Legislative Updates

The Riddell Group, LLC 119 Washington Ave., 2nd Flr. Albany, N.Y. 12210 Phone: (518) 434-7400/Fax: 434-0558

Memo

To:	All Clients
From:	Glenn T. Riddell
Date:	June 24, 2011
Re:	The Never Ending Session

Legislative session has ended with major victories won by Andrew Cuomo. However, still no deal in print regarding rent regulation, a property tax cap, mandate relief, a rational tuition bill or marriage equality. The legislature is expected to act on these issues shortly, however a vote may not take place until next week. We will keep you posted.

Plans crumble late, Key issues still up in the air:

After preparing for an all-night session, legislators left the Capitol late Thursday night without action on major issues, continuing a week in which broad agreements failed to translate to legislative action.

"There are still negotiations going on concerning mandate relief," Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said just before 11 p.m. "Bills would not be ready until 4 or 5 in the morning. I think for the good health of all the members, we apologize, but we will be adjourning."

Legislators had hoped to act on an omnibus bill to cap property taxes, renew rent regulations in New York City and relieve some state mandates for local governments and school districts. As of 11 p.m., the bill had not been printed. They were also poised to approve a tuition hike for SUNY and CUNY campuses, authorizing trustees of the public university systems to raise tuition $300 a year for each of the next five years. It, too, remained undone.

And it's still unclear if the Senate would consider a bill to legalize same-sex marriage before leaving town. Several legislators, staffers and lobbyists had predicted a vote in the overnight hours Thursday, and dozens of demonstrators jammed the Capitol halls arguing for and against the measure.

Roughly 100 supporters filled the hallways and galleries of the Senate chamber. Beginning in the morning, they hurled chants and songs at dozens of traditional marriage advocates. Evangelical Christian groups prayed and sang hymns in the Capitol halls, hoping to see the bill fail.

The echoing din was so intense that State Troopers stationed to keep order wore earplugs. The marriage bill passed the Assembly last week, and it has 31 publicly committed supporters in the Senate. But Skelos has not committed to putting the bill on the floor. Emerging from a meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo around noon Thursday, he promised a long conference on the issue, and amendments to the bill designed to strengthen protections for religious organizations.

"Everything is on track," said Skelos, R-Long Island, said at mid-day. The conversation, however, never happened.

The afternoon came and went without the appearance of the omnibus bill, nicknamed "The Big Ugly." According to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, conflicts persisted about exactly when some provisions of the Big Ugly would expire.

The details were mere technicalities, Silver insisted.

Mandate relief has been a sticky point all week. Sources familiar with the bill said it does not contain provisions to change the definition of a "prevailing wage" or require arbitrators to account for a municipality's ability to pay in determining labor settlements.

It does include provisions to allow local governments to "piggyback" on larger state contracts for goods, as well as soften the requirement that school districts provide a bus seat for every student. It would create a Mandate Relief Council that would have the power to immediately force a legislative vote to replace a specific mandate. The mandate relief package could save localities upwards of $100 million dollars.

CSEA Reaches Deal With Governor Cuomo:

New York State's largest public-employee union agreed on Wednesday to major wage and benefits concessions in a pact to avoid sweeping layoffs. The agreement between Governor Andrew Cuomo and the Civil Service Employees Association calls for three years without broad-based raises, while protecting the union's 66,000 members from job cuts.

The five-year deal includes a three-year freeze on base wages and reduces work force costs by $1.63 billion over five years. That includes $1.27 billion in health-care savings; workers would contribute more toward their health insurance and pay more for dental and eye insurance. State workers would also kick in nine furlough days — five this year and four the next; the latter would be reimbursed in the final year of a proposed five-year contract. If all the state's labor groups agree to the terms, the agreement stands to cost taxpayers $3.8 billion less than the previous four-year agreement with the CSEA, which expired April 1

Cuomo had threatened to lay off 9,800 state workers if public workers unions didn't make concessions during contract talks. Without an agreement, CSEA could face up to 4,500 layoffs if Cuomo used job reductions to achieve $450 million in state workforce savings.

CSEA President Danny Donahue said the tentative agreement "balances shared sacrifice with fairness and respect." The union, he said, "stepped up to help produce the labor savings" that Cuomo wanted, while the governor responded to union concerns about job security and wages.

Donahue added: Cuomo's "commitment to organized labor and working families is deeply held and second to no one."

Cuomo said: "I applaud CSEA's leadership for their hard work to reach this deal, which is a win-win for CSEA members and the state of New York."

Officials with PEF, the state's second-largest, state-employee union, tell WAMC they are waiting to hear back from the state's negotiating team on the status of the union's contract offer.

Layoffs still on minus CSEA:

With leadership of the 66,000-member CSEA lending tentative approval to the agreement announced Wednesday, the Cuomo administration has removed members of the union from its layoff list as it awaits ratification by the rank and file.

But due to the complex process of "bumping," "retreat" and other seniority-based protections afforded to state employees, the entire layoff list has to be reconfigured.

That's because members of other unions, including the Public Employees Federation, may have previously been in CSEA or another union before switching jobs or gaining promotions. For example, there are 1,024 PEF members in the state workforce that have "holds," or rights to jobs now filled by CSEA members.

With such rearranging in mind, the Cuomo administration won't be able to give notice Friday to those who may be laid off, as previously planned.

Personnel planners have said the first wave of up to 9,800 layoffs would begin July 15. Because of a three-week notice requirement, people leaving the payroll on that date would have needed their notice on Friday.

Cuomo has repeatedly said that if they can't get $450 million in labor savings this fiscal year he would lay off up to 9,800 state employees as a last resort. As a result state agency chiefs earlier in the month gave the administration their lists of targeted job titles that might be cut in the event of layoffs.

In the meantime, the approximately 4,500 CSEA jobs that were targeted are being removed from the layoff list pending the rank and file's decision on whether to accept the contract.

Cuomo on Wednesday said the CSEA deal, which includes higher health care costs, a furlough and no broad-based raises until 2014 and 2015, is being offered to other unions -- but the positions of the unions wasn't immediately clear .

PEF, with 56,000 members, on Wednesday said it was waiting for a reply on its latest offer. Much of the bargaining, layoff and cost-saving processes appear to be in flux.

Senate Passes Landmark "Power NY" Legislation:

The New York State Senate gave final legislative passage to the "Power NY Act" late Wednesday, to secure the state's energy future by expanding the availability of affordable, clean and reliable electricity, while also creating jobs and boosting the economy.

Power NY (S.5844), sponsored by Senator George Maziarz (R-C, Newfane), has three main components: it reauthorizes and modernizes the licensing process for major electric generating facilities (also known as Article X), provides incentives to consumers for energy efficiency investments, and explores the potential for additional solar power generation in the state.

Article X of the state Public Service Law, which governs the siting of new electric generation facilities in New York, expired in 2003. Since then, the development of major new facilities has been at a standstill, despite a growing demand. This is because it became more difficult and time-consuming to obtain the necessary permits and environmental reviews by private investors seeking to construct power plants.

With the creation of Power NY, Article X has been renewed and improved to facilitate the expedited, fuel diverse, and technology neutral review process for the siting of energy sources that are 25 megawatts or larger. Unlike the prior version, Power NY's Article X provisions do not expire, and they increase the opportunity for public involvement in the review process.

New incentives for the construction of energy efficiency projects would also be available for homeowners through an on-bill recovery mechanism. Customers could borrow funds for qualified energy efficient upgrades to their home and pay back the loan through an installment plan included on their utility bill.

In addition to increasing energy efficiency, Power NY encourages alternative energy production by including a requirement that the state explore the potential for additional solar energy generation.