Albany Times Union

(Times Union Photo Rick Karlin)

It was a busy Lobby Day at the Capitol for Sen. Jeff Klein, who met with Bronx and Westchester Catholic school officials on Tuesday to discuss legislation that would grant private  and parochial schools reimbursements from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority payroll tax.

Public schools currently receive full reimbursement for the cost of the payroll tax – implemented last year on certain employers with the MTA’s catchment area  – but independent and religious elementary and secondary schools do not.

This was one of several issues that members of the state’s Catholic Conference, including New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, pictured above, spoke about during a press conference earlier in the day.

The legislation proposed by Klein, a Bronx Democrat, would mandate state reimbursement to private and parochial schools, totaling around $6 million annually.

“If we’re going to exclude public schools (from the tax) we should exclude private schools as well,” Klein said.

Earlier this year, Klein joined a rally of nearly 1,000 Bronx Catholic school parents and elected officials in support of his legislation. According to a press release from Klein’s office, religious and independent schools already receive significantly less public funding than public schools, citing that the Archdiocese of New York is granted $325 in state funding per student compared to $17,000 per public school student.

“Without this reimbursement, religious and independent school teachers and students will be unfairly forced to shoulder the burden of this tax,” said Phillip Gorassi, Superintendent of the Westchester and Putnam County School Districts for the Archdiocese of New York.

Archbishop Dolan during his talk displayed a stack of 20,000 letters that Catholic school students in Manhattan were sending to their lawmakers. He also explained how the MTA tax is posing a new burden on their schools.

Sister Joanne Callahan, the school superintendent for the Rockville Centre Diocese on Long Island, noted that they save an estimated $8.5 billion in taxpayers dollars per year by educating thousands of young New Yorkers at a cost that is less than that of public schools.

Read Brian Nearing’s post on the TU’s Green blog about a new advertising campaign, backed by a coalition of environmental advocates, in which several elements of New York’s notable fauna decide to resign over Gov. David Paterson’s budget proposal, which raids the Environmental Protection Fund to help close the budget gap.

The New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association and the New York State Police Investigators Association, which represent all rank-and-file officers, released a joint statement wishing Acting Superintendent Pedro Perez well in his retirement, and calling on Gov. David Paterson “to appoint a strong, progressive leader to restore confidence in the management of the New York State Police, and to do so in a swift manner.”

“These past few weeks have been difficult for the morale of the men and women of the New York State Police who answer calls for assistance and investigate crime,” said PBA President Thomas H. Mungeer. “We look forward to beginning a new chapter, and we urge the Governor to make this appointment a priority.”

“It is time to move forward and return the focus of the New York State Police to our core mission of serving and protecting the public,” said NYSPIA President Joseph Barrett.

One week to the day after the announcement of State Police Superintendent Harry Corbitt’s retirement, his second-in-command Pedro Perez is leaving.

“My decisions over time, combined with the indication that you are seeking a new superintendent and the labor unions’ perception of my ability to lead the agency, have led me to conclude that continuing in my position as Acting Superintendent may be an obstacle to progress of the New York State Police, an agency I love,” Perez wrote in his letter to Gov. David Paterson.

Perez was a problematic replacement for Corbitt: He was identified in a New York Times story as the person who authorized Maj. Charles Day, the head of Paterson’s security detail, to contact Sherr-una Booker, the woman seeking a protection order against Paterson aide David Johnson.

The statement from the Troopers:

By operation of law under Section 6 of the New York State Public Offciers Law, in the absence of the Superintendent and the First Deputy Superintendent, the Field Commander shall assume the duties of the Superintendent. Deputy Superintendent John P. Melville will assume the duties of Acting Superintendent of the New York State Police at the close of business, Friday, March 12, 2010.

Perez’ letter is after the jump.

Perez RetireLetter

The Rev. Floyd Flake, a Queens community and religious leader, announced his departure from the winning bid team in the competition to build a massive racino at Aqueduct Race Track.

“I have decided to withdraw as an equity participant,” Flake said about his membership in Aqueduct Entertainment Group. He had been subpoenaed by the state Inspector General’s office last week, a source familiar with the probe of the bidding process said.

“I have a continuing obligation to my community and the various projects I created and developed including but not limited to the church, its related school, the retail facilities we established in the community, the Senior Citizens Housing Project, the home care operation and many others,” he said.

He had a about half a percent of equity in the AEG team.

“Unfortunately, my ongoing participation in Aqueduct Entertainment has become a distraction that has taken me and my attention away from the community projects I created and nurtured. I support Aqueduct Entertainment’s vision for the revitalization of my community through the creation of jobs, retail facilities and other opportunities for growth.”

Flake was supposed to have submitted material to the IG today. His departure from the team may end the pursuit of the documentation from him.

Finalists in the bid competition and some lawmakers have speculated that AEG won the bid because Flake is close with Senate President Malcolm Smith, one of the three leaders who have to sign the contract with the group.

AEG officials say they are working on that contract with Gov. David Paterson’s office even as the IG investigates, as requested by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The federal government has a parallel probe going on that involves Queens non-profits tied to Flake which have received Senate grants from Paterson.

The embattled reverend and ex-Queens Congressman has quit the partnership that was awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to run VLTs at the Aqueduct Race Track.

Here’s Floyd’s statement, which comes as an investigation into the deal advances. There’s also a report that Jay-Z has pulled out of the consortium.

I have decided to withdraw as an equity participant in the Aqueduct Entertainment project.

I have a continuing obligation to my community and the various projects I created and developed including but not limited to the church, its related school, the retail facilities we established in the community, the Senior Citizens Housing Project, the home care operation and many others.

Unfortunately, my ongoing participation in Aqueduct Entertainment has become a distraction that has taken me and my attention away from the community projects I created and nurtured.

I support Aqueduct Entertainment’s vision for the revitalization of my community through the creation of jobs, retail facilities and other opportunities for growth.

He had about half a percent of equity in the AEG team. He had been subpoenaed by the state Inspector General’s office last week, a source familiar with the probe of the bidding process said.

Flake and all other AEG investors were supposed to have submitted material to the Division of Lottery today. His departure from the team may end the pursuit of the documentation from him.

Finalists in the bid competition and some lawmakers have speculated that AEG won the bid because Flake is close with Senate President Malcolm Smith, one of the three leaders who have to sign the contract with the group.

AEG officials say they are working on that contract with Gov. David Paterson’s office even as the IG investigates, as requested by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The federal government has a parallel probe going on that involves Queens non-profits tied to Flake which have received Senate grants from Smith.

Sixty-eight percent of voters polled say they want Gov. David Paterson to finish out his term, according to the latest Marist Poll released today. That’s up from 66 percent a week ago.

“This is not really a ringing endorsement of Governor Paterson. Instead, the jury is still out on Paterson in the court of public opinion until further information is known,” said poll Director Lee Miringoff. “In the short run, voters are giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

And they want more information about the supposed wrongdoing by the governor, who faces inquiries regarding alleged efforts to deter a domestic violence victim from seeking a court order against the governor’s aide, and allegedly misbegotten Yankees tickets.

All in all, 40 percent of voters say they don’t have all the facts needed to determine whether or not the governor is guilty.

People are also aware that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating the governor, but most think he should step aside and let a special prosecutor do the job.

“Although Governor Paterson asked New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the conversation he had with the possible victim in the domestic violence case involving one of his top aides, only 38% think Cuomo will be fair and impartial in conducting the investigation due to his potential gubernatorial bid,” concludes the poll which adds that “58% say a special prosecutor should be appointed. 4% are unsure.

Here’s the full release with crosstabs.

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos said his top finance staffer, Rob Mujica, was briefed on Richard Ravitch’s proposal and confirmed that it does contain borrowing, which he opposes.

“Borrowing for operating expenses is just absolutely the wrong way to go and will just dig the hole even deeper in New York State,” Skelos told me in a quick interview after appearing on Fred Dicker’s radio show.

David Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have both said borrowing could work, amybe, as part of a comprehensive plan.

Skelos said he will be briefed by Ravitch on the details of his plan this afternoon. He said Mujica was not given a number for this year.

Paterson is set to address Republican senators–a rare act–about the budget at 1:30 p.m.

Cuomo Troy Invite

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will be in Troy on Friday, raising money for his campaign for….something….during a breakfast at the newly-constructed Hilton Garden Inn on Hoosick Street.

The event is hosted by Vito Grasso and Jim Conroy, the former deputy mayor and failed mayoral candidate, who has some history with Cuomo. An inspector general report in 2002 deemed the Department of Housing and Urban Development, then under Cuomo’s supervision, improperly gave a loan to Conroy’s brother Tom.

Also interesting to me is that the event is taking place at a hotel constructed by BBL and First Columbia, two companies close toAlbany Mayor Jerry Jennings, who is close to Cuomo.

Phil Singer, a spokesman for Cuomo’s campaign said, “these types of programs are handled by career civil servants so Andrew Cuomo was not aware of and played no role in approving the loan. But the policies he put in place while at HUD were responsible for uncovering the issues surrounding it.  Mr. Conroy has repaid the loan and the matter is now history.”

The minimum price of admission is $150. Cuomo reported $16.1 million in his bank account in January; were he to run for governor, as is expected, the sum would dwarf the $637,000 Lazio reported. There are concerns among some Republicans about his fundraising.

Gov. David Paterson huddled last night with Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch in  meeting with top staffers to discuss the fiscal plan Ravitch has been working on, which will reportedly call on the state to borrow money to get through this year’s deficit. He was asked about it this morning.

“No governor should be signing off on borrowing by itself right now, because borrowing is what got us in this mess,” Paterson told reporters after a meeting with health care advocates. “Borrowing is what got homeowners foreclosed upon. Borrowing is what got credit card holders in trouble and borrowing is what got governments all over the world in the economic downturn we’re in right now. Now, if there was a borrowing plan that involved other constraints, our problem is not borrowing, our problem is spending.”

“Our spending increased eight percent over the last five years while our revenues only increased by three percent. Our spending is project to increase by 7.5 percent over the next five years, while our revenues are still at about three percent, and that would put us $65 billion in the hole. So we don’t need to engage in any more borrowing. There are about 30 states with severely downgraded credit ratings that will tell you what happens about borrowing. But if we were able to constrain our spending, then, obviously bondholders and credit rating agencies would look more favorably on us.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver gave a slightly lukewarmer review of this plan, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (and Paterson, yesterday) gave less favorable reviews.

Good morning. David Paterson is in Albany for half of today. The Siena Saints are going to the NCAA. Doug Hoffman is back. Here are some headlines…

This guy was walking around the Capitol yesterday. He refused to say what the heck he stood for. Details are allegedly coming tomorrow. (Rick Karlin/Times Union)

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy will meet with Republican leaders, who last night were snubbed by presumptive candidate Rick Lazio. (TU)

The state’s Board of Regents is considering canceling statewide test. (TU)

Gov. David Paterson met with Archbishop Timothy Dolan. (DN)

A majority of New Yorkers are embarrassed by their state government. (GNS)

Andrea Peyser was struck by home alone David Paterson looked at a town hall in Brooklyn. (NYP)

The crowd received Paterson well. (NYT)

Bill Hammond says we saw Dr. Fiscal, not the “self-destructive, responsibility-shirking Mr. Hide” at the meeting. (DN)

Clyde Haberman had flashes of Albany while he watched the Oscars. (NYT)

Senators said Paterson’s soda tax proposal will fizz out. (DN)

Business groups, including the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, are targeting Senate Democrats. (BN)

Barack Obama’s political organization is angry that Hiram Monserrate is using his campaign slogan. (NYP)

Monserrate is portraying his opponent, Assemblyman Jose Peralta, as a pawn of larger gay interests. (DN)

Michael Bloomberg and Paterson don’t like Richard Ravitch’s plan for borrowing money to help the state. (DN)

Federal prosecutors looking into the Aqueduct deal are finding the probe has legs. (DN)

A libertarian blogger calls Spitzer-madam Kristin Davis “a sexed up modern version of Ayn Rand.” (Libertarian Republican)

And here are some national headlines…

Rep. Eric Massa and Rahm Emanuel had a confrontation, naked, in a locker room. (Fox News)

Democratic leaders in Congress dismissed Massa’s charge that he was driven out for voting against a health care restructuring. (NYT)

He’s becoming a hero of the right. (WP)

It’s looking like a race between former Corning Mayor Tom Reed and Hornell Mayor Shaun Hogan. (Ithaca Journal)

Richard Hanna, a Republican trying to unseat Rep. Mike Arcuri, wouldn’t commit to voting for John Boehner for House speaker. (Roll Call)

Doug Hoffman, again, officially. (WDT)

Joe Biden says the U.S. stands with Israel. (NYT)

And we can’t blame them, not this week. You can  listen to Saturday’s episode of NPR’s comic quiz show “Wait, Wait … Don’t Tell Me.” Listen to the first segment, titled “Who’s Carl This Time.” Here’s a taste from the panel’s discussion of Gov. Paterson’s troubles:

Host Peter Sagal: The standard for New York politicians is now so low that you can get elected with a slogan like, “Only Committed Misdemeanors.” (Laughter.) “Rarely Convicted.” (More laughter.) “Never Stabbed a Hobo.” (Even more.) “Out on Appeal.” (Not as much.)

Panelist Kyrie O’Connor: It’s long been one of the most corrupt states in the union. I mean, just go to Albany — think about spending a winter there. You would do anything. There’s not much else to do but be corrupt.

Snap!

We had a story last week about the governor’s severance buyout package for state workers. One of the things we didn’t have on deadline, was how many state workers are employed. Here’s a spreadsheet from the Civil Service department with some info.
 

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he will consider a proposal for borrowing to help bridge a $9 billion budget deficit.

“Right now we’re not contemplating that, because we don’t contemplate that. I read with interest the proposal by Richard Ravitch, as described in some of the…” Silver said before he was cut off. “If there’s a way to deal with the issues that includes borrowing on a limited basis, we would consider such a proposal.”

Silver replied “no, not yet,” when asked if he had spoken to Ravitch about the proposal.

“I think people should be focused on cutting, and if there’s a way to alleviate the cutting for the future and ease the budget into a lesser amount over a period of time, then it’s the right time to propose it.”

Silver said he last spoke to Gov. David Paterson on Friday, and will meet with him later this week, he said “we are conferencing with our members every day to come up with a clear path to come to consensus about where our members want to go.”

Sorry, couldn’t think of anything better. The Coffee Party movement carefully avoids words like “liberal” or “progressive,” but defines itself as rejecting what it sees as the narrative of complaint and grievance spun by the Tea Party movement. The new grassroots network is hoping to see gatherings across the nation on Saturday, including a noon-2 p.m. meeting at the Starbuck’s at 10 North Pearl St. in Albany.

Join us to help launch the Coffee Party Movement. If you are downtown for the day or you live close by please join us. We are interested in all views as long as they are shared respectfully.

I think we need more 'z's in New Jerzzzzzy. (Photo submitted)

Siena defeated Rider last night by a score of 72-62 with a little encouragement from this above fan, who obviously also watches Saturday Night Live and the Capitol quite closely.

Apparently there’s precedent for this sort of cheering.

I’m also told that this fan will be at tonight’s MAAC Tournament championship game against Fairfield. Any suggestions for tonight’s sign?

(And Go Siena! That’s one of the few biases I’m allowed to have.)

I have a call in to Cuomo 2010 to check on this, but Bob Conner at Planet Albany seems to have hit on something with this telephone poll he recently received.

Sounds like there are some provocative questions, regardless of which politician is paying for them to be asked: should the Board of Regents be abolished, a freeze on public sector salaries and tax caps on the state and local levels.

Here is Conner’s take on the poll.

The regional vice chairmen of the Republican Party–along with State Chairman Ed Cox–are scheduled to meet with Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy tomorrow, but will attempt to pow-wow with presumptive nominee Rick Lazio tonight.

An aide to Lazio confirmed that the vice chairs reached out last Friday, but that a meeting between them and the candidate couldn’t be scheduled tomorrow. The aide did not confirm a meeting tonight. But I’ve heard from numerous Republican sources (and some of the vice chairs themselves) will be held tonight, at 7 p.m., at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Colonie.

“I’m going at 7 o’clock,” said Albany County Republican Chairman John Graziano. “My anticipation is that Lazio will be there.”

Lazio is in Albany today to meet with the National Federation of Independent Businesses and attend the Conservative Party legislative reception at 6 p.m.Vinny Reda, the Rockland County Republican chairman and the leader of the regional vice chairs said he is hoping to meet with Lazio “to discuss his campaign and some of the concerns that we have about it.”

“What we don’t want to see is exactly what happened to us four years ago,” Reda said. “We went with John Faso and Scott Vanderhoef, and between both of ‘em they couldn’t raise a nickel. That’s our major concern.”

As of the last reporting period, Lazio had less than $1 million in campaign cash on hand. Levy, a Democrat, reported over $4 million. Republican did this dance with Levy over a month ago, now with Andrew Cuomo the presumptive Democratic candidate, they’re back at it.

The health care lobby–union SEIU 1199 and the Greater New York Hospital Association–has a new ad up hitting lawmakers for proposed cuts.

The ad is not nearly as blistering as last year’s, in which a blind man asked Gov. David Paterson “why are you doing this to me?” This year, the governor is not mentioned by name.

The worst shot here is the suggestion that hospitals and nursing homes could be “disappearing completely,” and unlike past efforts

The ad will begin airing around the state tomorrow. The script is after the jump.

Not Pretty

Health care in New York…it’s not a pretty picture.

Albany has already cut our hospitals and nursing homes seven times since 2007. And now they want to take away another billion.

Time and again, Albany has cut the care we rely on.
That means fewer nurses…
Longer wait times…
Hospitals and nursing homes nearing bankruptcy, even disappearing completely.
Tell your state legislator: “No more healthcare cuts. Enough is enough.”

Gov. David Paterson announced this weekend that the Department of Tax and Finance will post the names of tax scofflaws on their Web site, hoping to shame them into settling up with the state and stoke the coffers at a needed time.

A final version of Paterson’s announcement gave credit to Assemblyman Bill Colton and Senator Jeff Klein, but both were a little miffed that earlier versions did not and that the Department of Taxation and Finance–which both legislators have been pressuring to implement this posting–suddenly moved on the policy.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of taking someone’s issue. To his credit, he did implement it,” Colton, D-Brooklyn, said this morning by phone. “He did do it, and I give him credit for that part of it. The key thing here is not getting credit for it, but the key is finding money so we don’t have to cut health care.”

“Hey, we can decide who takes credit, but one of the most important things is it went to fruition,” Klein, D-Bronx, said. “I think this is going to go a long way toward having a chilling effect on those who don’t pay their taxes.”