When politicians find themselves in a jam, they will try to get the public to focus on a different issue.  In politico parlance, that’s called “misdirection”: getting the public to focus their outrage on something else.  Politicians who command the bully pulpit, like a governor, have the greatest power to misdirect public attention.

Governor Cuomo has recently engaged in a very successful effort to misdirect the public.

The governor initially got himself into the “soup” with this policy of requiring the elimination of all state agencies’ emails after 90 days.

At first, the governor’s office argued that the policy was simply due to technological limitations.  When faced with the fact that the federal government – which has far more emails than New York – now has a seven year retention email policy, the justification changed. Read the rest of this entry »

NEW YORK’S NEXT STEP IN COMBATING GLOBAL WARMING

April 22 was the 45^th anniversary of Earth Day.  Earth Day has been a way to focus public consciousness about air and water pollution.  This year’s Earth Day focused on the need for actions to curb the growing public threats resulting from climate change.

2014 was the hottest year in recorded history. The world’s experts have stated that the global warming is largely due to human activity – primarily as the result of reliance on fossil fuels.  They argue that the only way to respond to this crisis is to dramatically slash the use of fossil fuels, like coal, oil and gas, which, when burned, emit the greenhouse gases warming the planet.

How will we generate the energy necessary to power the world?  As societies scramble to answer that question, events in New York may offer a blueprint for action. Read the rest of this entry »

This week lawmakers return to the Capitol to begin the second half, the non-budgetary, part of the 2015 legislative session.  The second half of session likely will be dominated by a handful of issues, including some that dropped off the table during budget negotiations.

The New York City rent control law expires this June.  Advocates argue that maintaining the rent control law helps ensure that housing continues to be affordable in what is becoming one of the most expensive cities in the world.  The issue will be a top priority of tenants’ rights groups who will be opposed by New York City’s real estate industry, which has poured millions of dollars into Governor Cuomo’s and state lawmakers’ reelection bids.

Another top issue, again focused on New York City, will be extension of mayoral control of the city’s school system.  Until recently, the city’s schools were controlled by a more decentralized system that included local school boards and a city Department of Education.  In 2002, legislation passed that granted the mayor direct control over the schools.

In addition, there will be a debate over extending the state’s property tax cap.  Those big issues, plus some of the issues that got kicked out of the budget, like the education tax credit, the DREAM Act, increasing the minimum wage, and the women’s agenda legislation will drive the end of session. Read the rest of this entry »

Most New Yorkers correctly assume that the state’s campaign finance system is a mess.  New York has the highest campaign contribution limits of any state that has limits, the law is riddled with loopholes and enforcement is essentially nonexistent.  One government-appointed commission described New York’s campaign finance law as a “disgrace.”

Not only is the State Board of Elections a toothless watchdog, it goes out of its way to make a bad campaign finance system worse.  One example is how the State Board treats Limited Liability Companies.

Limited liability companies are a way for businesses to organize themselves. LLCs have become the state’s most popular form of limited liability business entity and are favored by small business owners because it affords them the “managerial flexibility and favorable tax benefits of the partnership, while also providing the conventional limited liability protection of the corporation.”  LLCs are also quick, relatively simple and inexpensive to form, with “do-it-yourself” kits touting that organization papers may be drafted in a few hours.

New York’s Election Law does not specifically regulate political donations contributed by this new form of business entity. Read the rest of this entry »

FLAWED BUDGET AND ETHICS DEALS

The big news last week was the passage of the new state budget.  As has happened all-too-often, the budget was the product of horse trading and negotiations conducted in secret.  That’s right, despite the fact that it’s your money, Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers agreed to a $142 billion state budget and approved it in a way that meant that New Yorkers only found out the details after the fact.

And when deals get done in secret, too often rank and file lawmakers don’t have time to understand the consequences of their own budgetary decisions.

Such is the case with the ethics agreement.  The governor and legislative leaders cut a deal on changes to the state’s ethics laws and then jammed it into the education budget with only hours for public review.  As a result, despite the self-congratulatory news releases and spin, the closer one inspects the ethics deal, the weaker it gets. Read the rest of this entry »