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Politics & Government

The Albany Money Machine

The 212 members of the state legislature won't face another election until 2012, but some local lawmakers are already gearing up by holding fundraisers within walking distance of the Capitol.

We're barely 90 days removed from the culmination of a dizzying election cycle that saw every statewide office and seat in the state legislature and U.S. House of Representatives up for grabs. Yet another wave election swept the GOP into a House majority, and restored the party to power in the state Senate after two years in the minority.

You'd think our state lawmakers—most of whom were incumbents running for reelection last fall—would want to take a breather from the fundraising game before grappling with the state's annual budget imbroglio. But the Albany money machine refuses to grind to a halt. Research group NYPIRG counts at least 37 fundraisers between Jan. 10 and March 8.

At least three local legislators—Sens. Greg Ball (R-Patterson) and Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Port Chester) and Assemblyman George Latimer (D-Rye) have held fundraisers within walking distance of the Capitol so far this year.

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Ball's Jan. 31 event, held at upscale Albany bar McGuire's, required a minimum contribution of $500 for some face time with the senator, who is serving his first term in the chamber after four years in the Assembly. He was joined by Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a Long Island Republican who initially opposed Ball's candidacy. An invitation to the event solicited donations as high as $15,000.

Ball and Skelos joined forces again on Feb. 8 at Primavera Restaurant in Croton Falls. Tickets to that event ran as high as $9,500.

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Latimer's first fundraiser of the year was held on Feb. 8 at the Albany Room, a glorified cafeteria in the subterranean concourse of the Empire State Plaza, which is an elevator ride away from legislative offices. The event required minimum contributions of $250.

Oppenheimer will hold a $500-a-head event on Feb. 14 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which is just down the hill from the Capitol. Oppenheimer is serving her 14th term after narrowly defeating GOP insurgent Bob Cohen last year.

Good-government advocates have for years decried the practice of holding Albany fundraisers, particularly on days when the legislature is in session. At the very least, they say, the move is symbolically off-putting; lobbyists spend the afternoon pleading their cases to lawmakers in the halls of the Capitol, and at night they cross the street and write checks to those same officials.

That legislators are constantly attempting to fill up campaign coffers is understandable; both senators and members of the Assembly serve two-year terms, which means they're pretty much always campaigning.

But governors serve four-year terms, so more than a few eyebrows were raised when Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a Feb. 17 gala at the Top of the Rock, an observation deck on the 70th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Guests are required to shell out $15,000 just to walk through the door.

Cuomo, who spent more than $20 million during his 2010 campaign, is preparing to go to war with public employee unions and other interest groups that stand to lose jobs and state aid as a result of the governor's slash-and-burn budget proposal.

Among other cuts, the governor has proposed slashing school aid by $1.5 billion and Medicare by almost $1 billion; further, he wants to eliminate state laws that require steep spending increases each year, which would bring those cuts up to $2.85 billion in both areas. He's also threatening to lay off 9,800 state workers if unions don't concede $450 million in cost savings.

Campaign committees for Democrats and Republicans in both houses have also held fundraisers in the opening weeks of 2011. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, which is reportedly more than $2 million in debt after a last-minute spending spree leading up to Election Day, held a $1,000-a-head gala on Jan. 24. Senate Republicans and Assembly Democrats followed suit, while Assembly Republicans are planning a $500 event for Feb. 28.
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Here's a look at what our local lawmakers were up to between Feb. 4 and Feb. 11:

Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Greenburgh) did not introduce any bills.
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Assemblyman Robert Castelli (R-Goldens Bridge) introduced one bill, which would allow state agencies, local governments and school districts to enter into cost-sharing agreements. The aim of the bill is to allow agencies to purchase expensive cutting-edge technology that could potentially save money over time.
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Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D-Ossining) introduced seven bills, including proposals that would raise the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 19 and require that the terms of collective bargaining agreements between public employee unions and school districts be made public before they are adopted. According to a memo accompanying the bill, 11 states already have similar laws on the books.

Galef also introduced a bill that would protect whistle-blowers at nuclear energy facilities. According to the bill memo, "a key element to the safe operation of nuclear power plants is a work environment that encourages employees to come forward with any concerns they may have regarding operational safety."
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Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee (D-Suffern) did not introduce any bills.
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Assemblyman Steve Katz (R-Yorktown) introduced his first bill. The measure would, according to Katz, rein in the cost of a federal mandate, known as MS4, that requires local governments to remove certain chemicals from storm water as it enters the New York City water supply. Katz's bill would require the State Department of Environmental Conservation to consider a municipality's ability to pay for such projects. According to Katz, MS4 has cost Hudson Valley communities $500 million.

Katz, a freshman, will hold his first "Mobile Office Hours" on Feb. 16 at Pawling Town Hall from 4 to 7 p.m. Residents of the 99th Assembly District are encouraged to meet with Katz and ask questions.

Katz also will hold two public forums on the state budget. The first is on Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Mahopac Library, and the second is on Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem.
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Assemblyman George Latimer (D-Rye) introduced one bill, which would allow the village of Port Chester to impose a 3-percent hotel occupancy tax.

Latimer will hold a town-hall meeting on the state budget on Feb. 17 at the Port Chester Seniors Center from 4 to 8 p.m. The center is located at 220 Grace Church Street. Residents are invited to speak for up to four minutes on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) did not introduce any bills.
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Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D-New City) introduced two bills, including a proposal to add five hallucinogenic substances that are currently legal to the state's list of controlled substances. The compounds include JWH-018, JWB-073 and BU-210, which are found in synthetic cannabis products such as K-2 and Spice. At least eight states have banned the substances, which cause effects similar to marijuana. The two other substances covered by Zebrowski's bill are known as BZP and TFMPP and, when combined, closely mimic the effects of Ecstasy.
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According to his website, Sen. Greg Ball (R-Patterson) did not introduce any bills.

Ball hosted a Feb. 3 summit with local government officials from Putnam and northern Westchester to discuss mandate relief and government consolidation. Putnam County Executive Paul Eldridge, along with officials from Carmel, Mount Kisco, North Salem and other locales railed against mandates that they said eat up huge portions of their budgets.
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Sen. David Carlucci (D-Clarkstown) introduced at least seven bills, including measures that would prohibit smoking on Metro North and LIRR train platforms and allow local governments to buy into the Empire Prescription Drug Plan, which is cheaper than most comparable public employee prescription plans.

Carlucci also raised concerns about proposed regulations on child actors that, the senator said, could cost the state thousands of jobs. The proposals would prohibit child actors from working past 10 p.m., which could pose problems for Broadway productions, and require annual mental and physical evaluations and tutors for child performers. Carlucci sent a letter to State Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardner outlining his opposition to the proposals.
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Sen. Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Port Chester) introduced at least seven bills, including measures that would establish a fee of up to $50 for the General Education Development (GED) exam and impose a fee of five cents on plastic shopping bags.

Oppenheimer also introduced two local bills: one would extend to Dec. 31, 2013 a 1-percent increase in New Rochelle's sales tax, and the other would impose a three-percent hotel occupancy tax in the village of Mamaroneck.

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Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) introduced four bills, including a proposal that would prohibit state agencies from purchasing non-recyclable paper products. The three other bills would extend an existing mortgage tax and income tax surcharge in Yonkers, and allow the city to continue to issue bonds.

Stewart-Cousins, who sits on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Mandate Relief Redesign Team, is soliciting suggestions from local groups and individuals on how best to roll back onerous unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts. You can send her your comments and ideas through a form on her website. The team has a March 1 deadline to present its initial proposals to the governor.

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