the vote.
“While originally intended to expand options for disabled seniors or those who require long-term care, this legislation has become unsustainable, with no options for successful implementation," Hochul said.
All this just goes to show that neither Hochul nor Higgins are guaranteed Democratic votes. They're centrist Democrats willing to buck the party line. Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, D-Fairport, opposed the repeal of the long-term care program.
Meanwhile in the Senate, both Sens. Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer backed the STOCK Act, which bans insider stock trading among members of Congress and their staffs.
That's no surprise, given that Gillibrand was an original sponsor of the bill and Schumer has supported it strongly.
Interestingly, though, the two New York Democrats opposed an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., which would banned executive-branch employees with oversight responsibility from making decisions about companies or industries in which they or their spouse have an investment interest. Gillibrand and Schumer agreed with Democrats who said existing law already puts major restrictions on what executive-branch employees can or cannot do.
Local supporters of Sen. Mark J. Grisanti didn't take long to celebrate Tuesday's federal appeals court ruling that declared California's ban on same sex marriage unconstitutional.
In fact, the Grisanti Grassroots group led by gay rights activist Kitty Lambert was slated to dispatch an email blast to some 7,000 supporters of same sex marriage Tuesday night seeking donations for Grisanti's tough re-election bid this fall.
And she took a swipe at 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate Carl P. Paladino in the process after he told The Buffalo News last week he would be targeting Grisanti and two other gay marriage supporters -- though not because they voted for the controversial measure.
"While we're celebrating the victory in California, we have to be mindful of a battle brewing right herein Western New York," Lambert wrote. "Buffalo developer Carl Paladino has announced he will organize primary challenges against New York State Senators Mark Grisanti, James Alesi and Roy McDonald -- three Republicans who broke ranks and voted in favor of marriage equality in 2011.
"Buffalo's best known gay hater claims he is targeting these Senators for defeat because of their fiscal policies, not because they voted for gay marriage. That's just a lie.
"Think about it: If Paladino was looking to primary senators he doesn't agree with on taxes, why is he just targeting three senators who voted for marriage equality?" she added.
Lambert was part of an effort to sign up 300 gay and lesbian activists in the Conservative Party earlier this year,which could prove important in the event Grisanti faces a Conservative primary this year -- as some in the often-influential minor party have suggested.
Pop Quiz Time. This one is in multiple choice format (think SAT test):
To the victor goes the spoils, so when Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a Democrat, took over Jan. 1, 2012 from Republican Chris Collins, he got to put his own people in key positions. Forty-five hires have been announced so far, ranging from deputy county executive to the county's director of Equal Employment Opportunity.
Question 1: How much did those 45 appointees donate, in total, to Poloncarz's county executive campaign in 2010 and 2011?
a) less than $5,000
b) between $5,000 and $10,000
c) more than $10,000
Correct Answer is b) between $5,000 and $10,000.
Thirty one of the appointees didn't give Poloncarz anything. The 14 who did gave a total of $7,055.
Question 2: How much did those 45 appointees donate, in total, to Collins's re-election campaign during 2010 and 2011?
a) less than $5,000
b) between $5,000 and $10,000
c) more than $10,000
Correct Answer is b) between $5,000 and $10,000.
Five of the Poloncarz appointees gave a total of $5,349 to Collins. The five had worked in the prior Collins Administration. They didn't give Poloncarz anything.
Which brings us to Question 3: How much money will the 45 Poloncarz appointees give their boss over the next four years?
ALBANY -– Senate Republicans will host a roundtable discussion next week at the Capitol over efforts to have New York require real-time reporting by doctors and pharmacists when prescribing and filling painkillers, sleeping pills and other controlled medications.
"We’re trying to get people all around one bill," said Sen. George Maziarz, a Newfane Republican.
The two-hour session at the Capitol on Monday will include representatives from chain pharmacies, the Medical Society, the West Seneca-based Kids Escaping Drugs group, and Avi and Julie Israel, the North Buffalo couple whose son, Michael, who was addicted to prescription drugs, killed himself last year. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who last year proposed legislation to combat the worsening prescription drug addiction problem, has also been invited, along with officials from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s health department.
The Buffalo News over the weekend reported a growing push by all sides to get something approved this legislative session to improve the existing cumbersome and little-used prescription drug reporting system maintained by the state Department of Health.
