Stephanie Miner – Be honest. Before Tuesday, had you ever even heard of Stephanie Miner? Though Miner has long been acclaimed as a rising star in Central New York, where she’s been mayor of Syracuse since 2010, she was largely unknown across the rest of the state until Governor Cuomo plucked her from obscurity this week and named her co-chair of the NYS Democratic Party along with Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright. While even Miner admitted to being “a little bit” surprised by her high-profile selection, she won’t have a moment to catch her breath, taking the reins of the party in the height of campaign season, with critical electoral battles like the Buerkle-Maffei rematch going down in her backyard.

Mike Gianaris – Word on the street is the Democratic Senator from Queens got the most laughs at this year’s LCA show, with a bit making fun of the Senate Dems’ failed bid at an independent redistricting process this year. It’s not always easy to make fun of yourself, especially on an issue that wasn’t very funny to Gianaris when the gerrymandered district lines were being passed in the Senate during the Big Ugly. (Who can forget Gianaris telling Republican Sen. Mike Nozzolio to take his map and “shove it?”) The video itself, produced by the Parkside Group, was slick, funny, an appropriate length and it outshone the Governor’s video effort, leading everyone to wonder whether Parkside shouldn’t give up trying to elect Democrats to the Senate and just scoot on out to Hollywood instead.

Charlie Rangel – So what if Rangel was absent for another debate and his campaign flip-flopped on his lame excuse for ditching? The Harlem congressman made up for it with a strong showing in the endorsement race this week, racking up nods from key Latino leaders Rep. José Serrano and Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, not to mention scoring high-powered labor support from the UFT. The incumbent legislator even won over his erstwhile rival, Adam Clayton Powel IV, whose father Rangel defeated to first get to Congress way back in 1970. All in all, Rangel hasn’t been sitting this pretty since that Punta Cana Resort photo the Post loves running so much.

Solomon Kalish – The Post hed said it all: “Kruger Bag Man Gets Big Fat Break.” Kalish, one of former Sen. Carl Kruger’s co-conspirators in the wide-ranging bribery scheme, got a light sentence for his role in the scam this week, in inverse proportion to his size, which has caused him health problems in the past. The extra weight gutted Kalish’s prison term by half, Judge Jed Rakoff said during sentencing. We don’t envy anyone’s poor health, but it may make Kalish a free man faster than any of the other Kruger cohort.

Nik Wallenda – The death-defying Niagara Falls tightrope walk that funambulist Nik Wallenda planned became slightly less death-defying this week, after officials insisted he wear a harness to prevent him from plummeting to his death in the event of a misstep. This renders the feat less impressive we suppose, but we like to think he’s a winner because, hey, at least it’s less likely that he will plummet to his death.

LOSERS

John Sampson – What could be worse for John Sampson than The Daily News reporting that regardless of whether the Dems win or lose in December he’s out as Minority Leader? The follow-up article from Ken Lovett revealing that when Sampson brought up the piece in a closed-door meeting with his conference later in the day, not a single member stood up to defend him. In fact, according to Lovett, the criticisms of Sampson only grew more severe. With friends like that… Eh, John?

David Soares – There’s never a good time to be censured when you’re supposed to be the face of law and order, but when a State Appeals Court censured Albany County District Attorney David Soares yesterday for his mishandling of a 2010 case, it came at a particularly bad time, because Soares is facing his most credible threat in years in the form of Lee Kindlon. Soares is supposed to be watching Albany and its occasionally troubled politicians, but who’s watching him?

Michael Bloomberg -  At this point in his political career, it was already too late for Hizzoner to shake his reputation as an out-of-touch billionaire, but when it came out this week that the Mayor regularly flaunted the 34^th Street Heliport’s weekend curfew, the perception that Bloomberg is self-important was propelled to new heights. Shirking the rules once or twice – that’s understandable. But eight times in a single weekend? Even the Mayor’s top-shelf press team couldn’t explain that away. Kudos to the concerned citizens that exposed the chief exec’s excesses. We hope now you can finally get some peace and quiet.

Sheldon Silver — The Speaker staked this legislative session on the minimum wage hike, a measure he announced his hopes for quite specifically at the State of the State address earlier this year. And although the wage issue still seems dynamic, with several weeks left to go in the legislative session as scheduled, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s suggestion that passing a $1.25 increase in the minimum wage would be more difficult than passing same-sex marriage was last year certainly tamped down expectations for Silver’s biggest gamble.

Richard Hanna – The Oneida County Rep. flew the Tea Party flag when he ousted Mike Arcuri in 2010 and has made “fiscal responsibility” his mantra over his first term in Congress. So how has Hanna been husbanding our precious tax dollars? Apparently, by sending 461,281 pieces of mail at the bargain price of $190,766. The freshman’s affinity for snail mail not only ranks him the #1 franker among the state’s congressional delegation, it stamps him as 25^th out of the nation’s 435 Reps. in abusing the system. Hanna’s spokesperson tried arguing that all those newsletters were essential for keeping up with his constituents, but that alibi was returned to sender when the numbers revealed that 7 of his fellow New York members (6 Dems and Republican Michael Grimm) spent a whopping $0 on franking.

To vote for the top winner (and loser) of the week on City & State click here.

In an interview, the head of the Brooklyn Tea Party, Joseph Hayon, said that while all three GOP Senate candidates had some support, the decision had in large part come down to the fact that Maragos decided to come speak to his organization, while neither of Maragos’ opponents, Turner or Wendy Long, had paid similar tribute.

“One of the biggest complaints Tea Parties have is that in general, elected officials take us for granted,” Hayon said. “[Maragos] was willing to humble himself to get Tea Party support.”

There is also an alternative theory floating around. Though Hayon was an early supporter of Turner’s congressional bid in 2011, Orthodox Pundit says that Hayon, who is a strident opponent of same-sex marriage, was disillusioned by Turner’s reluctance to campaign on the gay marriage issue during his 2011 congressional special election race, in the wake of the legalization of gay marriage in New York. (Turner did bring up the issue during his unsuccessful 2010 bid for Congress.)

Hayon says gay marriage did play a role in the Brooklyn Tea Party’s endorsement decision – because Maragos is the only candidate to publicly back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage – but insisted that no “payback” against Turner was involved.

As a side note, Hayon says he believes Maragos is likely to eventually get the backing of the National Organization for Marriage, as the only one of the three candidates who has publicly backed the idea of an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.

In an interview, Maragos said it would be “premature” to state that NOM was locked down, and said he would be publicly rolling out more endorsements in June.

In other Republican U.S. Senate primary news, Maragos says a debate has been scheduled for June 19^th in Erie County, while the details of a planned NY1 debate are still being hammered out.

To read more from City & State click here.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez represents New Jersey, but he’s raked in over a million dollars across the border in New York. The Democratic senator, who launched his re-election bid this week, has received $1.15 million in campaign contributions from his New York neighbors, almost twice as much as any other out-of-state House or Senate candidate. The geographic proximity can’t hurt, though another factor may be Menendez’s membership on the Senate Banking and Finance committees, which play a direct role in New York’s financial industry. And Menendez isn’t the only candidate heading to New York to fill their campaign coffers, according to an analysis from the Center for Responsive Politics. Locked in a tight race in Massachusetts, Republican Sen. Scott Brown has raised $630,549 in New York and his Democratic challenger, Elizabeth Warren, is close behind with $575,010. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who could face a tough race this fall, has raised nearly $600,000 from New Yorkers. Among House candidates in the other 49 states, Speaker John Boehner is leading the pack by raising $438,805 in New York, followed by Connecticut congressional candidate Dan Roberti with $393,550 and Majority Leader Eric Cantor with $382,349.

(Robert Menendez at right.)

This piece was originally posted by City & State. To read more click here.

In his latest musing, Diaz tries to guess at who the “rat” is within the Democratic conference that fed that piece of speculation to Daily News reporter Ken Lovett, dropping the names of several of his Democratic colleagues as possibilities. And he even singles out Gov. Andrew Cuomo as a likely candidate for the leak.

You should know that as soon as I read the article, I went around asking people, “Who do you think is this high ranking source plotting to knock Sampson out?”  It is interesting to see all of the names that people mention, starting with Jeff Klein, Liz Krueger, Mike Ginaris and – now hold on to your hats folks – Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Out of all of them, Andrew Cuomo is the most frequent name mentioned.  Even during our Democratic closed-door Conference, his name was mentioned by most of the Senators.  To many, this plot is an act of desperation by those who already visualize a victory in November by the Democrats when the Republicans (will probably) lose their Majority and control of the Senate.

Strangely, Diaz himself called earlier this year for Sampson’s ouster at Senate minority leader, so his moral outrage about the leak seems a little bit odd. But at least, his public outcries against his colleagues are always on the record. And in his column today, Diaz seems to have had a change of heart about Sampson, now saying that with Democrats back in the majority, Sampson would be a “bionic reconstructed man” who is “better, faster, and stronger.”

Here’s the full release from Diaz:

To read the full article at City & State click here.

Christine Quinn tied the knot.

Tom Allon says the main goal of his candidacy is bringing back the Liberal Party.

State Senate

Senate Minority Leader John Sampson likely won’t be voted back as majority leader if the Senate Democrats take back the majority.

The race for Suzi Oppenheimer’s seat is getting nasty, even though it’s comprised of a bunch of “nice guys.”

Mark Grisanti is already out with is second TV ad. And he’s sending out mailers.

State Sen. Tim Kennedy won’t be getting the Conservative line after voting for gay marriage.

Eight senators are being targeted by campaign finance reform backers.

Manhattan

The Post profiled State Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

Charlie Rangel strong-armed State Sen. Bill Perkins for his endorsement.

El Barrio is backing Rangel.

Queens

Dan Halloran is undergoing brain surgery on a benign tumor.

Gatemouth examines links between Jeff Gottlieb and Robert Mittman.

Claire Shulman is robocalling for Grace Meng.

Liz Crowley got some coaching about stop and frisk from a union official.

Elsewhere

Maggie Brooks broke with congressional GOP leadership on the Violence Against Women Act.

“I might just add that I do give a damn,” Espaillat said, “and I would look forward to working with Obama, and I certainly hope he will endorse me.”

At his own recent press conference to receive the backing of current Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., Rangel said he didn’t “give a damn” if he got Obama’s backing in the congressional race, though Rangel’s campaign later walked the statement back.

Espaillat was on hand at City Hall today to receive the endorsement of former Bronx borough president/White House director of the Office of Urban Affairs Adolfo Carrion, which was first reported this morning by City & State.

Carrion, for his part, said he does not believe Obama will get involved in a Democratic primary, simply because it’s a race between two Democrats. He also praised Rangel’s record in Congress, and did not take the bait when asked about Rangel’s ethics violations.

Meanwhile, Espaillat was put in an awkward situation during the press conference, when he was asked about a scandal several years ago involving Carrion getting free work on his Bronx house. In response, Espaillat said that he was entirely unaware of the well-publicized incident, which resulted in a $10,000 city fine.

“No, I’m not concerned about that, and I don’t think there is such things going on,” Espaillat said. “If you have information you can share with me, perhaps, you can give that to me after the press conference. Any other questions?”

Carrion declined to speak about his own political plans, which have included rumored interest in a run for comptroller, and even as a Republican candidate for mayor in 2013.

To read more from City & State click here.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the release of proposed regulations to limit spending for administrative costs and executive compensation at state-funded not-for-profit and for-profit service providers.

The proposed regulations are designed to implement Executive Order 38, issued by Governor Cuomo in January 2012 to limit excessive compensation and administrative expenses at service providers that receive state funds or state-authorized payments of federal funds.

When unveiling the 2012-2013 Executive Budget, Governor Cuomo highlighted cases of extreme compensation levels at not-for-profits that receive millions in taxpayer dollars. In one case, a provider receiving $19 million annually in public funds – 99% of its annual budget – had $3 million in administrative costs and paid its CEO more than $2.2 million in addition to $1 million in shareholder options.

“These regulations are designed to ensure that New York taxpayers are protected and the public’s money is spent efficiently and effectively,” Governor Cuomo said. “Our providers of services in New York State are the finest in the nation. To ensure public confidence in those hard-working providers that play by the rules, these regulations will allow the state government to identify and stop the few providers that pocket taxpayer dollars rather than use them to serve the public.”

The proposed regulations cover providers that receive more than $500,000 in state support each year and receive at least 30% of their annual funding from the state.

Executive Compensation:

The proposed regulations block providers from spending more than $199,000 in state funds for the compensation of an executive. If a provider chooses to pay an executive more than $199,000 from other sources, the provider must keep compensation below the top 25 percent in the field, as determined by a compensation survey identified or recognized by the applicable state agency. Providers that pay an executive more than $199,000 must have the compensation approved by its board of directors, including at least two independent directors and must have performed a review of comparability data. In cases where competitive imperatives or the complexity of a provider’s operations require compensation that exceeds the limits and in other instances, providers may apply for a waiver.

Administrative Expenses:

The proposed regulations require that at least 75% of a provider’s operating expenses paid for with state funds are for program services rather than administrative costs. This percentage will increase by 5% each year until it reaches 85% in 2015. Capital expenses are not affected by this restriction. Waivers are available in certain circumstances.

Reporting:

The proposed regulations require providers to report annually the public funds it has received, the compensation of its executives and highest-paid employees, and its administrative expenses. Providers can file reports electronically using a simple, state-wide form, and they will not need to report to multiple agencies. This reporting requirement has been designed to avoid duplication with existing reporting requirements with which providers already must comply.

Enforcement:

The regulations proposed today include a process for providers to apply for a waiver to restrictions on executive compensation and administrative expenses. In addition, the proposed regulations provide for an administrative review process in cases where a provider appears to be out of compliance. The review process will provide extensive opportunities for providers to be heard and to correct any non-compliance over a period of at least 6 months prior to any penalties or actions being taken against them. If a violation is ultimately found and corrective action not taken by the provider, the proposed regulations include several potential actions, including redirecting the funding or imposing penalties.

Jeff Wise, President & CEO of the New York State Rehabilitation Association, said, “NYSRA views Governor Cuomo’s compensation directive as highly sound public policy. We believe the Governor has come up with an approach that strikes just the right balance: a directive that demonstrates responsible stewardship of public dollars while giving our not-for-profit community organizations, and their volunteer boards, the capacity to meet the challenges that face them. We recognize the Governor’s need to promote fiscal responsibility at every level, and we commend his efforts to pursue this in a rational and fair manner.”

Michael Stoller, Executive Director of the Human Services Council, said, “Governor Cuomo recognizes the critical role played by the nonprofit human services sector in caring for the State’s most needy and in being, itself, an economic engine for the State. We join with him to ensure public confidence in both government and service providers by taking this important step to establish clear standards for executive compensation and administrative overhead. While technical details will need further discussion during the public comment period, these standards strike the right balance in identifying “bad apples” while not overburdening the vast majority of nonprofit providers who ably care for our neighbors and family members in need. We look forward to working closely with the Governor and his staff in completing these regulations and in developing the most efficient, effective, and compassionate system of care the world has ever known.”

Lee Perlman, President of the Greater New York Hospital Association, said, “The Governor has an important responsibility to ensure that non-profit institutions are using public monies judiciously. GNYHA agrees and supports his efforts to ensure that best practices and strong governance oversight are used in determining executive compensation. In order to recruit and retain the talent necessary to operate our complex and world class institutions, many factors must be considered including local and national market data.”

John A. Schuppenhaur, President of the New York State Association of Regional Councils, said, “NYSARC has always strongly believed that it is accountable for public funds. The Governor’s action will help ensure the public that in these challenging times we are indeed being accountable. That can only help safeguard the public trust which has always been so critical to our mission and the people and families we serve. Further, clear guidelines will help all nonprofit boards comply with their fiduciary responsibilities.”

The proposed regulations are being released today by thirteen state agencies and will be available for public comment beginning on May 30 for 45 days before being finalized. Each of the applicable agencies will post their draft proposed regulations on their web pages this afternoon. An example of the proposed agency regulations can be found here: http://w3.health.state.ny.us/dbspace/propregs.nsf/4ac9558781006774852569bd00512fda/fe1abd5a1b78ad8585257a00005afe2e?OpenDocument

To read more from City & State click here.

Bill Thompson, courtesy of Wiki Commons.

2013 Mayoral Race

A major developer who gave campaign contributions to Bill Thompson also benefitted greatly from Thompson’s stint chairing the Battery Park City Authority.

Thompson was the only one of the major mayoral candidates who was not signed onto an op-ed backing the prevailing wage bill.

U.S. Senate

Mayor Ed Koch said that Bob Turner incorrectly downplayed Koch’s support of Turner’s rival, Kirsten Gillibrand.

State Senate

DSCC chairman Mike Gianaris said he didn’t encourage the JCOPE investigation into SRCC chairman Tom Libous.

Manhattan

Adriano Espaillat has long held higher political ambitions.

Charlie Rangel’s top adviser is confident he’ll win re-election.

Queens

The mysterious Robert Mittman issued a campaign press release.

Brooklyn

DC 37 is reportedly set to back Charles Barron.

District Leader Lincoln Restler faces a new bruising battle this year against a Vito Lopez-backed candidate.

Nydia Velazquez and Erik Martin Dilan both made their cases on Inside City Hall.

The Fidler-Storobin race appears headed for a recount.

Bronx

Bob Kappstatter appeared on the Perez Notes.

Elsewhere

NY State Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs is resigning, clearing the way for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make his own pick.

Lawmakers agreed to move the state legislative primary date to Sept. 13.

The Club for Growth rated the conservative credentials of New York’s Tea Party freshmen.

To read more from City & State click here.

Whither Citizen Connects online chats, the program the Cuomo administration started last fall to let commissioners and agency heads live chat with New Yorkers (or anyone, really) who had questions for them? The chats, which happened on a weekly basis since late September of last year, have been on hiatus since the end of February. No new chats have been conducted since news outlets picked up a story in early March of a FOIL request of the questions Gov. Andrew Cuomo was asked in his own online chat. The New York Times outed one chat participant as Cuomo’s own daughter, who asked a question that was actually an inside joke from a Monty Python movie. A spokesman for the Cuomo administration declined to comment.

To read more from City & State click here.

Former mayoral candidate Mark Green is planning to endorse Manhattan Borough president candidate Julie Menin, the Community Board 1 chairwoman who says she’ll run for BP if Scott Stringer leaves the seat vacant in 2013. Green, who met Menin when he was president of Air America, also plans to host a fundraiser for her with lawyers Richard Emery and Gerald Lefcourt. “It was an easy decision to help Julie,” Green said, citing her managerial experience and personal values as assets in her campaign. “She asked and I’m happy to help in any way, except by starting a Menin super PAC. She’ll have to get someone wealthier and more politically corrupt to do that. You could look through her record and all, but to me of all the things she’s done, I was most impressed by how welcoming she was to the Islamic center and occupy wall street, when both were really hot hot topics,” he said.  ”I’m proud to have the support of a great progressive leader like Mark Green, and proud of the momentum of our borough-wide campaign,” Menin said.

To read more from City & State click here.