Plugged In @ Hinman Straub – October 2, 2018

What’s Inside

  • Governor Signs Bill Allowing Medical Marijuana to be Used as Opioid Alternative
  • Port Authority Board Approves Minimum Wage Increase for Airport Workers
  • Molinaro Releases Proposal to Cut Property Taxes
  • Senators Call for State Action on Drinking Water Safety Standards
  • Attorney General Announces Guilty Plea by Western New York Political Operative
  • Upstate Business Group Releases Legislative Scorecards
  • Political Update
    • Molinaro Campaign Launches ‘Cuomo Leaks’ Anti-Corruption Web Site
    • Labor Coalition to Support Democratic Effort to Take Control of State Senate
    • Valesky Drops Re-election Effort
  • Coming Up

Governor Signs Bill Allowing Medical Marijuana to be Used as Opioid Alternative

Last Monday, Gov. Cuomo announced that he has signed into law a bill which adds acute pain management to the list of conditions for which medical marijuana can be recommended as an alternative to opioid use. The bill will also allow for substance use disorder treatment providers to recommend medical marijuana to help patients manage underlying pain that contributes to the abuse of substances such as opioids.

Gov. Cuomo said:

“In this battle against the opioid epidemic, it is critical that we use every means at our disposal to prevent the unnecessary prescription of these dangerous and addictive painkillers. Adding these conditions to the list of those approved for management with medical marijuana will help reduce the risk of addiction and provide suffering New Yorkers the relief they need.”

Port Authority Board Approves Minimum Wage Increase for Airport Workers

On Thursday, The Port Authority Board of Commissioners adopted an expanded minimum wage policy for JFK International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports that will increase the wages of all airport workers to $19 per hour by 2023. The board cited the need to reduce staff turnover and provide an experienced, motivated workforce that can better assist in responding to an emergency, identifying security issues, operating equipment safely, and providing experienced customer service in support of the policy change.

Gov. Cuomo urged the board to approve the change.  He said:

“Middle class wages, minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation. The middle class and working families are the backbone of this economy, they are the ones who make everything happen. It’s not the elites, it’s the working men and women who make this economy work. And remember a job is not just a paycheck to people, a job is dignity, it is self-worth, it is respect.”

Molinaro Releases Proposal to Cut Property Taxes

Last Monday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Molinaro released his plan to reduce real property taxes “by nearly 30 percent.”  (Read the full plan here.) The plan is “a blueprint toward restructuring government, reimagining the delivery of services and saving burdened property taxpayers in the process.”

Molinaro is proposing to make the two-percent property tax cap permanent; a state Medicaid takeover; require a supermajority vote of both houses of the Legislature in order to enact tax increases; extend the real property tax cap to homeowners in New York City; provide mandate relief; and requiring fiscal impact statements for any agency, department or legislative business regulation or mandate.

Molinaro said:

“The Empire State Freedom Plan will finally liberate property taxpayers, small businesses owners, farmers and families from the dream crushing tax burden they are forced to live under with Andrew Cuomo. These nation-leading taxes aren’t only oppressive, they are foolishly counterproductive. This plan, which I look forward to releasing in full, will put real money back in the pockets of families, and finally unshackle the economic growth potential of our job providers.”

Later in the week Molinaro released a plan to double the current tax deduction for businesses with fewer than 10 employees from 100 percent of salary, wages and other compensation to 200 percent.

Senators Call for State Action on Drinking Water Safety Standards

Last Monday, State Senators Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill), and Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset) called on Gov. Cuomo and the state departments of Health and Environmental Conservation to take immediate steps necessary to protect New York’s drinking water from potentially harmful chemicals.

The lawmakers urged the Cuomo Administration to hold Drinking Water Quality Council Meetings; set new recommended levels for drinking water safety; support infrastructure investment to prevent water contamination; and sign (S.6655, Hannon), which would require the Department of Health (DOH) to post information relating to emerging contaminant notifications levels on its web site.

Also on Monday, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released an audit that looked at whether DOH is providing effective oversight of the State’s public water systems to ensure water is suitable for people to drink. The audit found that “the state should redouble its efforts to monitor emerging contaminants in New York’s drinking water and improve how it notifies the public when there are problems.”

Attorney General Announces Guilty Plea by Western New York Political Operative

On Friday, state Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced the guilty plea of G. Steven Pigeon, a Buffalo attorney and political consultant, for bribing a State Supreme Court Justice. Pigeon, who was once chair of the Erie County Democratic Party, pleaded guilty plea Bribery in the Third Degree, a class D felony. Michalek pleaded guilty to receiving bribes from Pigeon in 2016.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood said:

“As we detailed, Steve Pigeon orchestrated a brazen, multiyear scheme to bribe a sitting judge – demonstrating flagrant contempt for the rule of law and the interests of New Yorkers. Now, he’s being brought to justice. We have zero tolerance for public corruption. New Yorkers deserve to be able to trust the integrity of their officials – and my office will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those who violate that trust.”

Upstate Business Group Releases Legislative Scorecards

Last Tuesday, Unshackle Upstate released its 2018 legislative scorecards. The group’s scorecards provide a grade for each Senators and Assembly member based on their budget and legislative votes and sponsorships of specific bills during the 2017 and 2018 sessions.

Unshackle Upstate Executive Director Michael Kracker said:

“As we head toward another critical Election Day, Upstate voters deserve to know which state lawmakers are actually working to strengthen our economy.  Our new Legislative Scorecards set the record straight for voters by grading legislators based on their actions in Albany over the last two years. Voters who are concerned about jobs, taxes and the future of their community should take a long, hard look at their legislators’ grades before they head to the polls his November.”

Political Update

Molinaro Campaign Launches ‘Cuomo Leaks’ Anti-Corruption Web Site

Republican candidate for Governor Marc Molinaro has unveiled a website through which state workers can “blow the whistle” on corruption in Gov. Cuomo’s administration. The website, called Cuomo Leaks, provides a place for potential whistleblowers to upload government documents and give tips to the Molinaro campaign.

Molinaro said:

“Government whistleblowers should be able to safely rely on enforcement agencies to pursue justice where it is due. But in Andrew Cuomo’s New York, in a New York with sham ethics agencies like JCOPE, power politics is valued over the truth. I send a message today to those brave voices on the other end of the line: what you are doing is right; what they are doing is wrong, and help is on the way.”

The Cuomo campaign called the website “desperate.”

Labor Coalition to Support Democratic Effort to Take Control of State Senate

Three large labor organizations — New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), 32BJ SEIU and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) — are targeting five State Senate districts through their independent expenditure committees.

The groups plan to target the 5th, 7th and 8th Senate Districts races on Long Island; the 39th Senate District in the lower Hudson Valley; and the 50th Senate District in Central New York.

The coalition detailed its strategy for the each of the five targeted districts on a web site.

Valesky Drops Re-election Effort

On Friday, State Senator David Valesky (D – Oneida) announced that he will not seek re-election in November after losing the Democratic primary Sept. 13 to Rachel May.

Valesky, a former member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) who was first elected in 2004, he will still appear on the Independence and Women’s Equality lines.

Winners & Losers

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

Coming Up

Gov. Cuomo’s Regulated Marijuana Workgroup, which is drafting legislation for an adult-use marijuana program for the Legislature to consider in 2019, continues its series of listening sessions this week. They will be held on October 3 in Buffalo and October 4 in Rochester. Register to participate in a session here.

The state Board of Elections holds its next meeting on October 3.

The state’s 8th annual Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise Forum will be held October 3 and 4, 2018 at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany.

The state Board of Regents holds its next meeting on October 15 and 16.

On October 16, the Assembly Committees on Codes, Health, Government Operations and Alcoholism and Drug Abuse are holding the first of four public hearings “to seek input on proposals to legalize, regulate and tax adult use of marijuana in New York.” The first hearing will be held in Manhattan.

The Public Service Commission (PSC) holds its next meeting on October 18.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) holds its next meeting on October 30.

Election Day is Tuesday, November. 6.