This week was an extremely busy week not only for state
legislators but also for the League.
This was the League’s 12th annual Students
Inside Albany conference here in Albany.
For those 37 Leagues that sent students, you picked well this year; they
were an extremely dynamic, bright - really good group of kids. Hopefully your
local communities will benefit from the experience the League was able to give
them for the three days they were here in Albany. While they were here they had an opportunity
to watch the budget agreements, kind of, sort of, play out in only the way
Albany can.
While our students were getting to know each other on Sunday
evening the leadership in the Legislature was negotiating the last two sticking
points in the 2012-2013 state budget.
Those two issues being education
and health. In the education budget, the
sticking point dealt with the governor who had proposed $250 million in
competitive grants statewide and the legislature who wanted that money to go to
the high needs districts. After many days of negotiations, the legislature won
this one. The governor ended up getting $50
million and the legislature put $200 million back into high needs
districts. As many League members may
remember, in last year’s budget the governor had agreed to add 4% more in
education money to this year’s budget; on top of that, the executive budget
appropriated a total of $805 million to this year’s education budget.
The major controversy
in the health care budget concerned the creation of a Healthcare Exchange. The
Senate Republicans staunchly refused to go along with the Healthcare Exchange
in the fear that they will be accused of supporting “Obamacare”. With the Supreme Court debating the Patient
Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act this very week, the Senate Republicans
said they wanted to wait and see if this continued to be the law of the
land. Governor Cuomo is expected to
issue an executive order, as this update is being written, that will create the
Healthcare Exchange in a state agency.
The advocates had wanted the healthcare exchange to go into its own
public authority, however, the governor only has jurisdiction over the state
agencies. This means that New York State
can access the federal dollars which would otherwise be lost to the state
without these healthcare exchanges. If
the Supreme Court upholds the Affordable Care Act, then it is possible that
later this year the governor can go back and ask for new legislation.
The process this week around the budget is playing out differently
than the process two weeks ago when we did the “Big Ugly”. As you recall, the Big Ugly comprised the
redistricting lines, constitutional amendment on structural reform for
redistricting, pension reform Tier 6, DNA database, and the constitutional amendment
on gambling. Except for the district
lines and the constitutional amendment, the legislation was presented with a
message of necessity and importantly in the middle of the night. The governor
and the legislature were severely criticized for the process and so it was
decided by the governor and the leadership in the legislature that the budget
would be done during the day and only after they had been on the desks of
legislators for the required three days. This budget is also expected to be
passed two days before the start of the new fiscal year. This is important
because it allows this governor and the Republican majority in Senate to be
able to say that Albany is no longer dysfunctional and that the gears of
government are functioning smoothly.
It is expected that the legislature will be out of Albany
for most of April and speculation has already begun on what remains to be done
in the 2 months left in Session. Stay
tuned for the answer to that question…
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