“I believe the best way to say it is we’ve had the same stumbling blocks today as we’ve had for the last couple weeks,” Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, Ontario County, said after emerging from a private meeting with legislative leaders and the governor Monday evening.

   Monday marked the start of the third week of special legislative sessions the governor called to resolve the budget deficit. It was unclear Monday whether Paterson and lawmakers would reach an agreement before Thanksgiving.

   “I don’t want to hold people for Thanksgiving, but whatever it takes to make this process work I will consider,” Paterson told reporters at an event in Niagara Falls Monday.

   The governor offered a $3.2 billion deficit-reduction plan. It would cut about $1.3 billion, including $686 million from education and $471 million from Medicaid. That would result in a total Medicaid reduction of $747 million due to a loss in federal matching funds.

   Senate Democrats and Republicans said they oppose mid-year cuts to education. Paterson has said any deficit-reduction plan must include education cuts.

   Senate Republicans are asking for the state to use $391 million of next year’s federal stimulus money to avoid having to cut school aid. They said Paterson first proposed using some of next year’s stimulus funding for education.

   Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said after the leaders meeting that his members agree with the governor that cuts are necessary.

   “Nobody likes to make serious cuts to anything, but the reality is, the fiscal situation, is that you have to make cuts so many of my members are prepared to make the right choices,” he said.

   Earlier this month, Gary A. Pivoda, 48, of Glennon Road in Latham (an Albany suburb) and Louis Marciano, 50, of Willow Street in Rensselaer pleaded guilty to defrauding the government for allegedly selling and using drugs, watching television and sleeping in the concealed “man cave” between April 17 and July 14, 2009. They were night maintenance employees for the state.

   Fisch’s report today said the three managers did not address repeated complaints about Marciano, who was the cleaning crew boss. Marciano was accused of discriminating against African-American employees and addressing them with racial slurs. Marciano was said to have assigned one janitor extra work to cover for Pivoda, and he gave Pivoda annual “incentive” bonuses totaling $3,000, according to Fisch.

   Pivoda and Marciano, who resigned as part of their plea agreeents, are scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 4. Pivoda will serve a year in jail and pay $2,076 in restitution. Marciano will receive five years of probation, do 250 hours of community service and pay $1,504 in restitution.

   The Office of General Services has agreed to implement Fisch’s recommendations and take administrative action against employees and supervisors who were derelict in their duties. The agency will require that Plaza managers receive more training, Fisch’s office said.

Man Cave Video from Gannett Albany Bureau on Vimeo.

   Bruno, a Republican from Brunswick, Rensselaer County, has maintained his innocence. He has noted that the job of lawmaker is part time and legislators are allowed to have outside income.

   The prosecution has argued that Bruno defrauded the state and its residents by entering into and trying to enter into financial agreements with people or companies that had or were pursuing business with the Legislature or state agencies.

   The charges were the result of a three-year investigation into Bruno, who resigned from the Senate last year.

   “Albany is not a good place for politicians right now,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Poll, said in a statement. “Voters are dissatisfied with how things are being run and want change.”

   While Paterson’s approval rating is 20 percent among registered voters, just 16 percent of them think the Senate is doing an excellent or good job and 48 percent think the it is performing poorly, the poll found. Forty-four percent said they would vote for the incumbent and 42 percent said they would pick a challenger.

   In the Assembly, 13 percent of voters approve of the job members are doing and 47 percent do not. Forty-four percent of voters said they would support the incumbent if the 2010 elections were held today and 43 percent said they would opt for a challenger, the poll said.

   Marist College surveyed 805 registered voters on Nov. 12, Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

   Both the Senate and Assembly are scheduled to go into session at 2 p.m.

   Paterson had harsh words for legislators during a news conference Saturday and in an open letter he released Sunday, emphasizing that New York is running out of time to fix the budget. 

   “Unfortunately, this failure to act has put New York at risk for a number of dire fiscal consequences and raised serious questions among independent financial monitors,” he wrote.

   The governor has warned that the state might run out of money next month if the Senate and Assembly don’t make spending cuts. Potential consequences include furloughs, layoffs, service cuts in pre-kindergarten programs and other areas, and a downgrade of the state’s credit rating.

   The governor offered a $3.2 billion plan to close the deficit, which includes about $1.3 billion in cuts—$686 million from education this school year and $471 from Medicaid, which would result in a total reduction of $747 million because the state would lose federal matching funds.

   But lawmakers don’t want to cut school aid in the middle of the year and want to slash health care by about $100 million, which Paterson said doesn’t work for him.

    The governor proposed reducing the school cuts by using some of next year’s federal stimulus funds for education. Senate Republicans said the state should use $391 million of the stimulus money. The governor argued that using that much would push the problem to a later date and leave a hole in school spending in 2010-11.  

   New York State United Teachers, which has 600,000 members, has launched an advertising campaign against mid-year cuts to education.

   Senators have discussed using $391 million in federal stimulus money for education that was supposed to be used in 2010-11 so they don’t have to make the $686 million in reductions that this governor has called for in his deficit-reduction plan. Besides being leery on education cuts the governor wants to make, they are also reluctant to make health-care reductions, he said.

   Paterson, who spoke after a holding a private conference call with state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch and other members of his administration, said he continues to have a difficult time convincing senators and Assembly members of the severity of New York’s fiscal crisis.

   “Our conclusion is that if we pass the deficit-reduction plan as we proposed it … we would still just be squeaking by December, barely able to meet our financial obligations. The comptroller pointed out that in March, there are other financial obligations to the tune of $13 billion to $14 billion, which we must pay, and we will not have presumably passed our 2010-2011 budget at that time,” Paterson said. “So we are in dire financial circumstances.”

   The governor said his administration believes that Democrats, who control the Assembly, and Republicans in that chamber understand the severity of the crisis. But Albany’s political atmosphere prevents lawmakers from being “particularly forthcoming” about where they would cut.

   Paterson said he believes Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, is “very clear about his willingness to comply with what would be a deficit-reduction plan that would keep us from having to make drastic decisions.”

   Paterson criticized the Senate, where the GOP, which is in the minority, released a plan that would not cut health care and would reduce education funding by $100 million. Senate Democrats have said they agree with Republicans on about $2.6 billion of the GOP’s deficit-reduction plan. Paterson said the Republican plan overestimates what the state could reap from boosting its Medicaid-fraud detection efforts.

   “I think it’s irresponsible. I think it’s totally out of line with where the state is,” the governor said. “The Senate Democrats I guess hesitate putting out a plan because they don’t want to be attacked for even addressing a dime of school-aid cuts.”

   Paterson described what’s happening as “basically fiddling while Rome is burning.”

   “Take note, senators. This is not a cash-flow problem. This is a cash problem,” he added soon after.

   If lawmakers don’t pass a deficit-reduction plan, the state might have to delay payments to school districts and pension plans and for property-tax relief could be delayed, Paterson said.

   Paterson ordered a total of $500 million in mid-year budget cuts at state agencies, part of his strategy to close a $3.2 billion budget gap. Agencies can offer the severance packages as a means of helping them make the reductions.

   “It has come to our attention that thousands of employees expressed an interest in participating in the program, but certain agencies chose not to accept these employees into the program,” Budget Director Robert Megna wrote in a letter to commissioners.

   “As you are aware, the State continues to face serious fiscal challenges. To address this situation, the Governor has instructed agencies to aggressively offer severances to reduce the State workforce and maximize savings,” Megna wrote.

   Megna said commissioners should “make every effort to increase the utilization of the Severance Program.” Employees have to file applications under the extension by Dec. 22.

   The Budget Division doesn’t have final numbers of how many employees ultimately took the buyout but expects to know sometime around the beginning of next month, said Matt Anderson, Paterson budget spokesman.
Agency Severance Letter

   “Right now, Andrew Cuomo has a clear path to become governor,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College poll. “If he could fast-forward to next November, I’m sure he would.”

   The poll is being released a day after Republican officials confirmed that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is not going to run for governor. The poll found that Cuomo has a lead over former U.S. Rep. Rick Lazio in addition to Paterson. Lazio is the only Republican who has announced he is running for the seat.

   If Lazio ran against Cuomo today, Cuomo would win by a 3-to-1 margin—69 percent to 24 percent, the poll found. If Lazio ran against Paterson, 44 percent of the electorate would support Paterson and 44 percent would choose Lazio. Twelve percent are undecided.

   Cuomo has not announced whether he intends to run and Paterson has said he will stay in the race, despite his paltry poll numbers.

   Marist found that 63 percent of registered voters don’t want Paterson to run for governor and 30 percent want him to be in the race. In a Marist poll two months ago, 63 percent of voters surveyed said they wanted Paterson to drop out and 25 percent wanted him to continue his campaign.

   When asked about Paterson’s extensive television media campaign, 65 percent of voters who had seen one of the ads said Paterson should not run for governor.

   Sixty-six percent of voters think Cuomo is doing an excellent or good job and 6 percent said he is doing poorly. Paterson is at the other end of the spectrum. One-fifth of registered voters think he’s doing an excellent or good job and 35 percent said he is performing poorly. That’s better than a few months ago, when 17 percent approved of his performance and 44 percent said he was doing poorly.

   Marist surveyed 805 voters Nov. 12 and this Monday and Tuesday. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

   Among registered voters, Giuliani would get 60 percent to Paterson’s 35 percent, according to the poll. But Cuomo would get 53 percent and Giuliani would garner 43 percent of the vote in a hypothetical matchup.

   If Giuliani ran for U.S. Senate, which he has not ruled out as a possibility, he would have more of a chance of success. Fifty-four percent of voters said they would vote for Giuliani, a Republican, over freshman Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat. One-third of Democrats surveyed said they would opt for Giuliani.

   Marist found that if a GOP primary for U.S. Senate were held today, 71 percent of voters would choose Giuliani, compared to 24 percent for former Gov. George Pataki, who has also been talked about as a potential candidate.

   Republican Rick Lazio is considering a run for governor, so not having Giuliani in the picture would help Lazio. Lazio, a former U.S. representative, would garner 13 percent of the GOP vote compared to 84 percent for Giuliani, according to Marist.

   “It’s good news for Andrew Cuomo and Rick Lazio but potentially a huge problem for Kirsten Gillibrand,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Poll, said in a statement. “If Giuliani were to capture the U.S. Senate seat from heavily Democratic New York State, it would return him to the national spotlight big time.”

   Senate Majority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, set the next session for 10 a.m. Monday.

   “We fully expect that a three-way agreement will be reached by Monday morning,” said Travis Proulx, a spokesman for Senate Democrats.

   Senate Republicans, who hold 30 of the chamber’s 62 seats, held a news conference this afternoon to present a compromise plan for closing the budget gap by $3.15 billion. 

   “Rather than continuing to try to reach an agreement, the Democrats have gone home,” Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said at a news conference.

   Silver blamed the lack of progress on the Senate GOP.

   “The major holdup is Senator Skelos refuses to participate, refuses to provide one Republican vote,” Silver said.

   Skelos said that is not true.

   Faced with pressure from county clerks and residents, Gov. David Paterson and legislative leaders agreed over the weekend that the state would not require the old plates to be replaced. However, production of the new Empire Gold plates is still on track, which prompted 31 county clerks to send a letter to the governor today.

   The governor’s administration had said new plates were necessary because reflectivity was wearing off on the current ones. Paterson admitted this week that the real reason for the plate replacement program was to raise money for the state. The measure was passed as part of the current budget. The governor and legislative leaders said they would make up the money the state will not get elsewhere in the budget.

   The clerks submitted petitions with more than 100,000 signatures collected from people who oppose the new program.

   Counties whose clerks signed the letter include Broome,  Chemung, Cortland, Dutchess, Erie, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Steuben, Tioga and Tompkins.

   This is a copy of the letter they sent today: 

Dear Governor Paterson:

We were greatly troubled to read published reports that the State, at your direction, plans to proceed with the manufacture of the new Empire Gold license plates, despite commitments by you and legislative leaders on both sides of the political aisle to scrap the controversial reissuance plan (“Paterson admits license fee was a ‘revenue grab,’ ” Democrat and Chronicle, Nov. 18).

County Clerks from across the State have gathered more than 100,000 names of New Yorkers who are opposed to the license plate reissue, through online and paper petitions that were delivered to you and legislative supporters of the original plan. The people of the state have spoken up that and said that they don’t want the Empire Gold plates, nor do they feel that the reissuance plan was justified by Albany’s desire for more revenue.

Facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, and in light of the Legislature’s pledge to undo the license plate mandate, it makes no sense that you should continue to produce these plates, at a cost to the state that you have placed at $32 million.

County Clerks respectfully ask that you rescind the order to begin manufacturing the new plates pending legislative action on the repeal of this ill-advised plan.

County Clerks have proposed additional ways to cut state spending and improve government efficiency to help deal with the budget deficit, and we await your response to our request for a meeting to discuss these and other ideas.

Sincerely,

Patricia A. Ritchie

St. Lawrence County Clerk, President, NYS Association of County Clerks

Richard R. Blythe, Broome County Clerk

James Griffith, Cattaraugus County Clerk

Susan Dwyer, Cayuga County Clerk

Sandra K. Sopak, Chautauqua County Clerk

Catherine K. Hughes, Chemung County Clerk

John H. Zurlo, Clinton County Clerk

Elizabeth Larkin, Cortland County Clerk

Bradford Kendall, Dutchess County Clerk

Kathleen Hochul, Erie County Clerk

Joseph Provoncha, Essex County Clerk

Don M. Read, Genesee County Clerk

Michael Flynn, Greene County Clerk

Jane S. Zarecki, Hamilton County Clerk

Sylvia M. Rowan, Herkimer County Clerk

JoAnn Wilder, Jefferson County Clerk

Douglas P. Hanno, Lewis County Clerk

James A. Culberston, Livingston County Clerk

Cheryl Dinolfo, Monroe County Clerk

Wayne F. Jagow, Niagara County Clerk

Sandra J. DePerno, Oneida County Clerk

M. Ann Ciarpelli, Onondaga County Clerk

John H. Cooley, Ontario County Clerk

George J. Williams, Oswego County Clerk

Frank Merola, Rensselaer County Clerk

Kathleen Marchione, Saratoga County Clerk

Indy Jaycox, Schoharie County Clerk

Judith M. Hunter, Steuben County Clerk

Robert Woodburn, Tioga County Clerk

Aurora R. Valenti, Tompkins County Clerk

Dona Crandall, Washington County Clerk

   The legislation will strengthen and expand the powers of the authorities budget office, including providing the power to issue subpoenas and report criminal activities; require that the state comptroller review any contracts of more than $1 million, and ones under $1 million upon request; create strict rules to control public-authority debt; limit the creation of authority subsidiaries; and implement whistle-blower protections for employees of authorities.

   Brodsky said public authorities are a “rogue” system and have been run like a  “Soviet-style bureaucracy.” Some of the larger ones include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Thruway Authority. 

   “This is the end of that era,” he said.

   A public-authority reform bill signed in 2005 by then-Gov. George Pataki  was about one-third of what he and other lawmakers wanted, Brodsky said.

   Another provision of the bill would require anyone convicted of drunken driving to install an ignition-interlock system on their car, which prevents intoxicated drivers from starting a vehicle. They would have to have the systems in their vehicles for at least six months.

   Leandra’s Law, as the legislation is called, is named after 11-year-old Leandra Rosado, who died in a car accident in Manhattan last month while a passenger in a vehicle whose driver was drunk, police have said.

   Also cited in passing the law was a fatal crash on the Taconic Parkway in Westchester County last July. Diane Schuler of Long Island drove the wrong way on the parkway and killed herself, four of the five children in her vehicle and three men in an SUV. The autopsy found she was drunk and high on marijuana.

   Under the legislation, which Gov. David Paterson has said he will sign, it would be a felony to drive with a passenger under 15 while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol-content level of .08 (the legal limit) or above.

   Under current law, there is no additional penalty if a drunk driver has a child passenger. The penalty would be higher if a child passenger was injured in a drunken-driving accident.

   When asked if New York’s $3.2 billion budget shortfall is a major problem, 88 percent said yes and 11 percent said they believe it is a minor problem. Only 1 percent said it’s not an issue at all.

   “Voters are paying attention to the budget problems in Albany and they’re not happy with what they’re seeing,” Marist Poll Director Lee Miringoff said in a statement.

   Gov. David Paterson called lawmakers back to Albany last week and this week to deal with the state’s $3.2 billion shortfall. Paterson has warned that if the problem is not taken care of very soon, New York could be short on money to pay its bills next month. They are still trying to negotiate a deal.

   Seventy percent of voters told Marist they blamed the state Legislature for the state’s fiscal woes, while 21 percent said Paterson was at fault. But, 64 percent of voters disapprove of how Paterson is dealing with the budget and 28 percent approve. The split was similar in September, the last time Marist asked voters that question.

   As for how Paterson is handling the state’s economic crisis, 63 percent said they disapprove and 30 percent gave him the thumbs up, similar to how voters answered that question in September, the poll found.

   Marist surveyed 805 voters last Thursday and Monday and Tuesday of this week. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.

   Since state and local governments cannot run a deficit, as the federal government can, they have to make up the other $331 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. Those actions depress consumer demand, cause job losses (mostly in the private sector) and create  a “drag on the economy,” the report said. 

   States have drawn down their rainy day funds and face a $357 billion total budget shortfall for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. Local governments are dealing with an $80 billion shortfall, the group found.

   New York faces a mid-year budget deficit of $3.2 billion, and lawmakers are in Albany this week trying to figure out how to remedy that. Gov. David Paterson has said he is against using the state’s $1.2 billion rainy day fund. Lawmakers and the governor have agreed they don’t want to increase any taxes or fees.

   The Economic Policy Institute said spending cuts would be harmful to the economy, in part because they hit low-income individuals disproportionately. Those individuals cut their spending, which results in lower sales for businesses, which then cut wages or lay off workers. Each dollar of spending reduction by state and local governments leads to $1.41 in lost economic activity, the group said.

   According to the institute, current and future budget shortfalls will lead to millions of job losses and likely contribute to a drawn-out and painful recovery. 

   “We are facing not only a fiscal crisis here in New York state, but a rising crisis in ethical misconduct,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union.   Citizens Union and other good-government groups—Common Cause/NY, the League of Women Voters and the New York Public Interest Research Group—said the report’s findings demonstrate there is a need for ethics reform. Citizens Union found that most investigations that resulted in turnover have been initiated by law enforcement and not existing ethics oversight bodies.

   “It felt like things were getting worse, but now actually there is empirical data to prove it,” said Blair Horner, legislative director for NYPIRG.

   The Assembly passed what the civic groups called a “modest ethics reform” bill earlier this year, and the Senate’s bill goes further than the Assembly. The two houses “appear to be working together to agree on final language,” according to the groups.

   Any final bill should include the following, the organizations said:

  —Safeguards that bar lobbyists, former officials and other interested parties from serving on ethics oversight bodies.

  —An appointment process that fosters independent oversight.

  —Reasonable, reliable and informative, and transparent financial disclosures.

  —Significant investigative and enforcement powers, including in the area of campaign financing, and reasonable audit procedures.

   The signature were collected in couty clerks office and online. Patty Ritchie, president of the state Association of County Clerks, set up an online petition at www.nonewplates.com. About 70,000 people have signed that.

   “Senior citizens, single mothers, small business owners, working families and the unemployed rose up to oppose this ridiculous plan, signing our petitions and sharing their stories of the hardship that this new plate reissue plan will cause in already difficult times,” said Ritchie, who led the petition drive.

   The clerks wanted to drop the boxes off in front of the door to the Governor’s Office, but they were told to deliver them to the mail room. Putnam County Clerk Dennis Sant and Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola are pictured above.

   Putnam County Clerk Dennis Sant said he started a petition drive in his county because the state was “taking advantage of the people of my community” with the license-plate fees.

   “In Putnam County, 5,000 people went out of their way, not on line, to walk into my office to sign that petition,” he said.

   The average taxpayer understood what the license-plate fee was about, said Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Tivoli, Dutchess County.

   “It was a fiscal hostage-taking, frankly, and the taxpayers of New York want us to deal with big problems and big issues, and holding them hostage for a $25 license plate that’s not necessary was offensive,” he said.

   As the governor said yesterday, he has been having some one-on-one discussions with legislative leaders about where they would be willing to make cuts. He said spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, and Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, this morning and had a meeting scheduled this afternoon with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.

   Paterson said the leaders don’t want to talk publicly about what reductions they would agree to before a full deal is made for fear they would be trashed by special-interest groups. Paterson has proposed a number of cuts, and the largest would be in education ($686 million) and health care ($471 million that would result in a $747 million reduction because the state would lose federal matching funds).

   “They have started to put real cuts on the table,” the governor said on WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter.

   Time is of the essence, Paterson said on WXXI’s Capitol Connection with Bob Smith. The state doesn’t have enough cash on hand to pay all of its bills next month, he said.

   “When they come back this time, we’re going to have to get it done this time. There’s no other option,” the governor said.

   Paterson said there shouldn’t be teacher layoffs or a reduction in student services because of the cuts because most districts have enough money to cover it in their reserve accounts and districts have high administrative costs and could cut from that.

Gary A. Pivoda, 48, of Glennon Road in Latham, an Albany suburb, and Louis Marciano, 50, of Willow Street in Rensselaer used a storage area in the East Parking Garage in Albany to set up the space. The two, who were night maintenance employees, used it between April 17 and July 14, 2009, when the New York Inspector General’s Office and state police raided it.

“These state employees shirked their duties to the state while partying on the public dollar.  With these guilty pleas, their party is officially over,” Cuomo said in a statement.  “This office will continue to fight corruption and abuse at the taxpayers’ expense in all of its forms.”

Pivoda pleaded guilty to the felonies of defrauding the government and third-degree grand larceny. He will serve a year in jail, pay $2.076.12 in restitution for hours not worked and resign from his state job. The plea deal includes a lifetime ban from government employment.

Marciano, who pleaded guilty to defrauding the government, will receive five years of probation. He will have to do 250 hours of community service, pay $1,503.97 in restitution for hours not worked and resign from his state job. He is banned from government employment.

“The flagrant abuses committed by these state employees were an affront to all taxpayers.  Now they are paying the price, said state Inspector General Joseph Fisch, who referred the case to Cuomo’s office.  “I applaud Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for securing a just end to this case.”

Man Cave Video from Gannett Albany on Vimeo.

   The census is used to determine federal aid to states and representation in Congress, so not having everyone counted could cost the state money, Paterson said in a statement. The federal government allocates more than $400 billion a year for community programs and services, such as education, housing, community development, health care, transportation and other areas.

   “Federal estimates suggest that more than 202,000 New Yorkers were not counted in the 2000 census—we can and we must do better,” he said.

   The slogan for the 2010 census is “It’s In Our Hands,” as in making a complete and accurate count.

   Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez said one of the important messages the campaign wants to educate the public on is that the census is safe and easy. By law, the U.S. Census Bureau can’t share an individual’s responses with anyone, including other federal agencies or law enforcement.

   The 2010 census questionnaire is the shortest on in history and has 10 questions on it, according to census officials. Questionnaires will go out in March 2010.  

   The state has been losing members of Congress regularly because of population and census counts, said Assemblyman John McEneny, D-Albany. New York needs as many members of Congress fighting for the state’s interests as possible, he said.

   “This is a very, very important moment in time,” he said.   Earlier this year, the state allocated $2 million for community outreach on the census.

   Senate Democrats began an outreach campaign on the census a few months ago.

   “We simply cannot sustain any more cuts in our hospitals, in our nursing homes or in our home-care division. Today we’ve got to make it clear: No more health-care cuts. Enough is enough!” said Kevin Finnegan, political director for 1199 SEIU health-care workers union.

   The proposed $278 million in Medicaid cuts would cause the state to lose a total of $747 million because New York would lose matching funds from the federal government, according to the Healthcare Association of New York State. In the past 18 months, four separate budget actions that reduced funding to health-care providers by a total of $3.87 billion, the group said.

   “You know what’s unbelieveable? In the last five years, their cuts shuttered 19 hospitals, 30 nursing homes,” Daniel Sisto, president of the organization, said. “We’ve got words for that. Enough is enough, no more cuts,” he said, getting members of the crowd to chant along with him.

   Liz Richardson of Poughkeepsie, a perinatal technician at Vassar Brothers Medical Center, said health-care workers worry every day about what could potentially happen to the institutions where they work and their own jobs.

   “Every year or so, he’s (Paterson’s) coming out with more cuts and more cuts and more cuts. We can’t afford anymore of the cuts,” said Richardson, 55, who has worked at the hospital for 35 years.

   New York faces a mid-year budget deficit of $3.2 billion, and lawmakers and the governor are in negotiations on how to close the gap.

   New York scored better than 12 states, including California. The other 11 are Arizona (28), Rhode Island (28), Michigan (27), Nevada (26), Oregon (26), Florida (25), Wisconsin (22), Illinois (22), Colorado (21), Georgia (21) and Kentucky (21).

   New York’s fiscal situation is on a par with Maine, Mississippi and Washington, which all scored 20. Wyoming scored the best with a 6.

   The report, “Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril,” shows that the recession has severely impacted states from different geographic regions and with different kinds of economies, tax structures and political leanings, according to the Pew Center.

   “Though New York’s population is similar to states like California, Florida, Wisconsin, and Illinois, this report demonstrates that unlike their economies, which are on the verge of collapse, actions we have taken to maintain a balanced budget and secure access to vital services for at-risk or unemployed families has kept New York’s economy stable even in an economic crisis,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, said in a statement.

Beyond California Appendix

   CVS, which has about 432 stores in the state, has agreed to implement specific policies and procedures aimed at preventing the sale of expired products and train employees in identifying and removing the products from shelves. The chain has agreed to post notices reminding customers to check expiration dates in the aisles in which over-the-counter drugs, infant formula, milk and eggs are sold. Any store that fails a compliance check will pay a penalty of $2,500.

“New Yorkers should not have to worry that their neighborhood
pharmacy is selling expired over-the-counter drugs that may be harmful to themselves or their families,” Cuomo said in a statement.  “Today’s settlement with CVS and our past settlement with Rite Aid —which total approximately two million dollars—send the message that companies have a responsibility to put the safety of their customers ahead of boosting their profits.”

   The agreement is the result of a statewide, undercover investigation of all major drug-store chains in New York. Cuomo’s office found that 142 CVS and 112 Rite Aid stores in more than 41 counties sold expired products—60 percent of CVS stores and 43 percent of Rite Aid stores. Investigators found that some items at CVS stores were being sold more than two years past expiration dates.

   Subsequent investigations by Cuomo’s office showed that both chains continued to sell expired products, despite the attorney general’s advisory. The office reached a $1.3 million settlement in December 2008 with Rite Aid, which had about 710 stores in New York at the time.

    The settlement brings an end to a lawsuit Cuomo filed against CVS Pharmacy Inc. for “pervasive sales of expired products and its breach of a prior settlement with the Attorney General in which it agreed to take measures to end such sales,” according to the attorney general.

   Joseph Tacopina, Monserrate’s lawyer, charged that there are conflicts or interest and appearances of impropriety involving the following senators: Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers; Toby Stavisky, D-Queens; Diane Savino, D-Staten Island; and Catharine Young, R-Olean, Cattaraugus County.

   Tacopina wrote that Stewart-Cousins was quoted in the media as saying calls for Monserrate to resign were “appropriate.” The senator said she was responding at the time to a reporter’s question about another senator’s comments on the issue. She said she will be fair and “deliberative” as a member of the panel.

   As for Savino, the letter alleged that she “vociferously labeled him a ‘criminal.’” Savino denied the charge. “I reserve the term criminal for another member of the body, who shall remain nameless,” she said.

   The letter cited Young’s sponsorship on a resolution in January to bar Monserrate from the chamber and Stavisky’s son’s job as partner a political consulting firm that represents a declared candidate against Monserrate as reasons they should not be on the panel. Both senators said the allegations that they would not be fair and unbiased were unfounded.

   Tacopina said the Senate “appears to lack standing to review Senator Monserrate’s conduct in this matter, as such conduct predated his oath and service as a Senator.” Nevertheless, Monserrate has agreed to cooperate in the investigation. 

   Committee Chairman Eric Schneiderman, D-Manhattan, said he would like to have a second committee meeting in the next few weeks and have the panel complete its report and make a recommendation to the Senate by the end of the year. It will be up to the full Senate to decide whether to take any action against Monserrate.

   Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island, said committee members “are appreciative of the sensitive nature of this task as well as our responsibility.”

   “The task before us is not a pleasant one. We understand that our client here is the integrity of the Senate as well as the public trust,” he said.

   Had Monserrate been convicted on either of two felony counts he was charged with, he would have automatically lost his seat.  

   Other members of the committee are Sens. John Flanagan, R-Suffolk County; James Alesi, R-Perinton, Monroe County; and Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Mount Vernon, Westchester County. Hassell-Thompson was not at today’s meeting because she is out of the country, according to Schneiderman.

   New York State United Teachers, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, the Alliance for Quality Education and Citizen Action, along with parents and community members rallied against proposed education cuts totaling $686 million in the current budget year. They all broke pencils in unison to symbolize a broken promise and delivered them to Gov. David Paterson and legislators.

   “Taking more than a billion dollars out of schools, colleges and other vital health programs would create chaos and suffering,” NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi said in a statement. “It would put an unnecessary burden on local property taxpayers and hamper New York’s economic recovery by forcing the elimination of jobs—jobs vital to the economies of many local communities.”

   “School district leaders worked hard this year to protect services for schoolchildren while minimizing local tax increases.  Despite the weakest state aid in six years, we had the lowest average school tax increase in seven years,” said Robert Lowry, deputy director of the state Council of School Superintendents, said in a statement. 

   The groups urged lawmakers to accept $1.225 billion in cuts proposed by the governor excluding school aid and other local assistance and state operations cuts. The state should use its rainy-day funds to provide up to $1.2 billion to help close the gap; purchase prescription drugs in bulk; eliminate the Empire Zone program; and refinance state debt, according to the groups.

A red bra is pictured above the words “Don’t leave New York women exposed” on a flyer from the organization.

Albany lawmakers and the governor have already cut funding to provide mammograms to the uninsured from $29 million to $21 million this year, according to the group. Now they are considering another $1 million cut.

“Other state programs haven’t been cut by a third. Why are thousands of women, who have no other way to get a mammogram, being singled out?” the American Cancer Society asks.

The Senate and Assembly are gathering in a joint session this afternoon to listen to Gov. David Paterson speak about the state’s budget crisis. They are holding session tomorrow to cut spending, assuming they reach an agreement on budget cuts before then.

   Under the plan, which has to be approved by the court, the state would fund 200 units of supported housing per year for five years—2011-12 through 2015-16—for a total of 1,000 units. The housing and other elements of the plan, which include educating adult-home residents about the supportive-housing option and performing clinical evaluations of their eligibility, are contingent on the Legislature’s passing budgets that include adequate funding, according to the plan.

   If the number of people eligible for supported housing exceeded the number of units available, the state would seek additional funding through the budget and assistance from the federal government.

   If state officials believe the number of individuals who want to move into supported housing is less than the number of units being provided, they would ask the court to modify the order and reduce the number of units. If the opposite were true, the state would submit a proposal to deal with the shortfall, the plan said.
   The U.S. Department of Justice requested permission to intervene in the lawsuit, which Disability Advocates Inc. filed six years ago on behalf of the adult-home residents. Adult homes are for-profit institutions that have long been criticized for their conditions and treatment of the mentally ill. The Justice Department told the court that the state’s remedy may serve as a model for other courts around the country with similar cases.

Remedial Plan

   This year’s state $3.2 billion budget deficit is far from settled, but it’s time for the governor’s Division of Budget, the Legislature and the state Comptroller’s Office to start working on the 2010-11 spending plan.

   At 9:30 a.m. Monday, the day before the special budget-cutting session called by Gov. David Paterson for the current fiscal plan, the Division of the Budget, the Senate Finance Committee, the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office will hold a public “Quick Start” budget meeting at the Capitol to discuss their revenue and disbursement estimates for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years in the areas of projected deficits, school aid, Medicaid costs, public assistance and other areas.

   After the meeting, the Division of the Budget and the Legislature have to develop a “Quick Start” budget report and make it publicly available no later than Nov. 15. The date is two months before the constitutionally mandated deadline for release of the governor’s budget proposal. The Budget Division projects there will be a $6.8 billion shortfall in 2010-11.

   The Assembly Republican Minority Conference, which released its “Quick Start” report Thursday, thinks the shortfall will be closer to $3.7 billion this year and $7.3 billion next year.

   DiNapoli’s office said in its report that the current deficit could exceed $4.1 billion, and the state faces a cumulative gap in its general fund of $27.5 billion through 2011-12, $3.6 billion more than the governor’s estimate.

   “Albany has played roulette with taxpayers’ money for too long,” DiNapoli said. “And now, in the face of the greatest fiscal challenge in our recent history, the game continues,” DiNapoli said, adding that the state has to “stop treating New Yorkers like ATMs.”

   The state’s Medicaid program will “continue wreaking havoc on state and local government finances,” according to the Republicans. The state’s share of the program will total $14 billion this year and $16.5 billion in 2010-11, the GOP report projects. In the area of school finances, state aid is expected to increase by about $453.5 million in 2010-11, reaching 22.04 billion.