THE 2008 SESSION
June 30, 2008

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The 2008 legislative session is now one for the history books.  And what a session it was – the resignation of Governor Eliot Spitzer over his relationship with a prostitute, the conviction of Assemblywoman Diane Gordon for soliciting a bribe, a multitude of inconclusive investigations into the “troopergate” scandal; and Senator Joe Bruno riding into the sunset.  So what are New Yorkers to make of the legislative session?  It was good, it was bad, and it was ugly.

THE GOOD
Despite the unprecedented chaos caused by the resignation of Governor Spitzer, the new governor and the legislature were able to get a budget done that was only little more than a week late. 

They were also able to hammer out some legislative successes before the end of the session last week.  The leaders were able to agree on a reform of the program to clean up toxic waste sites, home mortgage foreclosure relief, , a ban on mandatory overtime for nurses, an expansion of the Tuition Assistance Program, an initiative to help bring down the costs of college textbooks for students; an agreement on boosting solar and wind energy generation, a strengthening of state oversight of doctors and others.  Several bills that deal with access to public records and will add transparency to government’s workings also were passed.

While it’s always hard to compare one session with another, in terms of getting things done, Albany had a typical year.  The “output” of Albany this session compared reasonably well with the previous year – in the 2008 session, 812 bills had passed both houses and in 2007, 826 had passed by June 25th. 

THE BAD
The budget and many of the agreements were hammered out almost entirely behind closed doors.  Big issues -- such as help to offset home heating costs -- were ignored.  In addition, bad policies were approved -- for example, despite New York State's second-highest-in-the-nation auto insurance premiums, lawmakers agreed to deregulate pricing oversight of the auto insurance industry. 

THE UGLY
In November 2006, the Spitzer/Paterson ticket promised New Yorkers a change in the way Albany conducts its political business.  Despite the controversies that engulfed the Spitzer Administration and the convictions of two Assemblymembers for political corruption, none of the governor's reform legislation (campaign finance, public authorities, redistricting, voting reform, etc) was adopted and, as far as I can, tell not even seriously pushed. 

So, it was both the best of legislative sessions and the worst of legislative sessions.

Lawmakers were at their best when they pulled together to get a budget done after the collapse of the Spitzer Administration and to work together to enact some real achievements at the end of session.

But it was the worst of sessions too.  A “typical” session over the decades has had as it key hallmark the practice of operating in secrecy.  Unfortunately, the Paterson Administration seems all too willing to engage in the bad old ways of Albany.  In addition to a seeming preference for secrecy, the governor and state lawmakers “kicked the can” on important issues, like the looming crisis for New Yorkers with soaring home heating costs.

And most unfortunate of all, the governor dropped the reform agenda like a hot potato, the agenda he had run on with Eliot Spitzer in November 2006.  Of course, it is only the governor’s first few months in office and things can still change, but he had his opportunities this session and chose not to take them. 

It’s important that the governor hear from the public its expectation that he deliver on his 2006 promise to change Albany.  To change it to make it more open and accountable.  To make it more fair.  Hopefully, he’ll hear that message and try, at least, to make good on his promise to achieve needed fundamental changes.

That’s all for now.  I’ll be keeping an eye on the Capitol and will talk to you again next week.

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