State Senator Liz Krueger
After yet another challenging month in Albany I can report that while there is still a lot that needs to get done, there has been headway on many significant issues: The State now has something resembling a budget and the legislature did pass significant policy driven legislation. Below is a brief summary of where things stand.
First, on the budget front, I will try to clarify where we stand now and what outstanding issues remain. The legislature has passed the various pieces of the expenditure budget totaling $135.7 billion, just a two percent increase over 2009-10, and has technically closed most of the $9.2 billion budget gap. After both houses passed these bills, the Governor promptly vetoed all legislative adds, including $600 million that the legislature restored to K-12 education funding.
This happened primarily because the Governor and legislature were unable to come to an agreement over two key issues: A contingency fund to deal with the possible loss of Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) funding, which as of yet has not been approved by Congress; and the Governor's proposal to grant greater independence to the State and City University systems, including the ability to set their own tuition rates.
I do not expect that the Senate will override any of the Governor's vetoes, since the Republicans have indicated that none of their members will contribute to the 42 votes (2/3 majority) needed to override a veto. What I hope will happen are some serious negotiations about how to better address the differences between the Governor and the legislature's plans, including the consideration of a number of revenue raising proposals, such as allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores and the sugar tax (neither of which are included in the legislative revenue proposal to date).
This brings me to the final piece of the budget, the revenue bill. As of now the revenue bill has not been voted on in the Senate because a number of Democrats have indicated they won't support it due to the exclusion of the Governor's SUNY and CUNY proposal. In our closely divided Senate, any one member can stop something if it is a party-line vote, and the budget is a perfect example of this. The good news is that most of the revenue issues have already been addressed in the extenders we've been passing each week while trying to get to a final budget. The bad news is that at some point we will have to figure out a final revenue deal that is acceptable to 32 members of the Senate, which we've learned is not an easy feat. Therefore, I am sure I will be returning to Albany in the not-too-distant future for further budget discussions.
Turning to the legislative front, I was particularly pleased that bills I sponsored dealing with illegal hotel conversions in residential buildings and enforcement of rules against bicycles on the sidewalk passed the Senate. More details on both these issues is included in the Policy spotlight section below.
Other key legislation that I co-sponsored and worked hard for that passed in June includes:
· The Dignity for All Students Act: Anti-bullying legislation that had been held up for years when the Republicans controlled the Senate because it included language dealing with sexual orientation;
· No-Fault Divorce: New York becomes the last state to allow divorce without requiring either partner to accept blame, while also providing protections to ensure adequate representation for a spouse without access to his or her own resources;
· Prior Approval for Health Insurance Premium Increases: Restored the ability of the State Insurance Department to evaluate proposed rate increases, which was taken away in the early years of the Pataki administration;
· Insurance Coverage for Children with Autism;
· The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights: Established labor standards and protections from harassment and abuse for domestic workers.
Of course, there is a long list of what we still need to fight for and when we go back to work on the final piece of the budget I will push to resolve this unfinished business, including strengthening protections for tenants and placing a moratorium on the use of hydrofracking for natural gas drilling. One thing I have learned in the last couple of years in Albany is that unpredictability can change the current environment, creating opportunities to move beneficial legislation. I will be keeping my eyes out for those opportunities in the days ahead.