[NYAPRS Enews] Spitzer's State of the State Expected to Outline Ambitious Agenda

[Harvey Rosenthal]

Spitzer Writing A Twofold Message

by MICHAEL ROTHFELD  Newsday Staff Writer  January 3, 2007

 

ALBANY - At the outset of his stewardship of New York, Gov. Eliot
Spitzer is expected to lay out today a dual agenda of government
overhaul and economic revitalization in his first State of the State
address. 

 

He will formally announce the first phase of the 3-year, $6-billion
property tax cut plan to be included in his budget on Jan. 31. That
proposal aims to help middle-class homeowners through increases in
school tax exemptions tied to income.

 

And Spitzer will call for unity of purpose in a capital city known for
horse-trading and stagnation, according to remarks released in advance
of the message he is to deliver in the Assembly chamber this afternoon. 

 

"Our first objective is to reform our government," Spitzer is expected
to say. "Not merely for the sake of reform, but because if our state is
to prosper again we need a government that is a catalyst for change
instead of an impediment."

 

In the kind of intellectualized language he is known for, the new
governor will talk about adapting to the "Innovation Economy," based on
knowledge and ideas, and cutting costs to deal with a "perfect storm of
unaffordability" for businesses and residents.

 

In addition to the tax cut, Spitzer plans to propose fixing worker's
compensation, calling it "a system that does not work for anyone,"
because of high employer premiums and low benefits for injured
employees.

 

Spitzer's remarks, such as his call for "pragmatic politics instead of
partisan politics," and "results instead of empty press releases," echo
themes he outlined in his campaign and in his inaugural speech Monday. 

 

Spitzer has devoted particular attention to reviving the state's sagging
upstate economy. Yesterday he also said he would report each year on the
"State of the Upstate," to track specific initiatives. The
administration plans this year to name an upstate development czar based
in Buffalo, increase upstate school aid and work on bringing affordable
high-speed Internet access to upstate cities and towns. 

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-ststat035037942jan03,0,585386
,print.story?coll=ny-statenews-headlines

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Spitzer Speech Will Urge Fiscal Restraint 

By DANNY HAKIM   New York Times    January 3, 2007

 

ALBANY, Jan. 2 - Gov. Eliot Spitzer will call for the state government
to "rein in spending," cut property taxes and overhaul the workers'
compensation system in his first address to state lawmakers on
Wednesday. 

 

His speech, or at least excerpts that his staff released on Tuesday,
focused more on the economy than the inaugural speech he delivered on
Monday, which more generally addressed the need for a "new brand of
politics" in a state government mired in gridlock and scandal. 

 

According to the excerpts, Mr. Spitzer plans to issue a call "to rein in
spending and exhibit fiscal restraint" to better afford "long-term
investments for our future."

 

"We must reverse the decline of our upstate economy, sustain the
economic expansion downstate and develop new ways for those communities
which have been left behind to share in the prosperity," according to
the prepared remarks.

 

The speech will open a new legislative session. Among the other events
of the day, the Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, is expected to
be re-elected temporary president of the Senate, despite a federal
investigation of his outside business activities. Mr. Bruno is the
state's most powerful Republican and will be a counterweight to the
governor. 

 

After a closed-door meeting on Tuesday with other Republican senators,
Mr. Bruno said the investigation did not come up. 

 

"We're not talking about that," he said. "The people are pretty well
informed as to what is going on, and, again, there isn't anything that
we have been accused of, so were staying focused on our agenda."

 

The only public dissenter among Senate Republicans, Senator John J.
Bonacic, said he intended to vote against Mr. Bruno but conceded he did
not know of any other senator who would do the same. 

 

"As I see it, if our majority leader bleeds, the conference bleeds," he
said. 

 

Mr. Spitzer's staff also said on Tuesday that officials in his
administration would prepare an annual report on the upstate region to
be issued on the day the governor delivers his annual addresses to the
Legislature. They also reiterated many of the proposals they made during
the campaign aimed at reviving the upstate region including expediting
infrastructure projects like a new Peace Bridge, which connects Western
New York and Canada, and ensuring that upstate towns have high-speed
Internet access. 

 

His plan to cut property taxes will also be felt upstate. His first
budget, due on Feb. 1, will include "the first installment" of the
three-year, $6 billion property tax cut plan he laid out during his
campaign. That plan includes a $1.5 billion property tax cut for the
fiscal year beginning in April, a cut specifically aimed at the middle
class. 

 

"The fundamental problem with the current system is that it doesn't care
whether or not a person can afford to pay their property taxes," Mr.
Spitzer said in the speech excerpts. "Thus, the millionaire gets the
same tax cut as the middle-class homeowner. I hope together we can fix
this flaw."

 

The prepared remarks have Mr. Spitzer saying, "Property tax cuts and
increased support for education must be considered in tandem," a nod to
the Republican-controlled Senate on property taxes and to the
Democratic-led Assembly on education. 

 

In a sign of his desire to improve the business climate upstate, Mr.
Spitzer will call for an overhaul of the workers' compensation system,
which he also made a priority during his campaign. Unlike many states,
New York does not limit how long injured workers can receive payments
for certain kinds of injuries, including head and back injuries. 

 

Executives like Robert S. Miller, the chairman and chief executive of
the auto supply giant Delphi, have criticized the state for high costs
related to workers' compensation. On the other hand, unions do not like
the system either, because the maximum weekly payment of $400 has not
been raised in recent years. 

 

In his prepared remarks, Mr. Spitzer calls workers' compensation "a
system that does not work for anyone, not the employers who pay some of
the highest premiums in the country and not the workers who receive some
of the lowest benefits."

 

He said that the government must reduce costs that are too high for
businesses and citizens - the "perfect storm of unaffordability."

 

And as he did in his inaugural speech, he plans to lay blame at the feet
of his predecessor, George E. Pataki, and perhaps to some extent at the
other two men who have run the state for more than a decade, Mr. Bruno
and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat. 

 

"We are operating in a deficit environment inherited from a culture that
failed to make hard choices," the remarks quote him as saying. "We're in
this position because of a lack of leadership."

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/nyregion/03albany.html?ref=nyregion&pa
gewanted=print

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Daunting Days Ahead For Spitzer 

Incoming Governor Faces Some Major Challenges In Translating Campaign
Talking Points Into Reality  

by JAMES M. ODATO, Albany Times Union    December 31, 2006 

 

ALBANY -- It's time for Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer to walk the walk.

Starting Monday, Spitzer must show how he and legislative leaders will
get a balanced, on-time budget.

 

He must prove that his government will be open and transparent, even as
the closed-door, three-men-in-a-room paradigm seems impossible to break.

 

He must demonstrate leadership in reforming lobbying, campaign financing
and politics-as-usual.

 

He will need to change a culture in which lawmakers are accustomed to
stalling, horse-trading and bringing home money for their districts, all
under the nearly nonstop pressure of facing re-election every two years.

 

As the state's 54th governor, Spitzer must show 19 million New Yorkers
how things, as he continues to say, will change on "Day One."

 

"The proof will be in the pudding when you get behind the rhetoric, when
the policies have to be implemented" said John Faso, the Republican
Spitzer beat in capturing 69 percent of the vote in November.

 

So far, Faso said, Spitzer seems to be making the right moves, coming up
with "top-notch" appointments and smart advisers, while identifying key
initiatives.

 

During this transition period, Spitzer has continued to talk like the
"Sheriff of Wall Street," the name he acquired for tackling business
corruption during his eight years as attorney general. But, come Monday,
he'll have to act, too.

 

For instance, he says he won't go along with the typical pork barrel
spending of the Legislature, but he hasn't said what he'll do
differently other than to require that discretionary grants, or member
items, be identified in the budget. That would require lawmakers to
reveal the specific items months before they've done so in the past.

 

Spitzer hasn't said anything about greater agency oversight of the
controversial spending.

 

Such funds, lawmakers say, have been used by leaders to enforce loyalty
and discipline. Trying to remove that power could put Spitzer
immediately at odds with Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and
Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.

 

On the thorny -- and financially crucial -- issue of American Indian
casinos, Spitzer has to deal particularly with the Oneidas' Turning
Stone casino in Verona, which has been operating for nearly two years in
alleged violation of state and federal gaming laws. So far, he has said
only that it's a problem he will have to sort out.

 

And there are other questions. He has sharply criticized Gov. George
Pataki's scores of secretive public authorities. Now that they will be
part of Spitzer's realm, which will he eliminate? Will he curb their
spending and borrowing and release expenditures such as the employee
salaries?

 

On the financial front, how does Spitzer's promise to cut $6 billion
from property taxes get done? How does he honor his commitment to trim
Medicaid spending and direct hospital closures? How does he confront the
Campaign for Fiscal Equity ruling, which calls for $1.9 billion in extra
aid to New York City schools -- especially since Assembly Democrats
think that figure is too low? Other districts, too, will be clamoring
for a share of any increase in aid.

 

Faso said Spitzer's first budget plan, due Feb. 1, and the negotiations
leading up to the April 1 start of the fiscal year, will be telling.
Democratic insiders don't expect Spitzer to have smooth sailing, partly
because of the institutional tensions between the Legislature and the
executive branch, partly because Silver is unwilling to move as swiftly
as results-oriented Bruno and Spitzer.

 

A problem facing Spitzer is the enormous amount of extra cash expected
to arrive in Albany because of a good year on Wall Street, Faso said.

 

Spitzer said he would cut waste and rethink programs so he could afford
the property tax relief and education spending he proposes. But
downsizing the budget is easier when there's no money to point to,
fiscal analysts say.

 

"He's going to have to stick to what he said about controlling state
spending -- easier to do in hard times," said Elizabeth Lynam, of the
Citizens Budget Commission.

 

Faso said Spitzer will likely have to fend off spending sprees demanded
by special interest groups and the Legislature if he's serious about
crafting a budget that copes with multibillion-dollar budget gaps in
upcoming years. Spitzer has also promised not to raise taxes.

 

Douglas Muzzio, a public affairs professor at the City University of New
York's Baruch College, said Spitzer will send a clear signal if he
fights with the Legislature over revenue projected to be available for
budgeting. Such fights have featured Bruno criticizing the state budget
director for being too conservative and Silver suggesting the governor's
numbers are politically biased.

 

"I would expect him initially to try to work with both Silver and Bruno,
but at a point soon into his term, they're going to come to
loggerheads," Muzzio said. "He will have to demonstrate, particularly to
Silver, that he can work with legislators -- as a challenge to the
speaker's authority."

 

Such strategies can backfire for a governor, as lawmakers are inclined
to gather around their leader. But Spitzer has promised to use his bully
pulpit to take his quest for change to the public. How soon will he do
that?

 

On the political front, Spitzer says he'll fill 1,000 jobs during his
first year, but he pledges to be blind to political party registrations.
The Democratic Party, which hasn't had a governor in New York for most
of Silver's time as speaker, may be counting on some spoils.

 

Party friction, which started six months ago at the Buffalo convention
when Silver was denied his bid to introduce Spitzer, may ignite a fire
before long, some political observers say.

 

Spitzer has talked about lobbying and ethics reform, and the indictments
of several lawmakers in recent years could help him press the cause.
Attention focused on those issues could open his administration to
criticism if Spitzer doesn't act promptly.

 

"He doesn't want to get mired in it," said Dan Walsh, recently retired
leader of the Business Council of New York State.

 

Spitzer, Walsh said, will also have to steer lawmakers away from
changing the Berger Commission plan for hospital closings and mergers or
risk losing $1.5 billion in federal funds earmarked for the state if it
abides by the commission's recommendations.

 

Tinkering with the plan could also "whittle" the savings it projects
from restructuring the health care system, Walsh said.

 

Several observers, including Walsh, say Spitzer will likely send
messages early. Walsh expects Spitzer to unveil a worker's compensation
reform plan in his first State of the State address on Jan. 3, combining
restricting permanent partial disability payments with a modest increase
in benefits.

 

The new governor will also send a message by promptly negotiating new
contracts with public employee unions, some observers predict. All
contracts expire at the end of March.

 

The issues will be rapid-fire, those interviewed say, and the public
will be comparing Spitzer's campaign promises to his actions. But with
his mandate, he's "riding high and riding strong," said one Republican
lobbyist, and shouldn't have to bend to any group.

 

"I think Eliot Spitzer will prove to do what he says he's going to do,"
said Thomas Suozzi, the Nassau County executive who unsuccessfully
challenged Spitzer in a primary for governor. "He's got a big challenge
ahead of him, but I think he's up to the task." 

 

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=549460&category=STATE
&BCCode=CAPITOL&newsdate=12/31/2006

--------

 

Spitzer's Campaign Outlined His Agenda  

Associated Press   December 30, 2006 

 

During his successful campaign for governor, Democrat Eliot Spitzer laid
out a broad agenda. Here is some of what he offered: 

 

TAXES 

He has said he is opposed to raising state taxes. He has proposed a plan
that would provide $1.5 billion in property tax relief in 2007, $2
billion in 2008 and $2.5 billion in 2009, all targeted at middle-class
families. Spitzer's tax cuts would come through an increase in STAR, a
property tax credit plan started by Gov. George Pataki and the
Legislature. Families at or below the median state income of about
$60,000 a year (higher for wealthier areas) would see up to an 80
percent increase in the STAR benefit.  That would taper off until the
household income is twice the median income. New Yorkers earning in the
top 2 percent of income -- more than $235,000 a year -- would see no
additional benefit. 

 

ECONOMY 

Spitzer called for a "New York State Innovation Fund" to support
research with "direct commercial application." He said he would
streamline work force training programs, create a fund for immediate
training needs and duplicate Ireland's "One Step Up" campaign to improve
worker skills, all to help keep young New Yorkers from leaving the
state. He wants to overhaul the state's economic development programs,
including the $500 million in Empire Zone tax breaks that too often go
to politically connected companies. 

 

ALBANY SPENDING 

Spitzer has identified $11 billion in spending cuts and revenue raisers
over several years that he said will be needed if spending is increased
for education and other areas. He has vowed to bring Medicaid spending
under control and attack fraud. 

 

EDUCATION 

Spitzer had said he would provide $4 billion to $6 billion toward the
CFE decision and more for other high-needs schools statewide, but that
was before the state's top court ruled in late November that the state
must pay at least $1.93 billion more each year to provide "a sound,
basic education" to New York City school students. Subsequently, Spitzer
said he would call for higher spending than the court had ordered. He
has also said New York City should spend more on its schools, a
proposition that Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposes. Spitzer also supports
boosting the number of charter schools, currently capped at 100. 

 

GAY MARRIAGE 

Spitzer favors gay marriage and says he will sign legislation
authorizing it if the Legislature approves it. 

 

DEATH PENALTY 

Spitzer has said he supports the death penalty for terrorists, killers
of police officers and for those involved in heinous crimes, but won't
make it a top anti-crime priority.

 

ALBANY REFORM 

Spitzer would limit the governor and other statewide candidates to two
terms and seek unspecified term limits for all legislators. 

 

PAY RAISES 

Spitzer has said he is opposed to immediate pay raises for state
legislators who currently have a base salary of $79,500 a year. 

 

CASINOS 

Generally, Spitzer has been supportive of allowing Indian-owned casinos
in New York as an economic development tool. He has said casinos should
only be negotiated with tribes that have land claims in New York. 

 

HOSPITAL CLOSURE 

Spitzer joined Gov. Pataki in successfully calling for adoption of the
state commission report that would close nine hospitals statewide. Like
Pataki, Spitzer has said the report is not perfect, a position that
leaves open the possibility that he may go along with changes. 

 

HEALTH CARE 

He has said he wants a health care system that covers every child in New
York state and he has a goal of cutting the total number of uninsured
New Yorkers in half in four years.

 

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=1923520&version
=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.1.1

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