Politics Now

By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo has just scheduled a 10:30am news conference at the Capitol to make an announcement. Several sources say it is about Cuomo's plan for how to expand commercial casinos on non-Indian lands in New York.

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By Jill Terreri

The Common Council kicked off its budget workshops this morning in relatively brief meetings with some of the city's largest departments. 

The questions tended to deal with matters of concern to the Council, not necessarily what was in the budget. 

The Taxation and Assessment Department discussed the inquiries they were getting about the state's STAR program, which offers property tax breaks to homeowners. Basic STAR recipients must re-apply this year - senior STAR recipients re-apply every year. The city department doesn't administer the program, but it does send out the tax bills. Department officials said they worried that the state won't be able to tell them all of the properties that should be getting the exemption until June, and property tax bills must be mailed by July 1. 

By Jerry Zremski

WASHINGTON -- I'm back from a week of vacation and a stint on jury duty, so it's time for the return of the daily must-reads.

Topping the list of today's stories is a Washington Post account of the political ramifications of the Benghazi attacks on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential prospects.

Meanwhile,  The New York Times tells us that the Obama administration may want to toughen wiretapping laws to make it harder to keep secrets online.

And Politico reports that the Obama administration's proposed new cigarette tax seems to have gone up in smoke.

The state will provide $10 million for removing part of the Robert Moses Parkway just south of Niagara Falls; the money will be part of the Buffalo Billion that Gov. Andrew Cuomo promised Western New York.

By Jill Terreri

Good morning, 

Today Mayor Byron Brown will welcome a team from IBM, which is offering technical assistance to the city through its "Smarter Cities" program. 

The grant offers services to help the city address quality of life issues using data, valued at $400,000. A team will be in Buffalo for three weeks. 

The city already uses data through its CitiStat program to decide where to make investments and to place staff. The city's Clean Sweep program is also data-driven, and is based on calls to 911 and its 311 center, which handles non-emergency complaints about illegal dumping, rats, broken street lights and other quality of life issues.

The most serious dispute in recent history has erupted on this binational panel. The News' Bob McCarthy tells Brian Meyer the tensions could have political ramifications:

By Jill Terreri

Mayor Byron Brown's 2013-14 budget will be released at 3 p.m. today. 

Brown has previously pledged that he will not raise taxes, so a tax increase is highly unlikely.  

Major questions to be asked include how much of the city's unassigned fund balance will be used, which has been a concern for credit rating agencies, which otherwise think highly of the city's finances. 

Other questions will center on whether the city's workforce will change, and whether property taxes are projected in future years. The city's four-year plan should also come out today. 

Last year's spending plan was $482.6 million. Property tax revenues have been falling, and the city last year had $18.7 million in an advance of state aid that it won't have this year, meaning the city could have less revenue.

Council Majority Leader Demone Smith, who is an ally of the mayor's, said this morning that he hasn't seen it yet. In past years, the Council got a preview.

The Council met briefly at 11 a.m. this morning to accept the budget, but had to recess until 4 p.m. because it isn't ready yet. 

The mayor is required to present a budget by May 1, and the Council has until May 22 to approve it, or it stands as presented. 

Comptroller Mark J.F. Schroeder will issue a budget response by May 10. 

The new budget year begins July 1.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets optimistic support from Senate co-leader Dean Skelos on non-Indian casinos plan.

 By Tom Precious

ALBANY -- A plan to permit seven non-Indian casinos in New York was the major topic of discussion during about 90 minutes of closed-door talks this evening between Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders at the Capitol.

Senate co-leader Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican, was the most optimistic of the legislative leaders from the Senate and Assembly, saying he does not see major obstacles that will halt a required second passage of a constitutional amendment permitting the casino expansion. If lawmakers approve a resolution that matches the one they passed last year, along with an accompanying bill laying out some specifics about where the new gambling halls might be located, voters in November would consider the plan in a statewide referendum.

"We're committed to getting second passage this year and having legislation that would accompany it,'' Skelos said after the meeting in Cuomo's office.

The top Republican in the Senate said he is fine with Cuomo's plan to let the state Gaming Commission, an agency Cuomo controls, pick the casino vendors and specific sites. "I think that's when the Legislature steps away,'' Skelos said of lawmakers picking regions of the state eligible for a casino but not the actual sites.

The Senate leader said the $600 million dispute between the state and the Seneca Nation of Indians came up during the meeting. That fight, now before a binding arbitration panel, will decide whether the state honors a geographic exclusivity deal the Senecas have for gambling rights in Western New York. If a deal can't be reached, the state, theoretically, could break the compact with the Senecas and try to locate a new, non-Indian casino in the Buffalo area. Cuomo has already threatened to try to place one in downtown Niagara Falls.

Asked if Cuomo sent any signals indicating a deal may be close with the Seneca tribe, Skelos said, "I think he's working with them and he's hoping to get a resolution and hopefully get a resolution before the binding arbitration.''

Cuomo and lawmakers agreed in March to drop the casino issue from the budget talks in order to ensure an on-time fiscal deal. Skelos said Tuesday's meeting was the first substantive talks involving the gambling expansion plan this year.

Erie County sheriff candidate Bert Dunn, left, and his Democratic primary opponent Dick Dobson trade accusations.

By Tom Precious

   Voting records appear to be figuring as the most important issue in the just-beginning campaign for Erie County sheriff.

   After opponents of Democratic primary candidate Bert Dunn emphasized his four separate party registrations over the years (Republican-Democrat-Republican-Democrat), Dunn shot back this week with his own criticism of primary opponent Dick Dobson. The Dunn campaign said while Dobson has not quite reached Dunn's number of switches, he's made a few of his own.

   The Dunn campaign said Board of Elections records show Dobson first registered to vote in October of 1967 as a Republican. He remained a member of the Republican Party until 1980, when his registration was suspended due to no activity. He failed to register again until 1989, and he remained unaffiliated or a “blank voter” until 2009, when he finally registered as a Democrat, less than four years before his run for sheriff.

   “The fact that Dobson’s camp is questioning Bert Dunn’s credentials as a Democrat is pretty astounding, especially when you consider the fact that Dobson spent 42 years as either a Republican or blank,” said Phil Tronolone, spokesman for the Dunn Campaign. “Bert Dunn has spent more time as a Democrat than Dobson has. But the truth is that the hardworking taxpayers of Erie County are not concerned with party labels when it comes to the Sheriff’s Office."

By Tom Precious

ALBANY – In today's can't-we-all-just-get-along entry:

As Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman were making their way down a Capitol hall this afternoon to unveil a plan for early voting procedures in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aides hit the send button on a bill with the governor’s own ideas on the topic of election laws.

The measures floated by the governor, which included new election law enforcement powers at the state election board, was blasted to reporters' email accounts just minutes before Silver took to the microphone to tout his new voting plan.

The Assembly Democratic package, backed by Schneiderman, would let New Yorkers start voting 15 days early for general elections and eight days early for primaries. The extra costs, for poll watchers and keeping offices open into the evenings and on weekends, would be covered by the counties, not the state, Silver said.