NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

Albany Wins Again 

The Politics of Reform

Its one thing to promise reform and another to actually deliver. Real reform is actually changing the structural problems within government and showing results that matter to everyday people. The middle of the second legislative session is upon is, what are the results? Excessive government spending remains the norm, the pension system remains underfunded, upstate is a fiscal wasteland and New York remains the second highest taxed state in the union. The simple question? Where are the reforms?

New York Post political reporter Fred Dicker in a recent article cited the Governor's achievements as besting the last three Governors. The same Fred Dicker is also writing the Governor's biography. What are the achievements? A Tier 6 pension, an agreement to end legislative gerrymandering in ten years, adding all misdemeanor convictions to the DNA database and passage of the first of two votes for a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling. He even went so far as to call the Governor's freshman year "sweeping" and containing a "decade worth of achievements. With that he cited last year's passage of homosexual marriage, a tax cap, on time budget and a new ethics law.

The Governor and the legislature delivered two on time budgets. While this is an achievement compared to the last 30 years of dysfunctional government, the bar has been set so low that just performing the bare minimum is positive. There has been no consolidation of the eleven hundred public authorities, no reduction in the excessive number of state public employees, regressive taxes continue on driver licenses and cell phones to name a few and no substantive reform of Medicaid. The latter is one of the most expensive state programs yet the Governor and legislature want to expand it. 

According to the non-partisan tax research group, The Tax Foundation, New Yorkers have the second highest state and local tax burden in the nation as a percentage of income. New York's business climate is ranked 49th in the nation based on the amount of taxes in five key areas; corporate taxes, income taxes, sales tax, unemployment insurance taxes and tax on property including both residential & commercial taxes. Breaking his promise not to raise taxes, the Governor proposed and passed a tax increase at the end of December for those who make over a million dollars to further fund his budget. Instead of taking charge by cutting state spending, the Governor punted. The Cuomo plan is no different then the President's approach to economics; higher taxes and increased spending. It's obvious that this approach is a failure.   

Let's look at some of the "accomplishments". The enactment of the 6th pension tier comes after the passage of Tier 5 in 2009. Tier 5 expanded the employee pension contribution from the first ten years of service to the entire length of employment and the time to vest increased from just five years to ten. The retirement age for most employees was raised to 62. With the "reforms" were many "sweeteners" such as allowing non Police and Fire employees to include $15,000 of overtime with 3% annual growth to calculate their pension and left in place a defined benefit plan without any 401K option. Tier 6 increases the retirement age to 63 and lowers the pension benefit by 2.5%. It gives the  Governor and New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg the power to unilaterally allow an early retirement plan which would grant public employees with 30 years seniority the ability to retire at 57 versus 63. The "reform" also assumes a 7.5% guaranteed rate of return on employee contributions which would require any shortfall to be made up by the state and local municipalities. When asked if there will any additional pension reform, the Governor answered, "I don't anticipate any additional legislation in the near future.......

The issue of drawing new legislative district lines is always contentious and always involve political calculations to expand or strengthen the political party in power. Mayor Koch and his New York Uprising advocated for an independent commission to draft new legislative lines, however with the US Supreme Court ruling in Texas, the courts affirmed the right of the legislature to set legislative district lines. The reform agreed to by the Governor and the legislature will establish a commission of ten members, 2 will be appointed by each Assembly & Senate conference with the 8 members choosing the last 2. The result will be five members from each political party. In order to pass this so called reform, two legislative votes are necessary in order to put this constitutional amendment before New York voters and just in case legislators fail to keep their word, the Governor is seeking legislative action. If so, any change would apply ten years from now after the next census. Hardly a reform worthy of the claim.   

Another failed achievement is the new ethics law. The law is superficial as it has no teeth. The Public Integrity Reform Act of 2011 creates a new investigative body that will have 14 members, 4 appointed by each political party and 6 appointed by the Governor which will include 3 members of the opposite party. In order to launch an investigation, a majority vote will be required with at least two members of the same party from the same branch of government voting yea. This type of hurdle will ensure that any serious investigation will be vetoed. The disclosure requirement that lawmakers disclose the names of clients when the legislator appears before a state body only applies to the legislator not the law firm they work for so for the most part, there will be no disclosure.

New York created the first DNA data base in the mid 1990's which required the collection of DNA from those who were convicted of a limited number of serious felonies. The number of crimes which require DNA samples has been expanded three times and now will include DNA samples for anyone convicted of a crime in New York. While the law can help with solving or exonerating those of serious crimes, other tools for fighting crime in New York have been gutted. New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws have been amended to allow for the release of drug traffickers and has substituted treatment for criminal prosecution for even the worst offenders. The legislature has refused to reinstate the death penalty for cop killers and for the most heinous murder of innocents, yet carrying a legal firearm in New York by an out of state resident is a felony with a 3 1/2 minimum sentence. 

Even though the state enacted a so called tax cap limiting school districts to 3% tax hikes, the Governor gave into the unions by allowing state education aid to increase by 4% per year. After all, what does it matter which pot the money comes from, the money ultimately comes from taxpayers. The Governor seems to be placing all of his bets on legalizing Casino Gambling which passed the first of two legislative votes which will place the proposed constitutional change before New York voters. New York has gone down this road before. The large infusion of revenue from the New York Lottery has funded education but what is the bottom line? According to U.S. Census figures from 2008-2009, New York spends the most on education in the nation averaging $18,126 per pupil but still has the 2nd highest tax burden in the nation. Looking at the state's track record on spending, funding and taxes, the future is unlikely to get better. The one bright spot in education; a new system to evaluate teachers is being held up due to the Governor's inability to strike a deal for disclosure to those who matter most, parents.

New York spends more on Medicaid then Texas and California combined. According to 2008 figures from the Kaiser Family Foundation, New York provided Medicaid for 4,937,300 of it's 19.5 million residents compared to almost 15 million combined for Texas and California's 63 million residents (4,278,300, 10,669,800). Even with the highest Medicaid spending in America, the Governor's budget calls for Medicaid spending to increase 4% annually. Recently the Governor signed an executive order which mandates the establishment of a state health exchange which is the foundation of Obama care. As noted by the Congressional Budget Office, millions of state residents will be forced into government run healthcare. Oddly the Governor went ahead with his executive order even though it is questionable whether Obama care will survive Supreme Court review. If the federal plan fails, will the Governor then move forward with the health exchange? If so, Cuomo care will  bankrupt the state.

The Governor's signature accomplishment was homosexual marriage. What was positive about re-defining society for the benefit of a few at the detriment of all and the loss of religious liberty? Almost one year since the date of it's passage, the law which was sold as an economic benefit that would bring in tens of millions of dollars in new revenue for the state and local economy has been a fiscal flop. Less then 2500 same sex couples were "married" in New York. How did it help the average middle class family struggling to survive in the vampire state? How did it strengthen the family? The political reality has to do with outside political money and the national agenda of special interest groups aligned with the Governor.

Only in the world of Albany is it acceptable to take whatever deal and claim it as a ground breaking achievement. Words have meaning and results matter. Playing the politics of reform does not equal reform. Team Albany wins again.