COMMUNITY BULLETIN – November 2002

Message from Liz . . .
I am extremely happy to report that I have been reelected to a full term. I am also happy to report that it appears there will be movement on a number of key issues that were not addressed during the regular session. On October 22nd, Majority Leader Joe Bruno announced that he would be calling the Senate back into session in December, and that he would bring the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act and legislation to provide Medicaid cost relief to counties to the floor for a vote. He also suggested there might be action on other measures as well, such as Rockefeller Drug Law reform and superfund financing. While this announcement was clearly timed to influence the election, movement on SONDA and some of these other issues would be a significant step forward.

While I am pleased that we will be going back into session to deal with at least some of the unfinished business from last year, the fact that once again it is only the whims of Joe Bruno that determine whether or not important issues affecting our state will get addressed demonstrates the underlying dysfunction of our legislative system. Our legislature remains stuck in the nineteenth century as we try to address the problems and issues of the twenty-first century.

Furthermore, Senator Bruno neglected to mention what we really will need to be doing when we return to session in December – dealing with the terrible budget gap New York State faces, and that we knew we would face when we passed the budget back in May. It now appears the New York State may face a gap of up to 10 billion dollars, which will require us to make some very difficult choices about both budget cuts and tax increases. This shortfall also means that the State is not likely to be much help to New York City, which also faces a severe fiscal crisis. Given the way we make decisions in Albany, I am extremely concerned that our legislature will not act responsibly to reestablish the State on a sound financial footing.

Whatever we accomplish when the Senate returns to Albany in December, the underlying problem will remain – an undemocratic, non participatory legislative process where one man – Joe Bruno – determines what issues will or will not get addressed. I firmly believe that the State Senate must completely reform its rules in order to overcome the current situation. I will discuss my proposals for accomplishing this in the Policy Spotlight below.

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Community Spotlight

Report from the Murray Hill Town Hall Meeting:
On October 17th, I joined Assemblymember Richard Gottfried in hosting a Murray Hill Town Hall Meeting. Over one hundred residents attended and discussed both local and state issues, including the budget crisis, educational issues, and the impact of traffic and development on the neighborhood. I found the discussion extremely useful in letting me know what community members were concerned about, and in identifying specific problems with city and state policies. This Town Hall was one of a series I have been hosting in different communities. Stay tuned for information about upcoming meetings.

Spotlight on Policy

Rules Reform

As you probably know by now, one of my major concerns in Albany is in reforming the antidemocratic processes of our State Senate. To that end, last month I sent a 34 point rules and budget reform package to my Senate colleagues designed to create a more democratic, open and deliberative State Senate. It is our responsibility as legislators to address the current dysfunctional system directly, and I have offered these proposals as a first step down that road. I intend to spend the months ahead building a critical mass of support for these changes among my colleagues on both sides the aisle.

Procedural reform is hardly an esoteric concern, for our rules fundamentally shape the ways in which the State Senate addresses – and fails to address – issues of great importance to New Yorkers. It is important that we begin working immediately toward a legislative process that will allow us to do the jobs we were elected to do – to represent our constituents in Albany.

My proposal outlines a number of bizarre practices in the legislature, including the fact that members do not even have to be present on the floor to have their votes count. If members check in at the beginning of session and leave, they are counted as voting yes on every piece of legislation that comes up that day. Members also do not have to attend committee meetings because they can vote by proxy. Nor is there any functioning conference committee system to resolve differences between the Assembly and the Senate when they pass similar legislation, leaving it up to the Senate and Assembly leaders and the Governor to make backroom deals about the most critical issues facing New York State.