Striking Out: The State Legislature's Summer Swoon
Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and state Sen. Joe Griffo are on opposite sides of the aisle in Albany, but both quoted Yankees legend Yogi Berra when describing this year’s legislative session.
As Berra once put it, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” Griffo said, adding he hoped the state Legislature is not returning to its old habit of stretching the legislative session into the late summer months with no agreement on major legislation.
“It would be a disservice to the issues, it would be a disservice to the government’s reputation, particularly its ability to function, and it would be a disservice to taxpayers because it would cost money to keep the Legislature there beyond the deadline of session,” said Griffo, a Republican.
The last scheduled day of session came and went last Wednesday while state lawmakers stayed on in Albany and slowly passed various bills—but failed to reach an agreement on several major items, including downstate rent regulation laws that expired Monday night.
Assembly Democrats are pushing to extend and strengthen the rent control laws in and around New York City, but state Senate Republicans have offered their own alternative that would include mandatory verification of income and residency of tenants in rent-regulated units, which critics say is favorable to landlords.
Included in the negotiations is the 2 percent property tax cap for upstate New York, which is tied to the expired rent laws, the education investment tax credit, mayoral control, raising the charter school cap and the sales tax extenders for counties outside New York City.
Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat, used another quote he attributed to Yogi Berra to describe the situation: “Predicting is always difficult, especially about the future.”
“I think there are very few voices in the Legislature for staying in Albany day after day,” Gottfried said. “On the other hand, I think there are many people in both houses that are very committed to standing firm for their positions and not passing legislation that gives up important positions.”
Gottfried said one option could be for the state Legislature to pass an extender for a period of weeks on the remaining major issues being debated and then return later to either reach an agreement or do more extenders.
“It’s conceivable we could be come back for a day every few weeks, although even that would be unusual,” he said. “Even if the major issues continue to be deadlocked, there would be enormous internal pressure against reopening the session for general consideration of bills. There’s only a very small handful of addicted policy wonks who would look forward to that—I supposed I’m one of them, but hardly any of my colleagues feel that way.”
Both veteran lawmakers noted the new leadership in each house has seriously shaken up the usual negotiations.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Majority Leader John Flanagan met for leaders meetings throughout last week but with little progress to show for it. The three legislative leaders have been tight lipped about the negotiations.
News outlets have reported in the past week that one factor preventing an agreement is due to the fact that Heastie is trying to appease his 107 members who are looking to him to prove himself. Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was infamous for his tight hold over the conference under his reign.
“If it were true that all decisions are made by three men in a room and nobody else has any say in the matter, this would have all been settled weeks ago,” Gottfried said.
The most recent proposal being floated is to link legislation allowing localities to extend sales tax levels, an issue disproportionately affecting state Senate Republicans, with a two-year extender of the rent control laws, including strengthened tenant protections.
Despite the baseball references, Gottfried stressed these issues are to be taken seriously.
“It’s important for people to understand this is not sports,” he said. “This is not a game. The fact we haven’t resolved these issues is not because people are just not paying attention or trying to score points, it’s because legislators are representing some very strongly held viewpoints.”