Politics Now

By Tom Precious

ALBANY – He’s not necessarily aligning himself with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, but Buffalo developer Carl Paladino this morning is blasting Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s demands that the Legislature have a say in the placement of any new casinos in New York.

Paladino, who ran against Cuomo in 2010, said Silver’s opposition is predictable to a plan by Cuomo to have a state gambling regulatory agency – and not the Legislature – run a bidding process if New York does change the constitution to permit up to seven new casinos in the state.

“We’ve seen this before. It’s the Albany two-step," Paladino said.

“Cuomo has this idea and now they want to share the pork. We know the Legislature doesn’t have a mind of its own. The only mind it has is Sheldon Silver,’’ he said, adding that political contributions will have to flow from casino developers to the Legislature if it has a say in the selection process. “This is a way for Silver to stay in the way so he can make the Assembly political nice and big,’’ Paladino said.

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By Jill Terreri

The Office of Strategic Planning, led by Executive Director Brendan R. Mehaffy, will answer questions from Mayor Byron W. Brown's  CitiStat panel at 11:45 a.m. today. The department has been immersed in several major projects including overhauling the city's comprehensive zoning code, known as the Green Code, and planning for the Buffalo Sabres' Webster Block development, known as HarborCenter. The department also oversees the city's real estate department and has close ties with the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency. 

By Tom Precious

ALBANY – The Senate’s co-leaders have moved GOP Sen. Patrick Gallivan from his post as chairman of the Senate’s economic development committee, giving the job to a central New York Democrat who is part of a breakaway group of Democrats who have helped keep the Republicans partly in control of the chamber.

Gallivan said this morning he is fine with the decision because he will remain on the economic development panel and last night was named to chair the Senate’s Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee.

“I’m excited about it. It’s essentially what I spent a career doing,’’ said Gallivan, who from 1998 to 2005 served as Erie County Sheriff following a 15-year career with the State Police. He also has a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University at Albany. Gallivan was also named as a member of the higher education and transportation committees.

Continue reading "State Senate releases committee assignments" »

By Tom Precious

ALBANY – Below is the list of Assembly leadership and committee chairs selected today by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for the new two-year legislative session.

Due mostly to the seniority-driven system in the chamber, Assemblyman Robin Schimminger, a Kenmore Democrat, continues to be the only Western New York member of the Assembly to chair a standing committee; he keeps his longstanding post as chairman of economic development, which gives him a $18,000 annual stipend beyond his base pay of $79,500.

Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes moves up a couple notches in the leadership title race to chair of the majority conference. She now will get a $16,500 stipend for that post, up from $11,000 she had been making as secretary of the majority conference. (Correction: her previous stipend was $12,500 as chair of the farm, food and nutrition task force.)

Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, a Cheektowaga Democrat who represents a heavily suburban district, was named to head the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources; his stipend was not immediately clear this afternoon in a reading of a provision of state law pertaining to extra pay for legislators in certain posts. (Update: His stipend will be $12,500 annually.)

New committee chairs include Kevin Cahill, a Mid-Hudson Valley Democrat, of the Insurance Committee; Keith Wright, a Harlem Democrat, on the Housing Committee; Amy Paulin, a Westchester County Democrat, to the Energy Committee; Aileen Gunther, a Mid-Hudson Valley Democrat, to the Mental Health Committee, Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat, to the Ethics Committee, and Andrew Hevesi, a Queens Democrat and son of former state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, to the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee.

Here is the full list of leadership and committee assignments: 

 

 

Standing Committees

 

Task Forces & Legislative Commissions

 

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- The Assembly’s leader today said the Legislature should have more input in deciding the locations of any possible future new casinos in New York instead of leaving the determinations, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed this week, to a new state agency controlled by the governor.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said exact regions of the state do not have to be specifically identified before his house takes up a second passage resolution to amend the constitution permitting up to seven new full-blown casinos in the state.

But he made clear that he does not back Cuomo’s plan to let the decision about where casinos might be located if the public okays a referendum allowing the casino developments to be left in the hands of a new Cuomo-controlled state agency that will regulate all forms of gambling in the state.

Continue reading "Silver says Cuomo needs to give lawmakers more say over casino locations" »

By Tom Precious

ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week will begin a statewide television advertising campaign touting his 2013 state budget plans and urging residents to push lawmakers to embrace his ideas.

The ad campaign, to cost several hundred thousand dollars in the initial buy, will discuss his plans for economic development, holding the line on new tax increases and various investment efforts, an aide said Wednesday.

The ad will be paid for partially by Cuomo’s 2014 campaign – which has $22 million in the bank – and the New York State Democratic Committee, which has $217,000 on hand in is central campaign account.

Continue reading "Cuomo to take to airwaves" »

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- The governor's plan to have three new casinos built upstate is "one of the most exciting opportunities we have."

The casino expansion effort, to be in play this session, calls for up to seven casinos to be located in some unknown communities. Cuomo wants the initial three to be built upstate. He estimated that $150 million will be made annual by the state and localities beginning in 2016 if the plan is successful.

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- The $1 billion for special economic development help for the Buffalo area announced last year was, according to administration aides, set to be spent over a five-year period.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his budget speech just now, said the spending is a 10-year effort.

We are waiting to see if there was a mistake in the speech or a fiscal policy shift.

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- In front of an audience with many Giants and Jets fans, Gov. Andrew Cuomo noted the $60 million contained in his budget plan to keep the Buffalo Bills in Western New York.

"For $60 million the Bills better win this year. Talk about performance funding,'' Cuomo said.

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- The all-funds budget for New York -- which includes all sources of revenues -- will jump 5.2 percent in the coming year to $142.6 billion.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the jump is driven largely by an increase in federal funding to help with Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. That pot will total $3.6 billion this year, he said this afternoon.

Overall education funding will rise 4.4 percent under his plan compared to a 4 percent increase last year. He said the new increase he is proposing will amount to an extra $300 per student on average for the state's 700 school districts. He said education aid in the past two years has risen 8.6 percent -- double the inflation rate at a time when school enrollments have decreased by nearly 1 percent.