News from STATE SENATOR

Liz Krueger

New York State Senate, 26^th District

COMMUNITY BULLETIN – April 2004

Message from Liz . . .

The legislative process of our state has certain rhythms. March and April tend to be a period of waiting, as the “three men in a room” either negotiate or refuse to negotiate the state budget. While we are waiting, I and my Democratic Senate colleagues try to take advantage of some of the legislatures procedures as a way of highlighting issues that are important, but that are being ignored by the Republican majority. One key procedure is called a motion to petition, which allows a member to petition the Senate as a whole for a vote on legislation stalled in committee. This year, the rules only permit motions to petition between March 22^nd and April 1^st, and only permit one motion a day, which imposes an effective maximum on the number of petitions, so we have to strategize about what issues to bring up.

This year there were seven session days in the motion to petition period, so my colleagues and I forced discussion – albeit limited discussion – of seven bills that were buried in committee. When I say limited discussion, I mean it – only the sponsor of the bill is allowed to speak on a motion to petition, and only for five minutes. The majority members generally leave the chamber for the duration of the petition process. Since the majority always schedules motions to petition at the end of the day, many legislators decide to start their evening early rather than listening to, or participating in, a discussion of the issues facing our state. Also, since only yes votes are recorded on the petition, the individual senators from the majority are able to avoid having a vote recorded against legislation that they have told their constituents they support.

So why go to all the trouble? Really there are two reasons. First, going through the process helps highlight the absurdity of our legislative rules, which are so clearly designed to minimize substantive debate on the issues. Second, motions to petition brings attention in the press and to the public to issues of critical importance to our state that are being ignored by the State Senate.

This year I introduced motions to petition on two of my bills, lobbying reform and the expansion of the bottle bill. Among the bills my colleagues petitioned for included an increase in the minimum wage, legislation allowing pharmacies to sell emergency contraception without a prescription, and legislation establishing a code of conduct for gun manufacturers to reduce trafficking in illegal firearms. I was pleased that our goal of drawing attention to these issues seems to be working – the New York Daily News covered the minimum wage vote, and the New York Times discussed the lobbying bill in their editorial series “Fixing Albany.” I am hopeful that this and other publicity will help encourage the Senate majority to address these important issues.

Obviously, motions to petition represent a relatively minor challenge to the Albany power structure. However, given the extremely limited possibilities for minority participation in our legislative process, they are an important way to broaden the debate in Albany.

State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Dick Gottfried

Present a

SENIOR/HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY FORUM:

"MEDICARE CHANGES: WHAT THEY MEAN TO YOU"

· How Medicare Discount Drug Cards Work

· Being a Good Consumer

· EPIC and the new law

· Advocating for Change

Date: Thursday, May 13^th

Time: 2pm –4pm

Place: Community Church of New York

40 East 35^th Street b/t Park and Madison

Call (212) 490-9535 for further information

Community Spotlight

April is National Donate Life Month:

The New York Alliance for Donation is building awareness of the importance of organ donation. Nationally, the current waiting list for organs has reached 84,000. In New York , there are approximately 8,000 people awaiting transplants. One way to ensure that more lives are saved is for all New Yorkers to make the decision to enroll in New York’s Donor Registry. Currently 765,000 New Yorkers have enrolled in the Donor Registry. For more information, or to sign up for the registry, call 1-866-NYDONOR (1-866-693-6667) or visit the New York State Health Department on the web at http://www.health.state.ny.us and click on the “Life Pass It On” logo.

Free Tax Assistance Available:

Eviction Intervention Services and Community Food Resource Center are each offering Free Tax Assistance to eligible individuals. Eviction Intervention Services offers assistance to seniors every Tuesday through April 13^th from 10:00am to 1:30pm. They are located at 150 East 62^nd Street between Lexington and Third Avenue. Walk-ins are welcome, or call

212-308-2210 for more information. Community Food Resource Center offers assistance to individuals with incomes below $35,000 if they have dependent children, and below $15,000 for individuals without dependent children. Their midtown location is at the 1199SEIU office, 330 West 42^nd Street between 8^th and 9^th Avenues, on the 9^th Floor. Hours are Monday to Thursday 4pm-8pm, and Saturday 10am-6pm. No appointment is necessary. Call 1-866-924-3759 for more information.

LEGAL BOUND Summer Junior High and High School Intern Program:

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office is accepting applications for its Legal Bound Summer Internship Program. Students between the ages of 14 and 17 (or 18 if still in high school) with an interest in the law are encouraged to apply. Applicants should send a resume and an essay explaining their interest in the law to The Community Affairs Unit, New York County District Attorneys Office, One Hogan Place, Room 824, New York NY 10013. Applications must be postmarked no later than April 16, 2004. For further information, call the District Attorney’s Office at (212) 335-9082.

“Youth Serving Youth” Scholarships Available to High School Senior Women:

The National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) and the Christian Science Monitor are offering a $2500 scholarship for a college bound young woman who is graduating from high school and has made a significant contribution to the well-being of young people in her community. The criteria for the award include outstanding volunteer or paid service work that promotes the welfare of young people or demonstrates leadership in creating a new approach, program, strategy or initiative that benefits them. The application deadline for consideration is June 30, 2004. To obtain an application or for more information, visit the NFWL on the web at http://www.womenlegislators.org/scholarships, or call them at (202) 293-3040 ext. 1006.

Learn about Broadband and Technology Development at the “Intelligent Communities” Conference:

On June 10^th and 11^th, the Intelligent Community Conference will take place at the Marriot Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. The conference will explore the possibilities for collaboration between government and the private sector in building “Intelligent Communities” that treat Internet bandwidth as an essential utility for creating prosperity and bridging the Digital Divide between poor and wealthy communities. New York City was named “Intelligent Community of the Year” in 2001. For more information on the conference, visit http://www.intelligentcommunity.org/html/ICCA2004.html on the web.

Spotlight on Policy

Update on Budget Reform

I am pleased to report that the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on Budget Reform has agreed on a substantial reform package. While the package is not perfect, and has a long way to go before it becomes law, I believe this is a significant step toward reform. It includes a number of ideas that I have long supported, including the creation of an independent budget office, a reduction in the use of off-budget accounts, long term financial planning, and more detailed reporting of state spending.

The principles of the agreement are as follows:

An amendment to Article VII of the Constitution would contain the following provisions:

• Provide for a contingency budget that would continue the previous year’s spending if a budget is not in place at the start of the State fiscal year. If expenditures are projected to exceed revenues, the Legislature is authorized to reduce spending.
• Create additional reserve funds to provide funding for ensuring school aid payments and a contingency reserve (which could be used to close fiscal year gaps or supplement the next fiscal years’ budget).
• Provide for two supplemental multiple appropriations bills after a contingency budget is in effect.
• Provide for a January 15^th submission of the Executive Budget, except in the year following a gubernatorial election (February 1^st).
• Reduce from 30 days to 21 days the time that the governor can amend her/his budget.

Constitutional amendments must be approved by two sessions of the legislature, and by a vote of the general electorate in a statewide referendum.

Additional legislation to reform the budget process would include the following provisions:

• Change the start of the fiscal year from April 1 to May 1.
• Provide for two year funding of education aid.
• Require Health Care Reform Act (HCRA) funding be included in the budget.
• Provide for detailed three year financial plans.
• Provide additional financial plan reporting to include cash flows, technology purchases, journal transfers, etc.
• Create an Independent Budget Office (IBO) that is empowered to issue a binding revenue forecast if consensus cannot be reached by the legislature. The Executive Director of the IBO would be appointed by the Senate Majority Leader and the Assembly Speaker and can be removed by joint action of the Majority Leader and Speaker.
• Require agency budgets to be made available to the public at the time of the Executive Budget hearings.

Taken together, I believe these reforms would represent a significant step towards the creation of a more rational, open, and accountable budget process. The success of the conference committee in putting together this package is also unprecedented in the recent history of the legislature. I will keep you informed of the progress of this package through the legislative process.