Breaking Good News
Federal Judge Gary Sharpe has just issued (Friday
afternoon) a decision on the non-Presidential federal primary date for New York
State. Judge Sharpe has set June 26,
2012, as the date for the Congressional primary. This is a victory for both the
Election Commissioners’ Association and good government groups, including the
League. As you may know, the League has had a position on a June primary dating
back to 1957. The federal court was
asked to change New York primary date to satisfy the 2009 federal MOVE Act,
requiring states to get ballots to overseas military voters at least 45 days
before the federal election since the state legislature had not changed the primary
date to comply with the federal law. This is also a victory for the voters of
NYS; however, if the legislature remains recalcitrant in leaving the state
primary election in September, this could set up a three primary election
season that would be expensive for local municipalities who administer the
elections. It is estimated that it could cost up to $50 million more statewide.
Redistricting
This week was redistricting week in Albany. We were originally anticipating that these lines
would appear on Monday. And then
possibly Tuesday, by Wednesday at 5pm, individual Assembly members were sent by
email their own individual district lines.
On Thursday, the much anticipated state maps appeared on the LATFOR
website. The Capitol immediately went
into frenzy form. The Capitol lobby was
set up as an impromptu local television studio where I was able to
spontaneously give five television commentaries for all the local television
stations. The blogs were going fast and
furious with comments from good government groups, including the LEAGUE and
individual legislators, particularly in the Senate where opposition to these
lines was ferocious. It became apparent as the afternoon went on as analysis of
the lines began to come in, especially from our good government colleague Bill
Mahoney, of NYPIRG, who discovered that these could be the most gerrymandered
lines, particularly in the Senate, in decades. The Governor late in the day issued a
statement essentially declaring these lines unacceptable and again, issued the
threat of a veto. Public hearings on these
proposed state legislative lines will begin on Monday, January 30th
in Albany. The League will testify at
the hearing in Albany and will continue to critique the flawed process by which
theses lines were drawn. We will
continue to call for structural reform to guarantee that these types of
partisan lines drawn to maintain incumbency by reducing both competitive
elections and legislative responsiveness.
We anticipate following the public hearing that some of the more
egregious lines may be sent to LATFOR for readjustment. Stayed tune for updates
on the process as it moves forward.
Budget Hearing
Also this week in Albany, the League testified at the
Joint Education and Finance Committees. That testimony can be seen on the League website. The League is also submitting testimony to
the transportation committee.
Reproductive Choice
Also, this week a legislative resolution marking the 39th
anniversary of Roe v. Wade was introduced. This resolution went through the
health committee in the Assembly with a League memo of support and moved to the
floor of the Assembly where it is usually a non controversial voice vote.
However, this year the Assembly Republicans made an effort to be loudly in
opposition by screaming “NO.” They were
certainly drowned out by the “YES” votes.
However, given the anti-choice sentiment during a presidential election year
this must be looked at as concerning. The Republican controlled State Senate
refused to issue a similar legislative resolution marking the anniversary.
Next week will bring more redistricting, more budgeting,
and the unexpected which can always happen in Albany. Stay tuned…
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