News from STATE SENATOR

Liz Krueger

New York State Senate, 26^th District

COMMUNITY BULLETIN – April 2003

Message from Liz . . .

As we enter the new fiscal year without a budget, the latest reports from the “three men in a room” seem to indicate that we are making no progress. The primary sticking point at present seems to be the Governor’s unwillingness to consider any tax increases (except of course for those he has already offered in his budget under the name of “fees”). Interestingly, an alliance seems to have developed between both the Senate and the Assembly that the levels of cuts proposed by the Governor to healthcare and education are unacceptable. The consequences of this stalemate will get increasingly severe, as the state will continue to spend and collect revenue at last years levels, which will only increase the budget gap as the year goes on.

I have made clear my opposition to the draconian cuts in the Governors’ budget and am currently trying to focus attention on the “tax expenditure” part of the budget. Tax expenditures are provisions in the tax code, such as exclusions, deductions, credits, and deferrals, that are designed to encourage certain kinds of activities or to aid taxpayers in special circumstances. Since tax expenditures are designed to accomplish certain public goals that otherwise might be met through direct expenditures, it seems reasonable to apply to tax expenditures the same kind of analysis and review that the appropriations and capital budgets receive. Tax expenditures cost New York State $29 billion in annual revenue. When we look at some of the things New York State gives tax breaks for, I am convinced that we will find many tax expenditures are less worthy of protecting than funding for education and health care.

Some examples of tax expenditures that I think we should be looking at are:

· Rehabilitation credit for historic barns, costing the state $93.2 million.

· Sales tax exemption for cable television service costs the State $215 million.

· Investment credits to the financial services industry for property purchases cost the state $10 million.

· Sales tax exemption on sales of precious metals cost the State $99 million.

· Exemption from tax on capital gains for property that is transferred at death costs the state $604 million.

While there may be legitimate reasons these and other tax exemptions should be preserved, what concerns me is the lack of discussion about tax expenditures. We are discussing cutting billions from our education and health care budgets despite the devastating effects such cuts will have on New Yorkers. If such cuts are worth considering, then eliminating tax expenditures must also be on the table as an alternative.

District Office: 211 East 43^rd Street, Suite 1300, New York NY 10017 (212) 490-9535 Fax: (212) 490-2151

Albany Office: Room 302, Legislative Office Bldg., Albany NY 12247 (518) 455-2297 Fax: (518) 426-6874

“The Senator is “In”

Rotating Office Hours In the District

Upper East Side

Date: Saturday, April 12, 2003 (weather permitting)

Time: 11:30am-1:30pm

Place: 1^st Avenue and 61^st Street

(in front of Bed, Bath and Beyond)

Raindate: Sunday, April 13, 2003 (same time & place)

Tenants Town Hall Meeting

· Legislative Updates

· Strategies for Tenant Activism/May 13^th Lobby Day

· Information on Tenant Rights

Cosponsored by: State Senator Liz Krueger

Assemblymembers Pete Grannis and Jonathan Bing

East Side Tenants Coalition

Met Council on Housing

Eviction Intervention Services

New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition

Date: Tuesday, April 22^nd

Time: 7:00-9:00pm

Place: Hunter College, West Building, Room 714

Lexington & 68^th Street

Transportation Town Hall Meeting

· Systemwide Planning and Budgetary Issues

· Public Transportation in Manhattan

· East Side Issues – Second Avenue Subway, Bus Routes

Participants include representatives from:

Permanent Citizens’ Advisory Committee of the MTA

Straphangers Campaign

Transport Workers Union, Local 100

Community Representatives

Date: Thursday, June 5th

Time: 7:00-9:00pm

Place: Jan Hus Church, 351 East 74^th Street

Between First and Second Avenues

Community Spotlight

Update on Plans of Elimination of Engine Company 44:

I am extremely disappointed to report that Mayor Bloomberg’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Firehouse Closures has recommended the elimination Engine Company 44, currently housed at 221 East 75^th Street. The company is slated to be replaced by a Squad Company, which will not serve as a local fire company as Engine Company 44 has. The mayor has ordered Engine Company 44 eliminated in 45 days. I am currently exploring any actions that can be taken to forestall this decision.

Youth Civics Program Holds “Mock State Senate”:

On Sunday, April 6^th, my office held our first “Mock State Senate” for High School Students. The Session was conducted in City Hall Council Chambers, and was the culmination of a semester long program that provided education in the functions of state government and the legislative process. Twenty-five student participated in the Sunday session, where students debated a number of actual Senate bills. The debate was vigorous and engaged, and much more active than most of what occurs in the actual State Senate in Albany. I will be expanding this Program for the next academic year, as a way of both providing education to students and of encouraging them to engage in the political process.

Medicare Rights Seminar Offers Training to Advocates:

Last month in conjunction with Assemblymember Pete Grannis and the Medicare Rights Center, my office held a Medicare Rights Seminar, designed to train advocates on navigating the complexities of Medicare rules. Approximately thirty-five people attended the training session, including constituent advocates for elected officials offices and representatives from agencies that serve seniors. Among the topics discussed were eligibility issues, “Medigap” programs, and mechanisms for challenging benefit denial. The participants also used the opportunity to get assistance in resolving specific constituent problems. I plan to develop future trainings on similar topics to help ensure advocates are in the best position to help their constituents and clients. In this period of fiscal retrenchment it is also essential that we support programs like Medicare, which is essential to protecting the health and vitality of our seniors. We must keep up the pressure on the Federal government to preserve its funding.

Free Health Screenings for Respondents to the World Trade Center Attacks:

The World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program is offering free, confidential medical examinations to anyone who participated in the rescue, recovery, clean-up, or restoration of essential services in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Among the participating providers are the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the Bellevue/NYU Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic. For information on receiving an examination, call the Screening Program Hotline at 1-888-702-0630.

Access to Financial Education Resources:

The New York State Banking Department has established a Financial Empowerment Clearinghouse that lists programs that provide education in financial planning, credit management and saving and investment. The programs are searchable by area, topic, or target audience. To access the Financial Education Clearinghouse, visit the website at www.banking.state.ny.us/fec or call the Financial Empowerment Hotline at 212-709-3595.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month:

Each year, there are over 3 million reported cases of child abuse in the United States, as well as countless more cases that go unreported. Furthermore, child abuse cases increase during times of stress, making our current climate of economic hardship and international conflict particularly dangerous for children. Love Our Children USA is organizing a number of legislative and consciousness raising projects in association with National Child Abuse

Prevention Month. For more information, call them at 1-888-301-5118 or visit their website at www.loveourchildrenusa.org.

Spotlight on Policy

Rent Law Renewal and Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol

I am pursuing a number of strategies to ensure that our rent laws are renewed as soon as possible, and to convince my fellow legislators that provisions such as vacancy decontrol are detrimental to the preservation of affordable housing in New York City. Earlier this month, I offered a “motion to petition” on the Senate floor in an attempt to force State Senate action on legislation to renew rent regulation and repeal vacancy decontrol. A motion to petition allows members to force the full Senate to vote on whether to allow legislation to come to the floor for consideration. On legislation held up by Majority Leader Joe Bruno, a motion to petition is the only way to force Senators to go on record in any form regarding that legislation. I was saddened that none of my Republican colleagues – even those on record as supporting the renewal of rent regulations and vacancy decontrol – was willing to stand up to Joe Bruno and support allowing a vote on this bill (S.380), even though the bill was substantially the same a Republican rent law renewal bill, sponsored by Senator Frank Padavan. The Assembly passed “same as” legislation on February 3^rd of this year. The rent laws are scheduled to expire on June 15, 2003, unless the Senate acts.

S.380 would extend rent regulation laws until 2010, and would also repeal vacancy decontrol, which removes unoccupied apartments renting for over two thousand dollars from rent regulation. According to a study done by New York State Tenants and neighbors based on the Housing Vacancy Survey, 168,000 apartments in New York City, and an unknown number in Nassau, Rockland and Westchester Counties, have become deregulated because of vacancy decontrol. Vacancy decontrol creates incentives for landlords to find ways to reach the two thousand dollar threshold, and has dramatically decreased the availability of affordable housing in New York City. Deregulation of housing also deprives tenants of a host of protections from landlord harassment and retribution, thus making it much harder for tenants to demand safe, habitable conditions in their apartments.

I am also working to demonstrate to my upstate colleagues the economic impact that an end to rent regulation would have on upstate counties that depend on tourist revenues. I have written to my colleagues and provided them with information on the amount of tourism revenue generated in their districts by New York City residents. My office is also organizing a postcard campaign, to encourage rent regulated tenants to write to the Senators for areas they vacation in. Many upstate regions are extremely dependent on tourism, and if a substantial number of people will no longer be able to afford to travel due to increased housing costs, these regions will suffer economically. I believe this is a useful mechanism to bring the economic impact of rent regulation home to upstate Senators. Please contact Sarra Hale Stern in my office at (212) 490-9535 for more information on this postcard campaign.