Plugged In @ Hinman Straub – January 4, 2017

PluggedInMastheadCoverage of Albany and New York State government

  • Special Session Talks Fall Short
  • Governor to Hold Regional State of the State Addresses
  • Governor Announces Minimum Wage Public Awareness Campaign
  • Attorney General Leads Coalition Calling on President-Elect to Defend Clean Power Plan
  • DFS Delays Implementation of New Cybersecurity Rules
  • IDC to Push to ‘Raise the Age’ in 2017
  • Governor Announces Clemencies and Pardons
  • Groups Call for ‘Environmental Bill of Rights’ in State Constitution
  • Political Update
  • Coming Up

Special Session Talks Fall Short

Discussions between Gov. Cuomo and the Legislature regarding a possible special legislative session did not come to fruition before the end of 2016.  The talks, which revolved around a legislative pay raise, began in mid-November after the New York State Commission on Legislative, Judicial, & Executive Compensation could not reach agreement on a pay increase for legislators and state agency heads.  Legislators, who currently have a base salary of 79,500, last received a pay increase in 1998. Because they did not increase their pay before the end of 2016, the earliest their salaries could be increased is January 2019.

The Governor initially sought sweeping ethics reforms, including amending the state constitution to put in place term limits, campaign finance reforms, and procurement reforms.  Later negotiations included discussions procurement reforms; funding to address homelessness; and authorizing ridesharing services outside of New York City.

The 2017 Legislative session begins at noon today.

Governor to Hold Regional State of the State Addresses

Gov. Cuomo announced last week that, contrary to tradition, he plans to deliver his annual message to the legislature “in a series of Regional State of the State addresses delivered across New York.”

Since the 1920’s, governors have delivered the annual State of the State Address in the Assembly chamber on the first day of the annual legislative session. Since taking office in 2011, Gov. Cuomo has delivered the speech in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center.  In 2015 and 2016, he has held a combined State of the State and budget address after the first day of the legislative session.

The Governor said that he plans to deliver regional addresses during the week of January 9th in New York City; Western New York; the Hudson Valley; Long Island; the Capital Region and Central New York.  Specific times and locations for these events are here.

Governor Announces Minimum Wage Public Awareness Campaign

Last Thursday, Gov. Cuomo announced the launch of public awareness campaign and employee hotline relating to the first phase of the state’s minimum wage increase, which was approved as part of the state’s 2016-17 budget and goes into effect on December 31, 2016.

For workers in New York City employed by businesses with more than 10 employees, the minimum wage will increase to $11 per hour.  For workers in New York City employed by businesses with 10 employees or less, the minimum wage will rise to $10.50 per hour.  For workers in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties, the minimum wage will increase to $10 per hour.  For workers in the rest of the state, the minimum wage will increase to $9.70 per hour.

Television ads, which are being broadcast throughout the state, can be viewed here and here.

Attorney General Leads Coalition Calling on President-Elect to Defend Clean Power Plan

Last week, Thursday, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that he and a coalition of 19 states and local governments have written to President-Elect Trump to continue the federal government’s defense of the Clean Power Plan.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan requires specific, require mandatory cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants under the Clean Air Act on a state-by-state basis.  A 27-state coalition has challenged the EPA’s plan in federal court.

Attorney General Schneiderman said:

“States like New York are on the front lines of climate change – and have demonstrated how to cut pollution and emissions while protecting affordable and reliable electricity, creating jobs, and growing our economy.  The Clean Power Plan builds on that successful work and is a blueprint for the critical action needed to fight climate change’s devastating environmental, economic, and public health impacts.  The science is clear and far too much is at stake to turn back the clock on our climate efforts.”

DFS Delays Implementation of New Cybersecurity Rules

Last Wednesday, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced that it has updated and will delay implementation of its proposed, first-in-the-nation cybersecurity regulations.  DFS’s proposed regulation, which was originally supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2017, will be effective March 1, 2017.

Despite receiving criticisms from trade groups and companies within the affected banking and insurance industries regarding the rules overly broad scope and lack of flexibility, DFS said that is retaining the general parameters of its requirements.  DFS did make a number of changes to its original proposal.  The revised regulations no longer require covered entities to put a single executive in charge of their cybersecurity, and they provide covered entities with more latitude to tailor their cybersecurity plans to the particular weaknesses that are reflected in their risk assessments.

DFS said that they expect to finalize the revised rules after a 30-day comment period, which runs through January 27, 2017.

IDC to Push to ‘Raise the Age’ in 2017

The Senate’s Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) announced last Friday that it plans to introduce legislation in the upcoming legislative session to change the state’s age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18.  The conference also released a report on the economic impacts of increasing the state’s age of criminal responsibility.

State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), who serves as the leader of the IDC, said:

“The impact that the current age of criminal responsibility has on 16- and 17-year-olds affects them for the rest of their lives. Whether it’s increasing the chance to advance academically or secure employment, it is clear that raising the age of responsibility will have a great societal benefit. The report issued by the Independent Democratic Conference shows that in addition to this societal benefit the state will see a fiscal benefit as well. This legislative session we will work with advocates and stakeholders to find a legislative solution to this issue.”

The Senate IDC was formed in 2011, and has been aligned with the Senate Republicans since 2012.  The IDC, which will grow from five to seven members in 2017, is expected to again work with the Senate Republicans as part of the Senate’s ‘Majority Coalition.’

Gov. Cuomo and the Assembly support raising the state’s age of criminal responsibility, but Senate Republicans have raised concerns about how the proposal would be implemented and the additional burdens it would impose on the state’s family courts.

Governor Announces Clemencies and Pardons

On Friday, Gov. Cuomo announced that he has granted conditional pardons under the youth Pardons Program to 101 people convicted at age 16 or 17 of misdemeanors or non-violent felonies, which will remove barriers to employment opportunities.  He also commuted the lengthy sentences of two individuals, enabling them to appear before the Board of Parole within the first quarter of 2017, and issued five pardons

Gov. Cuomo said:

“These New Yorkers have spent at least a decade proving their rehabilitation, but have been unable to fully reenter society due to the stigma of conviction and the barriers that come with it.  New York is a state of opportunity and today, we are granting these individuals and others a second chance to live up to their full potential, provide for their families and give back to their communities. With these actions, we have taken one more step toward a more just, more fair and more compassionate New York for all.”

Groups Call for ‘Environmental Bill of Rights’ in State Constitution

Environmental and public policy groups are calling for the state constitution to be amended to establish a right to clean air and water.

Environmental Advocates of New York (EANY) and EffectiveNY are promoting the issue with two online video ads featuring children from Hoosick Falls, a village in Rensselaer County where public water supplies and private wells have been contaminated with the industrial chemical PFOA. (See the ads here and here.)

However, others are concerned that establishing a state constitutional right to clean air and water could lead to constitutional lawsuits being filed over environmental issues.

For a constitutional amendment to become law, it must first be passed by two successively elected legislatures, which mean it would have to pass in 2017 or 2018 and again in 2019 or 2020. Were that to happen, voters statewide could decide on an amendment in November 2019 at the earliest.

Political Update

Winners & Losers

Each week, City & State New York publishes a list of the week’s political “winners” and “losers.”  Read last week’s list.

Coming Up

During the week of January 9, Gov. Cuomo plans to deliver regional ‘state of the State’ addresses in New York City; Western New York; the Hudson Valley; Long Island; the Capital Region and Central New York.

The State Board of Regents holds its next meeting on January 9 and 10.

The State Board of Elections holds its next meeting on January 9.

The Public Service Commission holds its next meeting on January 24.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) holds its next meeting on January 31.