Painting, drawing or otherwise placing or displaying a noose is now a felony under New York law—punishable by up to four years in prison.

Gov. David Paterson signed the legislation that was proposed in the state after the well-publicized “Jena 6” case in Louisiana and two cases in New York—one noose was found in the locker room at the Hempstead Police Department on Long Island, and another was on the door of a Columbia University Teachers College professor. In Louisiana, white students hung nooses from a tree and black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder when they attacked a white boy who had been taunting them.

“It is sad that in these modern times there remains a need to address the problem of individuals who use nooses as a means of threat and intimidation,” Paterson said in a statement. “But it is a reality, and if we ignore it we would be derelict in our duty.”

Cuomo’s office is looking for “double dippers” engaged in fraudulent activity and has been investigating local governments and special districts in addition to school districts.

Cuomo the Legislature will hold a public hearing next Thursday on the pension-fund investigation.

“New Yorkers need to know that their tax dollars on not being wasted on state benefits for those who do not deserve them,” he said in a statement. (more…)

Although the Senate Republican Majority said its bill authorizes anti-price-gouging penalties for gas station owners and gas distributors that don’t pass along the savings, Paterson said there is no guarantee that would happen. The Senate bill calls for suspending about 32 cents per gallon in state taxes.

The governor, speaking at a news conference in New York City, said he was taking responsibility for the issue by doing nothing.

“Sometimes nothing is a cool hand,” he said, referring to the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly has refused to pass a gas-tax holiday bill.

Paterson was joined by legislative leaders and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who pushed for the legislation after reaching settlements with sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, over inappropriate material on their Web pages.

The law will:—Require sex offenders to register all of their Internet accounts and Internet names and email addresses with the State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
—Authorize the Division of Criminal Justice Services to release the information to social-networking sites and other online services to help prescreen or remove sex offenders from using the site and potentially notify police.
—Mandates that convicted sex offenders who are serving a term of probation, conditional discharge or parole be prohibited from using the Internet to contact children.

There were also some funny exchanges during the press conference that Liz at The Daily Politics recounts.

The Senate Democrats urged the Republican majority today to bring legislation to the floor that would place a moratorium on foreclosures resulting from subprime mortgages.

“In the first quarter of 2008 the rate of foreclosures throughout the state has increased by 40 percent,” said Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith. “Let’s keep people in their homes.”

Smith argued that the bipartisan legislation could prevent up to 125,000 foreclosures in the next year.

Without the moratorium and other reforms, foreclosures could result in an average property value decline of $18,000—leading to a $65 billion tax base decline, Smith said.

A subprime loan is made at a high rate, usually made by people who do not qualify for prime-rate financing.

The Legislature and governor have already set aside $25 million to provide grants for non-profits to counsel and provide legal representation people with subprime loans.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a package of bills last week to tackle the subprime crisis, yet the Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, have not come on board.

Let’s just say Alesi, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business , mildly criticizes Paterson over planning to do away with the two-headed, upstate-downstate Empire State Development Corp.

But the “lashing” is making its way around the blogosphere today, so here it is and you can judge for yourself.

He said he supports Upstate Empire State Development Chairman Dan Gundersen, but wants to change the agency’s structure so it has one chairperson for the entire state – instead of the upstate-downstate branches that exist now.

“We’re very happy with the work Chairman Gundersen has performed, bringing businesses in and establishing a headquarters in Buffalo,” Paterson said.

“Somehow unfortunately his name got confused with a different issue that has to do with the leadership of any agency that I think should be centralized because upstate and downstate are interrelated.”

He said by having an upstate and downstate chairman, “we wound up in competition with each other” and initiatives, such as reforms of Industrial Development Agencies was stalled.

He said that in some cases, the state was paying for the same services twice by having a bifurcated agency.

“If somebody ran a business like this, you would want the CEO fired,” Paterson told reporters in Albany. “I’m the one running the business no matter what anyone else says. I’m the one who is responsible for this dysfunction and I’m trying to change it.”

“In changing it, I have not the least less desire to invest and to pay attention to the upstate region. But what I will say is that I understand the anxiety and the fear a lot of the business leaders and elected officials have from upstate.

“They feel that decade after decade—and I think the facts would bear out that they are right—that we have ignored nearly 50 counties in this state, time and time again.

He said he understands how upstate feels, having served as a senator in Harlem in which state leaders often ignored their difficult plight.

“I am well aware of how agitated people can get when they feel government is letting them down,” he said. “And we are not letting them down in the state. We are going to have a strong and vibrant development plan for the upstate region.”

He said that even Empire State Development doesn’t think the two-headed system is working.

“I invite you to go to people who work in ESDC and when you find someone who thought that structure was working, please give them my phone number, I’d like to talk to them,” he said.

Also, Obama or Clinton leads Arizona Sen. John McCain. Obama leads McCain, the GOP nominee, 47 – 40 percent while Clinton is up 46 – 41 percent, the poll found.

Among Democrats, Obama is ahead slightly as 45 percent say they want to see him win the nomination, while 41 percent want to see Clinton as the nominee.

And Democrats say 63 – 34 percent Clinton should stay in the race.

“Party leaders may be cringing over the potential damage to Democratic chances in November from the endless primary campaign, but two-thirds of the rank-and-file think Clinton ought to keep battling,” said Quinnipiac pollster Mickey Carroll.

“The ‘dream ticket?’ Three out of five Democrats like the idea.”

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo yesterday endorsed the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket.

“Look, what we want more than anything is to win, and to win you’re going to need all the votes she gets and you don’t,” said Cuomo on CNN’s The Situation Room. “The best way to do it is to invite her on the ticket. If, in fact, at the end of process you win, which it looks like you might very well, then why not add her to the ticket?”

Dear Friend,

There are some people out there who want to declare this race over now, before all the ballots have been counted or even cast. There are some who say they don’t know why I’m in this race. So let me tell you why I’m still running.

I’m in this race for everyone who needs a champion. For the hardworking families who are losing sleep over gas prices and grocery costs and mortgage payments and medical bills—but who never lose that American can-do spirit and optimism.

I’m in this race for the more than 16 million people like you who have supported me—for the people who have put their hearts into winning this race. You never gave up on me, and I’ll never give up on you.

We are in the homestretch. After sixteen months, there are only three weeks left to compete in the final contests. With your help I’m going to keep fighting until every last American has a chance to be heard, and as we learned last night in West Virginia, I know we can win.

more->

I’m also in this race because I have the best chance of beating John McCain in November and putting America on the right track.

We proved something in West Virginia last night—a state every Democratic president has won since 1916. And we proved something in a few other battleground states that have a history of picking presidents. Pennsylvania. Ohio. Arkansas. New Hampshire. New Jersey. New Mexico. Nevada. And, yes, Michigan and Florida.

I am in this race, and so are you, because we both know the stakes in this election are too high to stay on the sidelines.

So let’s keep going together, you and me. Let’s keep driving our campaign forward, and let’s keep winning.

Make a contribution today to help me win.

I want to thank you again for the incredible generosity of spirit you have shown over the course of this campaign. Together, you and I are going to make history.

   SUNY has been without a permanent chancellor since John Ryan resigned from the $340,000-per-year position last May. John Clark is interim chancellor.

   With the help of its hired search firm, the search committee reviewed the credentials of about 30 potential candidates a few weeks ago and whittled the number down to six. A few of them need to interview as soon as possible because of other potential job offers, so a few members of the search committee will be traveling to meet with them in coming weeks, Hayden said.

   Hayden said he was not satisfied that the list of candidates is “sufficiently diverse,” and SUNY is working with the search firm to change that. The committee will not make a decision until it has “an appropriately diverse array” of people, he said.

“He’s taken on one of the toughest jobs in the world,’’ Sen. William Larkin, R-New Windsor, said,  in explaining why Route 218 should be named for Petraeus, 55, a native of the Orange County community of Cornwall and a 1970 graduate  of Cornwall Central High School. He also attended West Point and later served on the faculty there.

But Sen. John Sabini, D-Queens, said he would not support the idea, since “I’m not sure we sould be naming anything after people who are not dead.’’

Larkin called that comment “a slap in the face’’ to the general.

The measure was approved with Sabini and a fellow Democrat, Bill Perkins of Manhattan, abstaining.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver supported a nine-bill package aimed at keeping rents affordable in the New York City area. The measures include keeping certain apartments under the rent control system by ending “high rent” vacancy decontrol, which allows landlords to remove apartments where rents exceed $2,000.

“Renters above so many people need to be protected,” said ACORN Executive Director Bertha Lewis.

Later in the day, Republican senators announced legislation to crack down on broadcasting purposeful acts of violence on the Internet, such as teens videotaping themselves beating up bums.

The measure would create a new crime of “unlawful violent recording when a person commits  an assault while knowingly capturing the crime with a recording device.”  It would be a fourth degree penalty, punishable up to four years in prison.

“These people in these videos, they make me sick,” said state Sen. John Flanagan, R-Suffolk County.

Both issues, though, are one-house bills at this point.

The legislation would address that problem by barring manufacturers, distributors and retailers from continuing to sell children’s products that have been recalled.

Last summer, the state Consumer Protection Board and other state agencies did toy recall sweeps to investigate compliance. About 400 stores of the 2,800 or so visited and contacted had been selling one or more of the recalled items. Some said they had received some form of recall notice and had removed the products from their shelves, but others said they did not get any notification from the supplier or manufacturer about the recall.

Often recalled products are never returned, remaining in homes, attics and on the shelves of discount and secondhand stores. (more…)

According to the Health Care Association of New York State,  four out of five hospitals in the state are facing a nursing shortage. 

“New York’s nurses serve on the ‘front lines’ in administering quality, compassionate medical care in our hospitals, nursing homes, schools and clinics.  They are a vital resource and an indispensable link in our health care system,” Tedisco said in a statement.  “However, New York is simply not doing enough to give nurses the tools and incentives they need – and rightfully deserve.”

Several of the proposals would:
—Establish a recruitment initiative and retention program to reimburse student loans if a person is a registered and licensed nurse. SUNY and CUNY would pay for a person’s education if a contract were signed to work in the state as an RN. (more…)

Adams, a former NYPD officer, wants officers to start using the guns in the wake of the Sean Bell shooting in New York City.

The camera would be used to clarify the sequence of events in a police-related shooting should the case go to court, Adams said.

Here’s Adams yesterday demonstrating the technology.

Well, according to the New York Observer, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s campaign will be returning money to donors who request a refund.

The email to donors from campaign spokeswoman Allyson Giard reads:

“As you are likely aware, we are currently disbanding Spitzer 2010. We intend to re-distribute the campaign’s remaining funds on a pro-rata basis to contributors who make an official request for a refund, either by email or letter.

“To expedite this process, we have set a deadline of June 15; in order to be honored, a refund request must be received by the campaign office by close of business on that date. After June 15, we will determine the rate at which we are able to issue contribution refunds and will begin issuing checks. (We willnot be able to honor any requests received after June 15.)...

This has obviously been a difficult period for everyone, particularlyfor those individuals who were supportive of the campaign, and I want to personally express my appreciation for your patience andunderstanding during this time. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to be of assistance to you.”

Meamwhile, Senate Republicans, who passed a gas-tax suspension last week, said more than 20,000 New Yorkers have signed petitions set up by its members.

Tedisco’s petition can be found here.

He said he doesn’t want to take away representation of upstate businesses, but feels it’s important to have one person at the helm of the agency. Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer split the agency into an upstate and downstate branch, which has been hailed by upstate business leaders.

Business leaders in upstate are criticizing the governor’s plans to go back to the old policy, in which a New York City chairperson oversees the state’s entire economic development program.

Right now, Dan Gundersen serves as the upstate chair, based out of Buffalo.

“No one has said that we are taking Mr. Gundersen away from upstate,” Paterson told reporters after a town-hall meeting in Batavia on farm issues with Sen. Charles Schumer. (There is Paterson and Schumer, on right, before the event today.)

“And I certainly understand that the economy is reeling, the anxiety is overflowing in upstate New York.”

Paterson went on to say that “I wanted to have an ability of the agency to have a centralized organization” yet he doesn’t plan to diminish any services to upstate.

“If we don’t change something, we’re not going to have improvement around here,” Paterson said.

“And I would invite some of those who said they were irked, to please call me because I let them know since the time I was in office two months ago that if they ever had a problem, they should call me and not one of them have called me in the past few days.”

   Broome County resident and disability advocate Frank Pennisi received the “Dr. Henry Viscardi, Jr. Advocacy Award” for state lawmakers his work to make polling sites in his county and other locations more handicapped accessible.
   “It’s nice to know they actually listened,” Pennisi, who is the chair of the American Demanding Access Committee, said.
   Between 1984 and 1990, Pennisi achieved 100 percent accessibility for handicapped voters in Broome County, then turned to other counties to advocate accessibility, he said.
   “It took six years of my life,” he said. He was constantly visiting polling sites, writing letters on how to improve access and revisiting sites, he said.
   The award was part of the larger state Assembly Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he is supporting a package of bills aimed at improving life for the disabled. The bills range in purpose from improving ATM machines for the visually impaired to improving gas pumps. Silver said he would work to get the Assembly to pass each of the 17 proposed bills before the end of the week.
   “When we allow the rights of this community or that community to be ignored, the rights of all New Yorkers are at risk,” Silver said. “Gov. (David) Paterson has demonstrated that a person with a disability is not a person without ability,” he said, referring to the legally blind governor.  

Kuhl represents the 29th Congressional District, which runs from the Southern Tier to the Rochester suburbs.

Politicial parties will release internal polls to help show the viability of their candidate and spur campaign contributions and support. So it’s interesting that a two-term incumbent would have to release a poll that shows he’s in the lead against Massa, whom Kuhl narrowly beat two years ago.

But Kuhl has been outraised by Massa this year, and Kuhl remains one of the most vulnerable Republican House members upstate, especially after his Republican colleagues, Reps. Thomas Reynolds and James Walsh, have chosen to retire than seek re-election in November.

The poll was a small sample of only 300 voters in the district, which is the most heavily Republican seat in the state.

“As the numbers in this polling memo illustrate, Randy Kuhl is well-positioned to win in November. Eric Massa is a re-run candidate that now will carry the weight of a Democrat Congress that has voted for new taxes and increased spending at every turn on his shoulders,” NRCC spokeswoman Julie Shutley said.

There was no immediate reaction from Massa’s campaign.

Updated: Here’s the response from Massa campaign manager Dave Marion:

“Eric Massa is focused on creating good jobs with benefits in Western New York, not cooking up last winter’s left-over poll numbers. When this poll was taken last winter, the majority of people thought that the Patriots were going to win the Super Bowl, but we know how that turned out.”

   Sen. Eric Adams, D-Brooklyn, demonstrated a new device called the PistolCam in the Capitol today – a 5-ounce camera he said would provide “a clearer picture of what officers encounter after they remove their guns from their holster.” 
   The camera would be used to clarify the sequence of events in a police-related shooting should the case go to court, Adams said. He wants New York City police to give the PistolCam a trial run but said he hopes other law-enforcers will make use of it as well. The attachment—which retails for $695—can fit on most common police-issue weapons, he said.
   The camera is also outfitted with a laser targeting system and flashlight that turn on automatically, along with the camera, 1.4 seconds after the weapon is drawn from its holster, said Bill DeProspo of manufacturer Legend Technologies in Keeseville, in the Adirondack Park region. The light and laser can be turned off for tactical purposes, but the camera is always rolling to preserve evidence during a shooting, he said. 
   The data on the PistolCam, which can be uploaded to any computer or laptop, is encrypted and password protected so not even a police officer using the firearm can alter the data, DeProspo said. (more…)

The show’s move will create 200 full- and part-time jobs and is the first time an established television show has transferred its operations to New York City, according to Paterson. The state has lost about $750 million in film and TV business in the past few years because of increased competition from neighboring states.  The state tax credit is expected to cost the state $5 million this year, $10 million next year, and $15 million the third year.

New York City is one of the most desired filiming locations in the country and we are pleased to welcome ‘Ugly Betty’ into that storied history,” Paterson said in a statement. “With this hit show set to film in Manhattan and Queens, this will allow viewers to see more of our great city.”

The pilot for “Ugly Betty”—about Betty Suarez, a “fashion-challenged” Queens woman who works for a high-fashion New York City magazine— was shot in New York City three years ago, but the series has been filmed in Los Angeles for two seasons. Mark Pedowitz, president of ABC Studios, said the higher tax incentive made the return possible. (more…)

Today is the fourth day in a row with the Legislature in town that the governor hasn’t been  here. Last week he was in New York City all three days the Legislature was at the Capitol, and todays he’s in the Finger Lakes and Batavia with Sen. Charles Schumer.

His absence is giving rise to speculation that he doesn’t intend to push an aggressive agenda for the rest of the legislative session.

“It’s hard to drive the Albany agenda without being in Albany,’’ said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “That’s why the Executive Mansion is in Albany.’‘

There first stop was Skaneateles in the Finger Lakes, where the pair announced that the state Department of Transportation will develop new policies to keep large trucks off local roads in central New York.

They said that the countryside is being marred by trucks carrying garbage use local roads to avoid tolls and use shortcuts.

At 1 p.m. the pair is holding a town-hall meeting in Batavia.

There have been reports across the state of state judges recusing themselves from cases involving lawmakers’ firms in protest of not receiving a pay raise since 1999.

Protests aside, some judges said it would be inappropriate to hear cases involving lawmakers’ firms because judges are now suing the state Legislature for a pay raise.

Yet the Commission on Judicial Conduct disagreed, saying today that case law doesn’t indicate judges have the right to summarily refuse to hear such cases:

“It would benefit neither the judiciary nor their justifiable interest in a fair compensation package for the Commission to be constrained to consider complaints against judges alleged to have violated these or other sections of the Rules in connection with the salary issue.

“The Commission urges all parties with a role to play in this matter to do so responsibly, professionally and with the utmost sensitivity to promoting public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, the courts and the administration of justice.”

The Commission on Public Integrity (whose report on the Troopergate scandal is still being awaited) awarded its 8th annual Theodore Roosevelt Ethics Award to the state Department of Transportation. The commission was lauded for extensive training, consulting with the commission and having its employees file timely financial-disclosure forms.

The department received a plaque with a quote from Roosevelt, the former president and governor or New York: “We can afford to differ on the currency, the tariff and foreign policy. But we cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure.’‘

Paterson’s move leaves questions about Gundersen’s future, yet Paterson said he wants to keep Gundersen, who works out of Buffalo.

Gundersen’s statement essentially suggests he supports whatever direction Paterson wants to go and reaffirmed Paterson’s commitment to the upstate economy. (Yet Gundersen spelled Plattsburgh wrong in the release.)

Here it is:
As Commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development, I share Gov. Paterson’s view that New York must be unified to compete effectively in the global marketplace.
Governor Paterson has visited a number of upstate communities including Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Plattsburg to underscore his commitment to Upstate. He has already pledged to keep Upstate a priority of his administration and has strongly demonstrated that commitment with the $700 million Upstate Revitalization Fund included as a part of this year’s budget.
As upstate chairman of ESD, my charge has been to focus on the ailing Upstate economy to create jobs and improve communities and, in so doing, better position all of New York to compete for economic opportunities. Significant improvements have already been realized in these communities.

I look forward to working with the governor on his vision to position all of New York State so that it can compete compete as a leader in the global economy.

Download:

The state Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that would make hybrid vehicles sales tax-free in the state.

If signed into law, the tax waiver would apply to hybrid gas-electric vehicles, vehicles which get over 35 miles per gallon or vehicles that do not rely on gasoline or diesel, according to the bill.

The bill is intended to encourage the purchase of hybrid vehicles after the tax credit that made them lucrative expired in 2005, according to the bill.

The tax exemption is expected to cost the state $36 million in lost tax revenue for the current fiscal year, and an additional $42 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The same bill is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

Mark Duffy, a spokesman for the Assembly Majority, said he’s “not sure” if the bill will be voted on before the end of the session in June. “It’s still being reviewed by committee,” he said.

Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, whose district runs through the Hudson Valley into the Albany area, is touting the fact that she was the first member of Congress to come out against former Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to provide drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants.

“Washington’s lack of response to immigration has left New York in a hole. Kirsten Gillibrand is working to lift us out,” the mailer says.

The mailing from Gillibrand, who is seeking a second term in November, was released today by her Republican opponent, Sandy Treadwell. Treadwell claims that Gillibrand has helped block measures to toughen immigration policies in the U.S.

Gillibrand did come out early against Spitzer’s drivers’ license plan, yet other Democrats in Congress soon followed and also led Hillary Clinton to waver over the issue during the early presidential debates last fall—the first crack in her campaign.

The pressure from Democrats for Spitzer to drop the plan ultimately led him to do so during a trip to Washington—no not that trip.

That infamous rendezvous to the Mayflower Hotel was a few months later, in February. Spitzer resigned in mid-March.