A few years ago, Albany was named the most dysfunctional state legislature in the nation by a good-government group. But as I begin my career as the newest state senator from Manhattan, there are signs that the legislature may be beginning to shake this embarrassing moniker once and for all.

Before the legislative session began, I helped elect a new Democratic leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins from Westchester. Sen. Stewart-Cousins represents a series of long-overdue firsts. She’s the first African-American woman to lead a conference and the first full-time legislator to serve as a leader in many years. Her singular focus on governing will help insulate her and the entire Democratic caucus from the special interests that have held Albany captive for decades.

You may have heard that we Senate Democrats, while winning a numerical majority of seats in November, still ended up in the governing minority because some renegade Democrats made a deal to support the Republicans, keeping the GOP in power. Only in Albany, you might say? I remain optimistic and see this factional split as a transitional phase. As Democrats continue to win more seats due to demographic changes, it’s just a matter of time until we control the chamber.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s agenda this year also gives me hope as a progressive Democrat. Although we don’t have all of the details, the governor’s State of the State address put forth a series of progressive reforms, ranging from a comprehensive women’s health and equality initiative, to campaign finance reform, to decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, to innovative ideas for job creation. Also, I was pleased not to hear any plans to push hydrofracking, which I strenuously oppose. And on my first full day in Albany as a state senator, we passed the governor’s assault weapons ban, the toughest in the nation. After a decade of inaction on gun laws—not to mention the tragedy at Sandy Hook and the spate of gun violence in the city this summer—it was long overdue and represents the defeat of the gun lobby.

This week, there will be an important test as the governor announces his proposed budget for the coming year. New York faces enormous structural fiscal challenges. As a result, there will be calls by some for further austerity measures by cutting social services to the bone.

We must fight this effort. New York’s poverty level is the highest in decades. A family of two in New York living on minimum wage is beneath the poverty level. The slow economic recovery and record unemployment, particularly among people of color, have only heightened the crisis.

For progressives, the challenge will be how we advocate for policies in the budget that reverse the growing gap between the rich and poor. Will we follow the lead of the federal government and push for a more progressive tax structure that strengthens our social safety net and saves the state from sliding further into economic turmoil? If Albany is truly to continue on the pathway from dysfunction and reassert its claim—as the governor put it in the State of the State—as the progressive capital of the nation, we must confront the need for new revenue while protecting the most vulnerable in our society.

Brad Hoylman represents New York’s 27th Senate District, which includes parts of the Upper West Side, Chelsea, Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen, Greenwich Village, Midtown/East Midtown, the East Village and the Lower East Side.

Gun detractors and defenders are up in arms after spates of recent violence. What will new laws mean for our safety?

By Emily Johnson

The first person to be killed with a gun this year in Manhattan was a 16-year-old kid.
Raphael Ward loved baseball and was devoted to his 7-year-old brother. On the night of Jan. 4, he took a bullet to the chest after he refused to hand over his warm winter jacket to a group of thugs.
At the time, state Sen. Dan Squadron said of the crime, “We must continue to work together as a community to fight the scourge of gun violence and make our homes and our streets safer for our families. From stronger gun laws to improved safety at NYCHA developments, we are reminded far too often that the time to act is now.”

Vows of action after tragedy are common and seldom become reality, particularly where guns are concerned. But in this post-Sandy Hook era, suddenly everything that once seemed politically fraught is on the table. And New York is at the forefront of a long-dormant issue that has exploded into the national awareness since 26 people, including 20 young children, were gunned down in the Connecticut elementary school on Dec. 14.

On Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill that expanded a ban on assault weapons, limited the number of bullets allowed in magazines and bolstered mental health regulations surrounding gun ownership.

The response to the law, predictably, was immediate and furious. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott invited disgruntled New York gun owners to move to the Lone Star State. The National Rifle Association cried foul on the haste with which the bill was pushed through, and together with the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, immediately organized a legal team to review the bill.
The governor defended speed as necessary to prevent a rush to snatch up more guns before the laws went into effect. Considering that in first weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting, the mere suggestion of gun control being reopened for discussion sent people around the country into a gun-buying frenzy, he may have had a point.

Sen. Squadron, a longtime advocate of increased gun control, welcomed the new regulations and called for President Barack Obama to follow suit.

“Our work isn’t done,” he said. “Where Albany has acted, Washington must now act as well.”
Washington didn’t take long to follow suit. Last week, invoking Sandy Hook’s child victims, Obama announced a comprehensive initiative aimed at rolling back gun violence and called on Congress to reinstate the national assault weapons ban and to establish universal background checks for anyone buying a firearm. He also signed 23 executive actions, which did not require congressional approval, that implemented steps like incentives for states to share background check information and hire school resource officers. These were moderate actions, for the most part, aimed at cracking down on school shootings from every angle.

Has there ever been a sleeper issue that, when roused, was more of a lightning rod than gun control? In a polarized country where the Second Amendment is defended with well-funded and fervent zeal, the president himself didn’t go near the issue during his first term, and treated it as taboo in a reelection campaign wary of scaring off swing-state voters.

But now that the NRA has lost its chokehold on the issue, the can of worms it has opened nationwide is astonishing. As liberal activists and politicians leap at this window of opportunity, the panicked gun lobby is doubling down, arguing that more guns make us safer. Conspiracy theories have sprung up claiming that the killings at Sandy Hook were fabricated, or part of an elaborate government plot. The First Amendment was thrown under the bus in favor of the Second when a White House petition to deport CNN’s Piers Morgan for publicly urging stronger gun control received over 100,000 signatures. It has set off heated debates about race in the context of mass shootings, which are predominantly carried out by white men. It has launched a series of provocative, viral articles on mental health by people identifying with shooter Adam Lanza, or with his mother. It has prompted blistering criticism of the media’s role in creating future mass shooters by sensationalizing their actions.

Amid all of this noise, is there no factual common ground? Will this bill actually be effective in curbing gun violence like the incident that claimed Raphael Ward’s life?

New York Assembly members and state senators, a largely blue assortment of people, overwhelmingly hailed the new bill as a positive step.

“While it should not have taken the tragedy of Sandy Hook to begin the long-overdue conversation on guns that we are currently having, I am glad that New York state, which already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, will act to make them tougher,” Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal said, while Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he was “very pleased that the governor said he would join the Assembly in enacting serious and meaningful gun safety legislation.”

Some mental health experts, however, had concerns about one provision of the law: namely, requiring therapists, doctors and social workers to report patients they see as dangerous—which would automatically disqualify them for gun ownership.

Dr. Paul Appelbaum, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, told the New York Times that the requirement “represents a major change in the presumption of confidentiality that has been inherent in mental health treatment” and warned that it could discourage people with potentially homicidal tendencies from seeking help in the first place.

Other mental health elements of the plan have been better received, such as an amendment to Kendra’s Law. The 1999 law, which requires people who have been deemed a sufficient risk to society to undergo psychiatric treatment, has been extended through 2017 and outpatient treatment will now be required for a year, up from six months.

Laila Dewan, 37, who has two young sons and lives in the same Lower East Side housing complex where Ward lived with his mother, was cautiously optimistic about the New York law.

“It’s great,” she said. “It’s important to protect kids, you know?”

“It’ll be better for everybody, if it actually does make a difference.”

We asked the state senators and assembly members from our neighborhoods to respond to Gov. Cuomo’s State of the State address

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered his annual State of the State speech, addressing a population that had recently been shaken by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and the unthinkable violence of the school shooting in nearby Newton, Conn. The governor proposed a bevy of sweeping legislative changes to bolster the state’s economy, strengthen the public education system, and crack down on guns and assault weapons. We spoke to state legislators from Manhattan to find out how the governor’s proposals might affect New York City residents and how these leaders plan to follow through on these important issues.

Sen. Liz Krueger, Upper East Side

“I was thrilled to see Gov. Cuomo commit to moving key items in my own legislative agenda, especially a comprehensive women’s equality package including several key measures I’ve sponsored or supported.

“Fair pay, workplace fairness, reproductive health, preventing domestic violence—these are priorities I’ve fought for since I joined the Senate, and I welcome Gov. Cuomo’s leadership and hope he can help us break through the deadlock in Albany that has prevented real action on too many of these issues.

“I was happy to see Gov. Cuomo continue his commitment to passing a comprehensive gun control package including a stronger assault-weapons ban.”

Assembly Member Micah Kellner, Upper East Side

“Gov. Cuomo put forward a progressive agenda to make New York a model for equality, innovation, education and technology. I look forward to working with him and his administration to implement the toughest assault weapons ban in the nation, enact meaningful campaign finance reform, provide equality for women and raise the minimum wage for working New Yorkers.

“Encouraging new businesses to thrive in New York City is something I have long promoted as the sponsor of an Angel Investor Tax Credit, which provides tax incentives to individuals who invest in startups so that companies that develop in New York remain in New York. The governor’s proposed “innovation hot spots”—tax free zones to ensure new technologies developed in New York are commercialized here—is an exciting idea, which could not come at a better time as the new Cornell-Technion campus breaks ground on Roosevelt Island.”

Assembly Member Dan Quart, Upper East Side

“I support the governor’s broad thinking on education issues. The governor’s competitive grant program will allow public schools the opportunity to reimagine their school days with more instructional time. Families who are looking for a longer school day or year will be able to find a public school that can provide those things.

“I applaud the governor for taking a strong stand against gun violence in New York. I support a policy of using the state’s buying power to curb the sale of semi-automatic machine guns. As the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to contacts for firearms for the New York State Police, Gov. Cuomo can and should leverage the state’s buying power against gun manufacturers who have prioritized profits over the safety of New Yorkers.”

Sen. Adriano Espaillat, Upper West Side, Manhattan Valley, Washington Heights

“As the sponsor of legislation to raise the minimum wage, I was heartened to hear Gov. Cuomo express his support for this initiative, which will help millions of New Yorkers rise out of poverty and be able to better make ends meet.

“I commend the governor for his commitment to enacting swift gun reform legislation. As the sponsor of legislation to restrict gun sales and strengthen our gun laws, I am pleased to join the governor in calling for strong reform to gun laws that will make New York’s the toughest in the nation.

“I applaud Gov. Cuomo for his decision to direct $1 billion toward the production and preservation of affordable housing in New York City.

“Additionally, I strongly support the governor’s call for a Women’s Equality Act, ensuring that all women have true equality regardless of gender.

“Finally, I also commend Gov. Cuomo for his call to invest in the future, by educating our youth, including a plan for fully funded pre-K.”

Sen. Brad Hoylman, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen, Upper West Side, Midtown/East Midtown, the East Village and Lower East Side

“I am heartened by the governor’s renewed call for an assault weapons ban and other measures to fix New York’s porous gun laws, especially in light of the tragedy at Sandy Hook and the spate of gun violence across New York City last summer. The governor’s Women’s Equality Act, which includes support for pay equity, is a bold effort to end discrimination and inequality based on gender, and I appreciate his strong call for passage of the Reproductive Health Act to protect women’s right to choose. I was also pleased to hear his plan to lessen the harm caused by the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy by decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana and advance campaign finance reform through the public financing of elections.

“The creation of a $1 billion affordable housing fund appears promising, although we also need measures to strengthen rent regulation laws, which have been bottled up by special interests for many years. And while I’m pleased to hear of the governor’s support for increasing the minimum wage to help address the growing gap between the rich and poor in our state, working families will not see a lasting benefit if we fail to index any increase to inflation.”

Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, Upper West Side

“I was pleased to hear Gov. Cuomo outline an aggressively progressive platform for New York state. While it should not have taken the tragedy of Sandy Hook to begin the long-overdue conversation on guns that we are currently having, I am glad that New York state, which already has some of the toughest gun laws in the country, will act to make them tougher. I am eager to cast my vote in the affirmative on a comprehensive package of common-sense gun laws.

“During these tough economic times, it is critical that we raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation to help build ladders to the middle class by guaranteeing that hard-working families are paid a fair wage for a day’s work. Recognizing the role that gender-based discrimination plays in economic security for women and their families, I was pleased to hear the governor focus on achieving real pay equity in New York state. I am the prime sponsor of legislation that would equalize the pay gap that still exists for women employed in stereotypically female-dominated fields, and look forward to working with the governor to pass this and a number of other reforms to end gender-based discrimination and also violence against women and girls. In addition to pay equity, I am excited that the governor will be seeking passage of the Reproductive Health Act as part of a broader Women’s Equality Act, which would focus on protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual harassment and human trafficking.”

Assembly Member Deborah Glick, Greenwich Village and Tribeca

“I’m very excited about the governor’s strong position on women’s equality. I will be working with a broad coalition to ensure that his agenda on women is passed in the Assembly. In addition, measures to increase the minimum wage and close gun loopholes are crucial.”

Sen. Daniel Squadron, Lower Manhattan

“New Yorkers are crying out for the common sense protections that will help keep our streets and our families safe from gun violence. I’ve long supported legislation that would close major gaps in our assault weapons ban—including the weapon used in Newtown and Webster. There is simply no reason for civilians to carry these military-style weapons. I applaud the governor for making a tougher assault weapons ban part of his proposal.

“In addition, I stand with Senate Democrats, the Assembly and the governor in support of microstamping. Blocking the bill means depriving police of a vital, cost-effective tool to connect shell casings with their guns. It’s simply mind-boggling that Senate Republicans would continue to block microstamping and let hundreds of murder and gun violence cases go unsolved each year.
“I also applaud the governor for highlighting the in-plain-view marijuana possession statute and the inconsistent way it’s enforced. In large parts of our city, entire communities feel like suspects targeted by law enforcement rather than citizens protected by it. The governor’s proposal to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana in public view would be a critical step toward ending these inequities.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Lower East Side

“As our Lower Manhattan community continues to recover from Hurricane Sandy, I commend the governor’s call for strengthening our infrastructure, such as subways, and I will continue to join my fellow elected officials to demand that Congress end its delays and release the aid that our residents so desperately need. I was also very pleased that the governor said he would join the Assembly in enacting serious and meaningful gun safety legislation. We in the Assembly have passed comprehensive gun reforms year after year, including bills to strengthen our state’s assault weapons ban, require the micro-stamping of shell casings to help police track guns used in crimes, keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and many other common sense measures. As one of our state’s leading advocates for universal pre-K, I commend the governor for joining our effort to make greater investments in our children, especially here in New York City.”

By Alan S. Chartock

There is a new bill floating around the Legislature that would bar prosecutors and the police from confiscating condoms from “sex workers,” also known as prostitutes.

Prosecutors use the seized condoms as evidence against the prostitutes. Obviously, if sex workers use condoms, both they and their clients are protected from disease. The idea that the police are confiscating the condoms and/or using them as evidence for convicting prostitutes seems ludicrous when we know that the condoms are protecting people. Prostitution in any form is the world’s oldest profession; it will be around long after we are gone. You don’t have to be in the Secret Service to understand this truth.

Naturally, many law enforcement professionals are against changing the law. If they are convicting prostitutes, they don’t want anything standing in their way, even the public’s health.

There is a political subtext to all of this, which comes down to control of the New York State Senate by the Republicans or Democrats. Right now, just a few measly votes are needed for the Democrats to take control of the Senate. The Democrats did such a bad job running their house after they took control a few years back that lots of people were left thinking that the state was better off without them. Maybe that’s why they were kicked out—they ignored the secret of New York politics, which is that if you don’t have the middle class (they vote big time), you can’t win.

In fact, one could surmise that one of the reasons so many of us, based on the evidence, think Gov. Andrew Cuomo prefers to work with the Republicans rather than the Democrats in the Senate is that the Senate Democrats are far more progressive than Cuomo. This is a governor who goes where the votes are. He doesn’t deviate from that. His father was known for doing the opposite, and in the end, it probably cost him his last re-election effort. Just Google “Mario Cuomo death penalty.”

The middle class doesn’t appear to think or care that much about sex workers. That’s why, when State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery stood up to defend the utterly defensible condom bill, she made a point to say, “We are not endorsing prostitution.”

She went on to say, “It is simply the fact that over 100,000 people right now are infected with HIV and AIDS in New York City.”

Sometimes, doing the right thing flies in the face of good electoral politics. My bet is that the Senate Republicans see Democratic Sen. Montgomery’s bill as an early Christmas present. In fact, one has to look no further than to Montgomery’s insistence that she and her conference were not “endorsing prostitution.” When you suggest that you are not doing something, you lead the reader, viewer or listener to the conclusion that you are doing something. In other words, rather than denying something, you are probably better off keeping your mouth shut.

Let posterity record that in this case, I believe the senator is correct. Forbidding the seizure of condoms from sex workers is courageous because it is the right thing to do, even if it isn’t the politically expedient thing to do. In fact, instead of moving to the middle to get more middle-class votes, this bill risks alienating a crucial voting bloc.

If just one life can be saved by encouraging the use of condoms, this bill will be worth it. Sometimes, you just have to do what is right and not what is political. I am waiting to hear Cuomo’s position on this. Just remember, though, that I am not endorsing prostitution.

Alan S. Chartock is president and CEO of WAMC/Northeast Public Radio and an executive publisher at The Legislative Gazette.

Given that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal this year raises education spending by 4 percent, an $805 million bump over last year, all the activity seemed a bit superfluous. But a brief glance at the fiscal woes of school districts across the state suggests otherwise.

Take the Haverstraw–Stony Point school district in northern Rockland County. It has lost $10 million in state aid over the last three years. It has laid off 118 staff members, and will lose another 17 teachers this year.

Two of the five elementary schools have closed, as well as one middle school. Ninth graders are being pushed from middle school into high school to save money. And $11.6 million of the district’s annual budget is tied up in an ongoing court settlement with a local utility company.

Students there can expect fewer sports programs, advanced-placement classes and music classes—and ongoing struggles to educate high-needs children.

“We have in a year’s time undergone an entire transformation,” said Deborah Gatti, president of the North Rockland Central School District. “We’re operating under an austerity system.”

And North Rockland isn’t alone. Dick Weisz, president of the Guilderland school board in Albany County, said his district has eliminated 40 teachers and 40 staff positions over the last two years, and they are still looking at a $2.6 million budget deficit.

“It’s a sobering time,” he said. “Fewer adults means less education.”

Many school districts are chafing under the 2 percent property tax cap Cuomo signed into law last year, as well as a host of mandates they say drive up costs for localities and force layoffs and other cutbacks.

Much of that anger boiled up during a meeting between school board representatives and Budget Director Robert Megna in early March. Board members complained it would be “political suicide” to submit budgets that exceeded the 2 percent cap. Megna encouraged them to negotiate concessions with their local unions.

Tim Kremer, executive director of the New York School Boards Association, said he apologized to Megna after the meeting.

“I just don’t think he was in his element,” Kremer said. “They were not appreciating his responses.”

The message, though, was loud and clear, Kremer said: “Now we’re in deep. And it does not appear anything will change for us in the near future. In fact, a lot of districts talk as if this is a permanent feeling, this particular recession. It feels like we’re not going to recover from it. As some of these smaller, poorer, rural school districts say, ‘There’s just no way out of this hole.’ ”

In a statement, Megna acknowledged that times were tough for schools around the state.

“The last few fiscal years have been difficult for all levels of government, and we are pleased to have offered a long term sustainable solution to school finance by pegging aid increases to personal income growth,” Megna said. “This will result in a School Aid increase of $805 million next year and more than $1.5 billion over the next two years, in addition to significant relief through pension reform.  Working together, we can direct more resources to where they are most needed – the classroom.”

Cuomo is pushing a $250 million competitive grant program as a way to spur cash-strapped school districts to explore cost savings and shared services as a way to reduce expenditures.

But school boards are urging the Legislature to scale back the performance grants, arguing many of the hardest-hit school districts lack the skills and staffers—like grant writers—to compete for that pot of money.

But other groups say the grants are the only way to encourage districts to take the necessary steps to consolidate back-office operations and save real money.

“There’s a status quo out there that’s done things traditionally the old way. This is a more innovative and newer program that, quite frankly, awards school districts based on merit,” said Elizabeth Ling, New York State director of Democrats for Education Reform.

“That can be threatening to the status quo,” she said. “Even though the amount is relatively small, it’s easy to focus on that, rather than making the system better.”

Both the Senate and the Assembly stripped the grant program from their one-house budget bills. But Ling said she is confident that the governor can convince lawmakers to restore the funding.

“There’s a lot of moving parts right now,” she said. “We’ll look to see how it works out.”