Document Drop: Senate Dems Committee Assignments

Skelos Holds Off On Bipartisan Committee Chairs
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos has released the list of committee chair assignments and there is nary a Democrat in sight, despite the Long Island lawmaker’s pledge to run a more Bipartisan and equitable chamber. Three senators - freshman Patrick Gallivan, of Buffalo; the Hudson Valley’s John Bonacic and Andy Lanza of Staten Island - are doing double duty with two committees apiece (Children & Families and Social Services for Gallivan, Judiciary and Racing and W...

Senate gets in shape for session
ALBANY -- By next week, it will be a re-made state Senate. Staffers will be Laid Off. Senators will settle into new office suites. Committees under new direction will hold their first hearings. And the quartet of senators making up the new Independent Democratic Conference -- well, we'll see what next week brings. "Those things have not been discussed yet," Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, said of the breakaway klatch. "We're still trying to figure out how this works with a Repub...

Dissident Democrats denied state Senate committee assignments
ALBANY (AP) — The four Democrats who split from their conference in New York’s Senate have been denied assignments to committees that introduce and shape Legislation. The three Veterans and a freshman created what they call the Independent Democratic Conference a week ago. They say they’re seeking government reforms and a fiscal agenda they share with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But Senate Democratic leader John Sampson has taken the Dissidents out of the process that allow...

Sampson, In Minority, Calls For Ethics Reform
Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, called on the Senate to pass a variety of Reform Bills today, including measures that would ban those with business before the state to donate to political campaigns, have an independent commission draw the lines of legislative districts and have require lawmakers who are also lawyers reveal their clients. Sampson, who is leading a minority conference of 28 Democrats (four Democrats are conferencing in an independent conference), pointed to the ...

Political Courage in Albany
As Governor Andrew Cuomo is about to find out, it takes guts to break the mold in Albany. That's why a recent move by four Democratic state senators deserves admiration and congratulations. Last week state senators Jeffrey D. Klein of The Bronx, Diane Savino of Staten Island, David Carlucci of Rockland County and David Valesky of upstate Oneida County announced the formation of their own mini-caucus in the Legislature's upper house. That means they have seceded from the Democratic Senate conf...

Splinter Group of Senate Dems Want MTA Payroll Tax on Chopping Block
The fate of the Payroll mobility tax, which brings in $1.34 billion a year to the MTA, just grew a little shakier. The four members of the State Senate’s new Independent Democratic Conference, who split off from the minority Democrats last week, have come out with their agenda and included in it is a call to “reform” the tax and even consider eliminating it. Any cut to the mobility tax would spell disaster for transit riders. When the Payroll Tax originally passed in 2009, the ...

Living in Albany on $6 a day less
The Assembly chamber had a short session Tuesday as a major storm loomed, leaving only a state cleanup crew. But lawmakers can expect to get their full per diem, even if it is $165, down $6 from last year. The Senate, also hit by the reduction, left early. (Philip Kamrass/Times Union) Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, left, and Sen. Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, talk Tuesday in the Senate chamber. As lawmakers face a huge state Deficit, they will lose $6 a day each on expenses. (Mike Gr...

Assembly does ethics training too
I noted earlier that Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos has mandated ethics training for the Senate including elected officials and Staffers. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has also ordered such training for his staff. But the Assembly, it seems, has done ethics training for members since 1984, noted Assembly Democratic spokeswoman Sisa Moyo. “The first ethics training was in 1984,” said Moyo, who added that when Sheldon Silver became Majority Speaker in 1994 he made it mandatory for...

68th General Assembly set to open today
Colorado's State Legislature will convene for its sixty-eighth biannual session today. The gathering of 65 representatives and 35 senators comes one day after the inauguration of a new Governor, new state treasurer, and new Secretary of State. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by one seat in the November election. Democrats, as they have since Jan. 2005, continue to hold the majority in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate will convene today at 10 am. Bills may be in...

McNulty unanimously chosen as new House speaker
A Republican is now the speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives for the first time in six years. Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, was unanimously elected speaker this morning. He was nominated by both Majority Leader Amy Stephens, R-Monument, and Minority Leader Sal Pace, D-Puelbo. No other legislator sought the post. McNulty received the gavel from outgoing speaker Terrence Carroll, D-Denver, and then gave his Democratic predecessor a hug. After ascending the podium, McNulty tha...

Come Together: Senator Wants Both Parties To Sit Together at SOTU
ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe reports: In the wake of the Arizona shooting, members of Congress should sit together at President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union address, rather than divided by party as tradition dictates, a senator suggested today. “What Americans see when they watch it on TV is a Congress that is bitterly divided by party,” Sen. Mark Udall, D-CO, said in a statement. “It sets a negative tone that only per

Challenges to threaten new Legislature's bipartisanship spirit
A similar ceremony is set to get under way in the House at noon. Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, whose Caucus enters the new session at a low ebb with only 12 members, said she was encouraged by the tone set by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder at his inaugural and looked forward to working with the 26-member Republican majority in the Senate. Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, also sounded a note of Bipartisanship, but...

Angle: Don't blame me for Tucson shooting rampage (AP)
Las Vegas – Former U.S. Senate Candidate Sharron Angle says she's not to blame for the Arizona shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded. The former Nevada assemblywoman who tried to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday she condemns all violence. The Tea Party politician calls Saturday's killings senseless and horrifying. Police say 22-year-old Jared Loughner fired at a crowd gathered at an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. I...

Document Drop: Bloombergs Blizzard Review
Here's Hizzoner's preliminary review of just what the hElmo happened (and didn't, but should have) during the post-Christmas Snowpocalypse. As (Read more...) ...

Let's sit together for State of the Union address (Sen. Mark Udall)
Dear Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Boehner, Minority Leaders McConnell and Pelosi:   We, the undersigned members of Congress, believe that partisan seating arrangements at State of the Union addresses serve to symbolize division instead of the common challenges we face in securing a strong future for the United States.  

 As we all know, the tenor and debate surrounding our politics has grown ever more corrosive - ignoring the fact that while we may take different positions, w

Spill report rekindles Democratic push for reform
(01-11) 14:47 PST WASHINGTON, CA (AP) -- Democrats in Congress pledged Tuesday to push for tougher Regulation of Offshore Drilling and to make Oil companies more financially responsible for spills — steps a presidential panel says are necessary to prevent another catastrophic blowout. The National Oil Spill Commission unanimously endorsed 15 recommendations to the Oil Industry, Congress and the Obama Administration for preventing another large-scale Oil spill. Most require action by Cong...

"Snow Patrol?" Isnt That A Band?
Yes, it is, but it's also the name of an initiative by Queens state Sen. Malcolm Smith to hit the (Read more...) ...

No new taxes, but what about the millionaires surcharge?
Senate Deputy Minority Leader Tom Libous just left the door open to the continuation of a surcharge on high-income earners in New York. “We believe that there should be no Tax Increases at all. Our conference and Senator Skelos have been very matter-of-fact on that, and we’ll talk about it as it goes on,” Libous, R-Binghamton, said this morning. But when asked if re-upping the current surcharge — which is set to expire this year — qualifies as a tax increase, he replied, ...

Libous On Ethics Training And New Laws
Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton, said it was important for Senate lawmakers and aides to go through an ethics training course, which has been mandated by Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, Nassau County. “I think there has to be a tightening of ethics laws,” Libous said. But he added that often the laws in place are ignored by lawbreakers. “I think people break the law even when there are tough laws in place,” he said. ...

Ethics Training For Senate Lawmakers and Staff
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, Nassau County, today ordered Senate aides and all 62 senators to take legislative ethics training. The mandate is similar to the call made by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who earlier this month required his staff to take ethics training with the Commission on Public Integrity. Senate staff would take their training with the Legislative Ethics Committee, Skelos’ office said. The training must be completed by April 1. “I’m confident...

Cuomo rebuffs linkage of tax cap, rent control
In a Q&A with reporters Monday afternoon, Gov. Andrew Cuomo described his midday meeting with legislative leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos as collegial and productive, but said in no uncertain terms that his push for a Property Tax cap shouldn’t be linked with changes to the current schedule of rent stabilization laws. “I think that these are separate issues, and they should be analyzed as separate issues,” Cuomo said. “One of the mistakes we’ve made in...

Senate Mandates Ethics Training
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos just issued a Press Release mandating that all Senators and their staff to take ethics training before April 1st. It’s (Read more...) ...

Senate Mandates Ethics Training
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos just issued a Press Release mandating that all Senators and their staff to take ethics training before April 1st. It’s similar to the Executive Order Governor Cuomo issued last week, following his State of the State Address. “I’m confident that we have built a top-notch team in the State Senate that will work directly with the members of this body to achieve great things for New York, including lower taxes and spending, and more good-paying p...

Republican policies favor rich, special interests
The public got the shaft from the GOP manipulating Tax Cut package favoring the wealthy while adding to the Deficit. It's evident the Working Class lack priority among its leadership holding their welfare hostage during negotiations. Senior Citizens and disabled combat Veterans were denied $250 allowance with no increases in the last two years. Also, the exemption level for Social Security recipients' income being taxed hasn't been adjusted in decades, yet the inheritance tax was ...

Ethics training for GOP
Ethics training appears to be all the rage these days: first Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered it for his Staffers and now Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos is mandating it for all senators and staff members. Skelos’ mandate applies to the entire Senate which would include the 30 Democrats as well as his 32-member conference. It will be offered by the Legislative Ethics Commission and should be done by April 1. Lisa Reid, the LEC’s Executive Director, said the course will proba...