Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent inauguration speech hit all the right notes, but left many wondering how he will be able to keep all his promises.
Just how many of Cuomo’s proposed budget, regulatory and good government reforms may be dead on arrival once reaching Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver or Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ desk.
With 100 of 150 votes in the Assembly, Silver is in the drivers seat. Silver controls his own members via lulus for chairing committees, passage of legislation, office budgets, staffing and mailings along with renewal of gerrymandering district boundaries every ten years after reapportionment. With his majority, he can let many members off the hook when controversial bills come up for a vote.
Likewise, Skelos has similar powers in his chamber but with only a one vote margin. He is unable to let members off the hook when voting on controversial bills.
Both Silver and Skelos along with their respective loyal members, have powerful backing. These include various special interest pay-for-play lobbyists, powerful teachers, health care, state employees and other unions along with trial lawyers, business and developers. There are hundreds of Albany’s infamous State Street lobbyists representing clients who donate millions of dollars to both the Assembly and Senate campaign committees. Just how much of Cuomo’s $26 million dollar campaign war chest came from the same sources.
Cuomo has talked the talk. Lets see what happens when he announces his first new fiscal budget for 2011 on Feb. 1.
Will it be adopted on time by April 1, 2011? Will it include specific cuts agency by agency and program by program to meet a $10 billion dollar plus and growing deficit. How will he deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $9 billion dollar shortfall in its current Capital Program? How will he balance pressures to maintain or even increase school aid to New York City, our own Great Neck and other local community based districts on Long Island along with neighboring Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and other suburban counties along with upstate’s school districts while at the same time placing a cap on property taxes?.
New York businesses and individuals combined owe over $13 billion dollars in uncollected state taxes according past reports released by the state Tax Department. Will he support a more aggressive approach in attempting to collect some of these revenues, rather than increase back door borrowing or user fees and taxes for those who play by the rules?
Will he deal with unions who want to maintain the status quo concerning pensions, medical health benefits and annual salary increases to at a minimum keep pace with inflation? Will he be able to reduce unfunded state mandates on local municipalities some of which are passed down from Washington as the price to pay for acceptance of both state and federal aid? Can he consolidate some of the thousands of duplicative, inefficient and sometimes overlapping local school, sewer, water, library, parks and other municipal authorities to foster more efficient delivery of services and savings to taxpayers that are protected by local special interests?
How will he consolidate or eliminate many of the 700 plus state authorities? Some of these have already completed their respective missions or duplicate those of others? Will he be willing to take on the Wicks Law, which forces people to hire up to four prime contractors rather than one? Some argue that this law significantly increases the cost of capital construction projects. Cuomo faces a more difficult balancing act than any circus juggler.
With all the clowns he will deal with in the Albany legislative circus, we can only wish him well in his endeavors to train the out of control spending lion.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
