News
from STATE SENATOR
Liz Krueger
New York State Senate, 26th
District
COMMUNITY BULLETIN – June 2003
Message from Liz . . .
In Albany on June 9th the Senate
Democratic Task Force on Legislative and Budgetary Reform held the first in a
series of public forums on Legislative and Budgetary Reform. As Chair of the Task Force, I will be
holding similar forums throughout the State.
These forums will provide an opportunity to explore various proposals
for reform as well as to raise awareness and build coalitions to fight for
change in Albany. I was extremely
pleased by the broad cross section of witnesses who testified at the first
hearing. The openness of individuals
from across the political spectrum to join me in the fight for reform confirms
my belief that there is a real opportunity to build a broad based coalition to
fight for substantive change.
The forum brought together academics, good government groups, liberal and conservative think tanks and legal strategists for a lively discussion of proposals for reform. Among the witnesses were E.J. McMahon, Senior Fellow of the Manhattan Institute; Frank Mauro, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute; Gerald Benjamin, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at SUNY-New Paltz; Jeremy Creelan of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School; Ronald Deutsch, Executive Director of SENSES; Blair Horner, Legislative Director of NYPIRG; Richard Kirsch, Executive Director of Citizen Action; Jillian Matundun, Election Reform Advocate of Citizen’s Union; and Barbara Bartoletti, Legislative Director of the League of Women Voters.
The witnesses
offered a number of useful suggestions regarding my legislation for rules and
budgetary reform (outlined in last month’ s bulletin), and also suggested important
structural changes that were necessary to create the conditions for such
reforms to take place. While the
specifics of the proposals of the individual witnesses varied greatly, there
were many common threads. Those
witnesses who focused on budgetary reform all agreed that it was both possible
and desirable to create mechanisms that would create a more transparent and
timely budget process. Witnesses who
focused their attention on rules changes stressed that real rules reform was
not just about empowering individual legislators, but about empowering the
people who those legislators represent.
Finally, there was general agreement that real internal legislative
reform requires campaign finance reform.
The Albany system may be dysfunctional for the people of New York, but
it is all too functional for the corporate and special interests that have the
money to take advantage of the lack of real campaign finance rules in New York
State.
I expect to issue a
report outlining the results of this first forum, and will keep you informed of
future forums. I learned a great deal
from the discussion on June 9th, and will be incorporating the ideas
from that forum in future legislation.
I am extremely grateful to all the participants in the forum, and to my
colleagues on the Task Force on Legislative and Budgetary Reform who joined me
in this extremely informative event.
|
“The
Senator is “In” Rotating Office Hours In the
District Upper East Side Date:
Saturday, June 14, 2003 (weather permitting) Time: 11:30am-1:30pm Place: East 86th Street b/t
First and Second Avenues (in front of Gristedes) |
Community
Spotlight
Report on Transportation Town Hall
Meeting:
Earlier this month,
my office sponsored a town hall meeting to discuss transportation issues. Approximately fifty
people attended the event to discuss several issues of importance to the community,
including MTA reform, the Second Avenue subway,
articulated buses, elimination of bus stops, rehabilitation of subway stations,
and federal support of NYC transportation systems. The event featured a distinguished panel of
specialists with a wide range of transit expertise including:
Dr. Robert Paaswell, Director of the University Transportation Research Center
at CCNY, Trudy Mason of the Permanent Citizens' Advisory Committee for the MTA,
George McAnanama of the Transport Workers Union (Local 100), as well as Neesa
Pranger of the Straphangers Campaign.
The panel’s range of expertise offered a big picture perspective on
local issues. A number of important
issues were raised concerning traffic and bus service that my office is working
with the appropriate agencies to resolve.
Report on Arts Roundtable for
Non-Profit Theaters:
Earlier this month
my office held the third in a series of “arts roundtables” aimed at fostering
discussion between government and the arts community. This month’s roundtable was aimed at the non-profit theatre
community. Representatives from
twenty-five organizations joined me in a discussion of issues, including
legislative priorities, the state budget, the effect of the economic downturn
on the arts community, and opportunities for collaborative efforts involving
government and the theatre community.
Many participants commented that the roundtable offered a unique
opportunity by bringing together theater directors who otherwise have little
chance to share their experiences. There was substantial discussion about how my office could serve
to encourage collaboration between theaters to help them implement cost saving
measures and address the financial impacts of the current economic climate on
their theaters. Also, based on the
suggestions of the group, I am planning a fourth roundtable that will focus on
arts and education. For further
information, contact Susan Chamlin in my office at (212) 490-9535.
Public Hearings on Second Avenue
Subway:
Last month I
submitted testimony at an MTA hearing on the Second Avenue Subway Environmental
Impact Statement. I am extremely
pleased to report that the Second Avenue Subway project is moving forward on
schedule toward a groundbreaking date in late 2004. The project is currently in the environmental review phase, and
it is essential that there be substantial community participation now to
minimize problems when construction commences.
Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) Public
Hearing on Proposed Rent Increases:
In a preliminary vote last month, the NYC Rent
Guidelines Board granted landlords approval to increase rent stabilized rents
by the largest percentages since 1989.
I have many serious concerns about what this decision will mean for the
more than two million low, moderate and middle-income rent stabilized residents
of New York City who are already facing nearly unprecedented levels of
unemployment and cost of living increases. During these extraordinarily
difficult economic times, I fear that these rent increases will lead to further
hardships, and even evictions, for tens of thousands of New York City’s
families.
Despite building owners legitimate claims that
their operating expenses have risen significantly during the last year due to
the rising property tax rates and the costs of insurance and fuel, the rent
regulated real estate market continues to be one of the most consistently
profitable investments in New York City.
According to the RGB’s own reports, owners’ net operating income has risen
every year since 1990, mortgage interest rates for multifamily buildings are at
their lowest level in over 25 years and the overall condition of the city’s
rent regulated housing stock continues to improve. While it is reasonable to expect tenants and landlords to share
the burden of increased operating expenses, this burden must be shared in
proportion to each group’s ability to pay.
It is unconscionable for building owners in one of the most profitable
economic sectors of our economy, to pass all of their expenses onto tenants who
have a median income under $31,000. I
will urge the members of the RGB to reconsider their decision when I testify
before the board. Please join me in
testifying at the public hearing, which will be held on Tuesday, June 17th
from 10AM to 10PM at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, 7 East 7th
Street. Testimony on apartment rent
increases will be heard from 1:15PM to 6:00PM and from 8:15PM to 10:00PM.
Rent Law Renewal
As they did
in 1997, the “three men in a room” are once again holding tenants hostage by
waiting until the last minute to deal with the renewal of rent regulation. As of today, there continues to be great
uncertainty as to whether the rent laws will be strengthened, be renewed as
they are, or be substantially weakened.
Earlier this week, Majority Leader Joe Bruno issued contradictory
statements, one day calling for a strengthening of the laws by increasing the
rent at which vacancy decontrol would be activated, and the next calling for
lowering the vacancy decontrol threshold.
I remain committed to a full repeal of vacancy decontrol, which in its
present form will slowly end rent regulation by removing more and more units
from regulation each year, and by creating additional incentives for landlords
to find ways to raise the rent on apartments to reach the threshold.
I have been
gratified to see a constant presence of tenants in Albany in the last few weeks
– this presence is essential to ensure that tenant voices are heard at this
critical moment. Landlords and their
lobbying organizations are certainly working to have their voices heard through
campaign contributions totaling $2.7 million since 1999. Furthermore, their organizations continue to
fight rent regulation with palpably false arguments, such as that it
discourages the construction of new affordable housing (even though newly
constructed apartments are not regulated unless the developer enters the
program voluntarily in order to get tax breaks).
The real
solution to the rent wars is to remove the state from the process altogether,
through repeal of the Urstadt Law, which prohibits New York City from
establishing more stringent rent regulations than are authorized by the
state. Ironically, this law flies in
the face of one of the most closely held principles of my Republican colleagues
– local control and home rule. I have
been pointing out this inconsistency to a number of my colleagues, and they
have expressed openness to the idea of repealing the Urstadt Law. Then we can fight the rent wars on the much
more even battlefield of New York City, where a strong campaign finance system
would substantially weaken the power of landlord money.
Rockefeller Drug Law Repeal
As the
session enters its final weeks, efforts to repeal or reform the Rockefeller
Drug Laws are again being discussed at the state level, thanks in large part to
the grassroots advocacy efforts of Mothers of the Disappeared, the Hip Hop
Summit Action Network, and others. Late
last month the Assembly passed A7078, which offers some limited but important reforms
of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, including the restoration of judicial discretion
to divert many nonviolent drug offenders into treatment programs rather than
sending them to prison. However, A7078
represents a substantial compromise from original proposals for Rockefeller
Drug Law reform proposed last year, and would provide only limited help to the
vast majority of nonviolent drug offenders currently in prison.
I do not
know if I will end up supporting the Assembly bill –- if the same bill
comes to the floor of the Senate --- I do believe we can and should do
better. Many in the advocacy community
are pushing for legislation that would fully repeal the Rockefeller Drug Laws,
on the grounds that they have the effect of requiring nonviolent drug offenders
to serve significantly more time in jail than many perpetrators of violent
attacks. I agree with the argument of
the advocates that treatment, not prison, is a more just response to drug
offenses in many cases, and that judges should have discretion in all
nonviolent cases to make that determination.
In addition, advocates have estimated that repeal of the Rockefeller
Drug Laws could save more than $600 million currently being spent on
unnecessary incarceration. For these
reasons, I have joined State Senator Tom Duane as a cosponsor of S4860, calling
for repeal of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
While such a goal will be extremely difficult to achieve, I do hope that
if we are unable to win full repeal, we should be fighting to get as close to
repeal as we can. I will be working
with my colleagues and with the advocacy community to achieve these goals in
the days ahead.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
District Office: 211
East 43rd 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
On the Web at http://www.lizkrueger.com