State Lawmakers React to Difficult Legislative Session
With two different majority leaders in the New York State Assembly and Senate, Democrats openly in dissent of Governor Andrew Cuomo, and several high stake issues to piece together, this year’s legislative session was eventful as it was combative.
The legislative session ended last month, in which two Putnam County freshman state senators wrapped up their first taste of Albany deal making and two veteran assembly members representing parts of Putnam continued to have different opinions on how much progress was actually made at the state level for their constituents. This session was the first in which Assembly majority leader Carl Heastie and Senate majority leader John Flanagan led their respective lawmaking body after the arrests of former majority leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos.
Assemblyman Steve Katz, in consistent fashion, said lawmakers got nothing of importance done in this legislative session, noting stronger ethic reforms, better small business policies, and ways to reduce unfunded mandates did not come to fruition.
In fact, a legislative session should be reduced, as well as a lawmaker’s pay, Katz, a Republican, said because most of the work being done in Albany is unproductive. Taxpayers are being “ripped off” for $165 million a year, Katz said, which is how much it cost for legislators and staff to work, among other costs. New York is one of only three states that have a six-month session, Katz noted.
“The legislature works for two months out of the year, two months of work,” Katz said. “The rest of it is scrambling around to look busy. I’ve been there for five years, I’m telling you that’s what’s going on.”
Katz, who has always been outspoken about how business is done in Albany, said 95 percent of state lawmakers, “are corrupt, mediocre, self-serving, reelection driven, professional class politicians that you are ever going to see.”
While something like the tax cap was extended, Katz said all that guarantees is a raise in taxes each year. He also said the tax cap without mandate relief is an illusion.
“We have virtually spent six months putting out the stupidest bills,” Katz stressed.
While Katz voiced discontent that reached points of disgust on how Albany continues to operate, other lawmakers representing part of Putnam struck a more positive tone.
Democrat Sandy Galef said even though it started out a little slower than anticipated, it eventually became a productive session. One aspect Galef highly touted was the circuit breaker tax program that she has been working on for many years. The program is designed to help residents pay their taxes by relating their household, gross income to what they pay in taxes. The only caveat, Galef noted, is it won’t start until 2017.
“We’re starting a whole new process in helping people pay their taxes,” Galef said. “I think that’s very significant and an issue many of us have been debating for a long time.”
Galef also noted she was glad that the tax cap was extended, calling it a helpful mechanism to stymie tax growth imposed on property owners each year. The tax cap would not apply to BOCES capital, which would allow local school districts to fund building improvement more freely for BOCES, Galef said.
While mandate relief was not tied to the tax cap for another year, Galef did note pension costs on school districts and municipalities have generally decreased, and the state voted for greater education aid than given to school districts in a “very long time.”
New York State Sen. Sue Serino, a Republican, said in a statement that operating within a dysfunctional capitol this session was a “culture shock,” but “despite the turmoil, there was a lot accomplished.”
Serino, a freshman lawmaker, listed the extension of the property tax cap until 2019-20, a major boost in aid for local schools, implementation of a State Education Department review and its standards, as well as laws passed to empower and better improve the lives of seniors and veterans. The Women’s Equality Agenda was also signed off on, which would ensure equal pay, protect pregnant women from discrimination at work, and strengthen human trafficking laws. The controversial tenth provision, which would safeguard late-term abortion rights, was scrapped earlier this year.
Serino noted the Republican-controlled state senate passed revisions to the controversial SAFE Act, but it could not get through the assembly that has a Democratic majority.
“While these were major wins for residents of the Hudson Valley, I am well aware that there is still a great deal of work to be done,” Serino stated. “and my constituents should know that I have not lost the fire that brought me to Albany.”
As for another freshman lawmaker, Sen. Terrence Murphy, he called this session an “incredible learning experience.” He noted while some important issues were left undecided until next year, the state legislature “delivered property tax relief by extending the property tax cap another four years, cut the Gap Elimination Adjustment by more than half which translates to more funding for our local schools and advanced critical legislation that will help us win the war on heroin and opioid addiction.”
