March 14 , 2008
Senate, Assembly Pass One-House Budget Plans
While Governor Spitzer's resignation has left a big question mark beside the enactment of a final state budget, both the Senate and Assembly have passed respective one-house alternatives, setting the stage for formal budget negotiations to begin with Governor David Paterson next week.
NYSAC is pleased to report that the Senate and Assembly have taken positions in support of major county priorities and have either restored or rejected many executive budget initiatives targeted by NYSAC. Both the Senate and Assembly have demonstrated their support by fully rejecting the proposal to eliminate state reimbursement for local juvenile detention and both houses restored 1% of the 2% increase in the local share of welfare.
The following are additional highlights from the Senate and Assembly proposals of interest to county government.
- The Senate accepts the proposal to cap county Preschool Special Education Program expenses, but modifies the plan to reject the shift of $43 million of state costs to local school districts. The Assembly rejects the executive’s proposal.
- The Senate rejects the proposed increase in local document recording fees, while the Assembly modifies the proposal to lower the overall benefit to counties.
- The Senate restores $85 million for the nursing home rebasing transition funds and restores 50 percent of the proposed 35 percent nursing home trend factor reductions. The Assembly accepts the nursing home cuts proposed in the executive budget.
- The Senate restores CHIPS funding by $9.4 million to bring this years allocation in line with the 2007-08 level of $312.5 million. The Assembly adds $60 million as part of their spending plan to bring the total CHIPS funding level to $363.1 million.
- The Senate accepts proposed local procurement reforms, while the Assembly rejects the proposal.
- The Senate rejects the proposed collection of sales tax on certain Internet sales within New York State, while the Assembly has accepted the proposal.
- Both the Senate and Assembly reject the proposed consolidation of the multiple taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. Under the plan, the current local sales tax on motor fuels would be replaced with an equivalent local excise tax.
- The Senate rejects the proposed creation of an office of Indigent Defense Services, including the capping of county revenues from the Indigent Legal Services Fund (ILSF) at $72 million. However at NYSAC’s request, the Senate accepts language that authorizes the State Comptroller to make necessary adjustments in payments to counties in relation to their ability to meet the ILSF Maintenance of Effort requirements. The Assembly accepts the proposal, but modifies it to establish an independent office within the Unified Court System.
- The Assembly has proposed to modify the terms of the local Medicaid Cap to limit county Medicaid administrative reimbursement. Under their plan, they would set a new maximum allowable reimbursement at 3 percent over the prior year claims. This is a new proposal and not part of the Executive or Senate budget.
NYSAC is in the process of preparing a detailed comparison of county issues in the competing budget plans and will distribute early next week. If you have any questions, please contact the NYSAC offices. (Ken Crannell)
Governor Designee David Patterson, to be sworn in on Monday
On Monday, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson will be elevated to become New York State’s 55th Governor.
Who is the man that will be the next Governor of the New York State?
Some in our NYSAC community of counties may remember David Paterson as the thoughtful and caring voice at the 2004 Legislative Conference, when he took the podium after the untimely and tragic passing of Dennis A. Pelletier. The then Senate Minority Leader David Patterson brought a sense of calm and peace to a room filled with shocked county officials, and on Monday he will be asked to play a similar role, though on a much, much larger scale.
Here are some highlights of the Lieutenant Governor’s life and career.
- David Alexander Paterson was born on May 20, 1954, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to labor law attorney Basil Paterson and his wife, Portia.
- Patterson was legally blind from birth, with only partial sight in his right eye.
- He attended Columbia University, receiving a bachelor's degree in history in 1977, and then earned a law degree from Hofstra in 1983.
- In 1985, at the age of 31 was elected to the New York State Senate, representing the 30th State Senate District, which includes Harlem, East Harlem, and the Upper West Side neighborhoods of Manhattan. He was the youngest member of the NYS Senate at that time.
- In 2002, he was elected Minority Leader of the Senate, the first African-American legislative leader in state history.
- In 2004, he became the first visually impaired person to address a Democratic National Convention.
- In 2006, he was elected New York's first African-American Lieutenant Governor
- He, his wife, Michelle, and their two children, Ashley and Alex, split their time between a home in his former Senate District and a home in the Capital Region.
- On Monday, he will be sworn in as the 55th Governor of New York State, our nation’s fourth African-American Governor since the Civil War and the first in New York State. (Pete Savage)
Counties at Risk of Losing Indigent Legal Services Funding
Currently, the State Comptroller’s review of county Indigent Legal Services Fund (ILSF) Annual Report for 2007 indicates that as many as 13 counties (Albany, Allegany, Columbia, Delaware, Fulton, Genesee, Herkimer, Madison, Rockland, Ulster, Warren, Washington and Yates) do not meet the maintenance of effort requirements, making them ineligible for a distribution from the ILSF on March 31st.
The ILSF provides revenues from various sources, including court and DMV-related fees to partially offset the increased rates for assigned counsel mandated by the state in 2003. The ILSF requires that a county demonstrate, “with specificity,” either that: (1) there was no decrease in the total amount of local funds expended on indigent legal services during the calendar year when compared to the previous calendar year, or (2) if there was a decrease, all ILSF monies received by the county were used to assure an improvement in the quality of indigent legal services and not to supplant local funds. In the event this MOE is not met, the county loses 100 percent of their share of the ILSF, with those amounts reallocated to other counties across the state.
Since this law’s inception, NYSAC has been concerned that the current law is inflexible and does not take into consideration unique or unforeseen circumstances, nor does it provide discretion for the Office of the State Comptroller to waive or grant exceptions to the MOE requirements. NYSAC is calling for changes to the current MOE requirement to provide needed flexibility and ensure that counties do not lose their ILSF distributions due to circumstances beyond their control. (Adriano Bongiorno)
Senate Labor Committee sends last PERB nominee to full Senate
The Senate Labor Committee this week reported the nomination of Rosemary Queenan to the full Senate for its confirmation to the final vacancy on the Public Employment Relations Board.
Ms Queenan is currently a visiting professor at the Albany Law School. Prior to joining the faculty there, she was the assistant general counsel for the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member of the New York Law School.
Ms. Queenan’s nomination is expected to be taken up by the full Senate next week. If confirmed by the Senate, she will join:
- Jerome Lefkowitz, Chair of PERB, who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this year. Prior to his confirmation he had served as Deputy Counsel for CSEA, Deputy New York State Labor Commissioner and Counsel, and as an Assistant Attorney General for New York State. Mr. Lefkowitz was previously a member of PERB and had served as its Deputy Chair.
- Robert S. Hite, who had previously served as the managing principal in the law firm of Hite, O’Donnell and Beaumont prior to his confirmation by the Senate. He was also special labor relations attorney for the Village of Menands and Eminent Domain counsel for several counties, villages and towns in New York State. He was also a general counsel to AFSCME District Council 82. (Jeff Osinski)
NYSAC to Host Tour of State Corrections Food Production Center
NYSAC has invited member county officials from around the State to join NYSAC for a tour of the New York State Department of Correctional Services’ (DOCS) Food Production Center in Rome, NY. The tour will take place at 10:30 a.m. on April 10th and allow county officials the opportunity see this operation first hand and learn about a new opportunity to purchase these meals for your county jail.
The DOCS “Cook/Chill” facility provides low-cost, nutritional meals to inmates in state correctional facilities, and the 2008-09 Executive Budget Proposal includes a provision to counties to contract with this facility to provide the same low cost meals to county jails. (Adriano Bongiorno)
42nd County Finance School Registration Underway
Sign up today for the 42nd County Finance School, which will be held at the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel on April 30-May 2, 2008. It offers an array of programs designed to support county budget operations and other critical financial issues.
For more information and to register, visit www.nysac.org/Conferences/Finance_School.php.
Save the date for the NYSAC Fall Seminar
The NYSAC Fall Seminar will be held September 24-26, 2008 in Niagara Falls, Niagara County.
Coming Next Week
- Monday—there will be a Joint Session of the New York State Legislature for the swearing in of Governor Designee David Paterson.
- Monday through Wednesday—the Senate and Assembly are in session and are expected to begin joint budget conference committees to negotiate details of the 2008-09 State Budget.
