tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75115039087217866102023-11-16T08:55:12.279-05:00Capitol Beat BlogBarbara Bartolettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300981347440486131noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-11104712601904936062017-05-12T15:53:00.002-04:002017-05-12T15:56:33.451-04:00Push for Procurement Reforms<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week the League, ReInvent Albany, NYPIRG, Citizens Union, Fiscal Policy Institute, and the Citizens Budget Commission held a press conference in Albany pushing for reforms to our state contracting system. Last year there were several state and federal indictments related to a major state contract bid rigging scandal that cost tax payers an estimates $800 million. This scandal arose after oversight authority of state contracts was taken from the State Comptroller. Our organizations are supporting legislation that will increase transparency and government accountability when contracts are awarded. We are supporting the following 5 reforms:<br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Require competitive and transparent contracting for the award of state funds by all state agencies, authorities, and affiliates. Use existing agency procurement guidelines as a uniform minimum standard.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Transfer responsibility for awarding all economic development awards to Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and end awards by state non-profits and SUNY.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empower the Comptroller to review and approve all state contracts over $250k.</span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Prohibit state authorities, state corporations, and state non-profits from doing business with their board members. </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Georgia; list-style-type: decimal; margin-left: 36pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create a ‘Database of Deals’ that allows the public to see the total value of all forms of subsidies awarded to a business – as six states have done.</span></li>
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<br /><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Senate has already passed legislation enacting these reforms. The League and our good government partners will be lobbying this legislation in the Assembly over the coming weeks. We hope to see this bill passed in the Assembly and signed into law before session ends. </span></span><br />
</span>League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-80711628130451344112017-05-05T15:59:00.000-04:002017-05-05T16:07:30.763-04:00New York Wants Early Voting NOW! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This week we made a big push to get early voting moved in
the Senate. We gathered together nearly 20 of our members to attend the Senate
Elections Committee meeting to let the Senate know we mean business! Several
bills were killed during this committee meeting including the Voter Empowerment
Act and a bill to force all Presidential candidates to disclose their tax
returns. All three of these bills were petitioned by their sponsors to be heard
by the committee. Lucky for us, the early voting bill survived and was moved to
the Local Government Committee.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Senate Republican committee members voted "without recommendation" meaning they would allow the bill to pass but if it came to the floor for a vote they may vote against it. Only Senator Marchione was a solid "no" vote. Unfortunately for us, she is also the chair of the Local Government Committee. Our members worked quickly to put in calls to her office asking her to put the bill on the agenda.<br />
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We were so pleased on Friday when we saw that she had moved the bill to Senate Rules. Although we would have preferred the bill to move to the floor we were happy that they bill wasn't killed in committee. We are now focusing our attentions on getting this bill taken up in Rules. The bill's sponsor, Andrea Stewart-Cousin, is also the ranking member on Rules. Our hope is that she will use her power and influence to get a vote on this bill!<br />
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On Tuesday we kept the momentum going and worked with the NYC Campaign Finance Board on their call to remove barriers to elections. We joined them for a morning rally that was packed with high school students and our NYC League members. Senators Stewart Cousins and Gianaris also attended as well as Assembly Members Carol and Kavanagh. You can read the release about their VoteBetterNY project <a href="http://www.nyccfb.info/media/press-releases/vote-better-ny-calls-on-lawmakers-to-remove-barriers-to-the-ballot/">here</a>. Many thanks to VoteBetterNY for including us in their event! We really do all need to be working together on these reforms.<br />
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On the national level, we are becoming increasingly concerned with what could potentially happen to the health care of millions of Americans. Our National organization released the statement below on the new health care plan.<br />
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-33674485697124560742017-04-29T15:38:00.000-04:002017-05-05T15:34:41.953-04:00Lobby Day 2017<div style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">
<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">We </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">started</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> off the second half of the legislative session with a bang</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> and a shout</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">!</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">On Tuesday we held our annual lobby day and had fantastic attendance from our Local League members. This year we had members from as far west as Chautauqua county, as far north as Plattsburgh, and as far south as New York City. </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">We kicked off o</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ur lobby day with a huge press conference outside of the Senate chamber </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">demanding that the legislature</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">pass</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> voting reforms before session ends. Our members were joined by Senate Democratic Leader, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senator </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Gianaris</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, Senator Squadron, Assemblyman Kavanagh, Assemblyman Carroll, and Assemblywoman </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Fahy</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. All of these legislators are strong supporters of voting reforms and sponsors of legislation that would make voting easier and more accessible. The press conference was aimed at drawing attention to these issues and the fact that the Assembly Election Law committee would be voting on an early voting bill the very next day. You can watch the full press conference </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LWVNYS/videos/10154760247686185/"><span class="s2" style="color: blue; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">here</span></a><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3oeu9AUxLBY8IoDMSAx2Aah4gFqE_gJitMwVVvbeV463vMQYfLBt6ZbK5JILgKkmmcmpmyTYE2Qhq_2KMNdfRPsHaul-EP3nSO1suYgnlANwOJYliJN4Ukm_cc6XRKnNxgLYW2zgxOc/s1600/Giannaris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3oeu9AUxLBY8IoDMSAx2Aah4gFqE_gJitMwVVvbeV463vMQYfLBt6ZbK5JILgKkmmcmpmyTYE2Qhq_2KMNdfRPsHaul-EP3nSO1suYgnlANwOJYliJN4Ukm_cc6XRKnNxgLYW2zgxOc/s320/Giannaris.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">After the press conference our members headed out to lobby their state legislators on these reforms as well as the Reproductive Health Act, the Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act, the New York Health Act, a Constitutional Amendment to make clean air and water a first amendment right, and </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">reforms to the delegate selection for a Constitutional Convention. A special thank you to all the legislators who made time to meet with our members, although they may not always agree with our positions we appreciate the time they take out of their busy days to sit down with our members.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx_3LBfBxlHnqZ44j62q1fqTb6-_4w1vKN1ivMo_I1_wv3fyFBgje0d1tktTOeDr7fwnVxUp223sa3k3lbfYP8sczHTOqbJlCco35BRrGZQ7far3TXzQ5RXNps5hZFSYFunpLOMc-iRU/s1600/Kavanaugh+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwx_3LBfBxlHnqZ44j62q1fqTb6-_4w1vKN1ivMo_I1_wv3fyFBgje0d1tktTOeDr7fwnVxUp223sa3k3lbfYP8sczHTOqbJlCco35BRrGZQ7far3TXzQ5RXNps5hZFSYFunpLOMc-iRU/s320/Kavanaugh+2.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br />On Wednesday the Early voting bill was moved out of the Assembly Election Law committee. The bill was reported and we expect that it will be moved to the calendar soon. We are hoping to see more voting legislation pass through committee in the coming weeks. Last session the Assembly passed several progressive voting reforms including this early voting bill, a Constitutional Amendment for no-excuse absentee voting, a bill to allow for electronic poll books, and a bill to make ballots easier to read. Unfortunately the Senate did not address any of these bills. This year we will really be pressing the Senate and demanding that they take up voting reform legislation. </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><br />
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<span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Wednesday evening the League participated in a panel on the Constitutional Convention held at Onondaga Community College. The panel was co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Institute and NY Bar Association. There was quite a good turn out and the audience asked some great questions at the conclusion of the presentations. This is the 7</span><span class="s3" style="font-size: 7px; line-height: 8.399999618530273px; vertical-align: super;">th</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> public forum the NYS League has participated in and the 35</span><span class="s3" style="font-size: 7px; line-height: 8.399999618530273px; vertical-align: super;">th</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> that the League as a whole has done. We will continue to do public education as we get closer to the November election. To see our Executive Director, Laura Ladd-Bierman, speaking about delegate </span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">selection</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> and process see our video </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LWVNYS/videos/10154766646001185/"><span class="s2" style="color: blue; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">here</span></a><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">.</span></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-64538006644135697582017-04-14T12:06:00.002-04:002017-04-14T12:07:42.483-04:00Be Earthwise - Create a Healthier Planet: Here's How! <div style="text-align: center;">
Although there was no legislative session this week, the League office was busy planning the roll out of our Be Earthwise campaign for 2017.</div>
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<a href="http://participate.lwv.org/c/8551/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12734"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj284bguSQXmZJyvGBgDcoOOSkiSP7n8aVGSySoztQy1vnW9TI1A-qn1SwdgpLNr0LCChGWsr6e97tCkqFOZFPqQaSnlf15ZtmCJSVBoON-iabdzj-VNdaKAo2A4RC96SvlZ6Vn2oKzRw8/s400/Earthwice+PNG.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the first phase of this program we asked citizens to pledge to vote with their dollars and their actions and respect the environment through their daily decisions. You can learn more about the pledge by clicking <a href="http://participate.lwv.org/c/8551/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12734">here</a> or by watching our brief PSA.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gLH3zicwEmc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gLH3zicwEmc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Now we are asking citizens to work even harder to help preserve our planet by being meat free, being chemical free, and reducing, reusing, and recycling. </div>
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<a href="http://lwvny.org/earthwise/index.html"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzsYWSMftyp6GwjDRZhQnXIqMt0I8uw-Ildqmy7kgoPw9vaHIto4VSBJ6LFR64uyDnHG0HShwG2h4GUT3KAkCxg-knab-wxSsH-cdmIbjo8xblZh5h1lCf7fG6Jfv2uk6XQCAtOBd-mQ/s320/Earthwise+Logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These three initiatives will not only lead to a healthier planet but can also help improve your own health. To learn more about the initiatives click <a href="http://lwvny.org/earthwise/index.html">here</a>.</div>
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Take the <a href="http://participate.lwv.org/c/8551/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12734">pledge</a> to Be Earthwise today! </div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-29596200301064184962017-04-12T14:09:00.001-04:002017-04-12T14:09:23.389-04:00Post Budget Highlights (and Failures)<div class="MsoNormal">
This year’s budget was a several week endeavor. For the
first time since Governor Andrew Cuomo was elected, the budget was 9 days late.
The legislature had to pass one extender to keep the government working for 9
days until the legislature came back and spent Palm Sunday weekend finishing
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The Assembly spent 8 hours on Saturday debating and passing
the budget legislation. The Senate returned at 5:30 pm on Sunday and debated
for 6 hours on the agreed to budget. The $153.1 billion budget included many
progressive legislative proposals. The most debated issue this year was whether
or not to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18. This proposal
dominated both the Assembly and Senate debate over the weekend. The Assembly
debated this issue for most of their 8 hour debate. Surprisingly, the Assembly
debate was not acrimonious; the vast majority of legislators were in agreement
that this issue’s time had come and New York did not want to be associated with
being the last state in the nation to have not raised the age of criminal
responsibility to 18. The final the program is incremental in implementation
and gives flexibility for which court will try teens based on the crimes they
committees. Violent crimes involving a weapon, crimes that inflicted physical
injury on victims, and crimes involving sexual violence will all be heard in
traditional criminal court. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The other visible issue in this year’s budget was the
governor’s proposal to allow for free college for SUNY and CUNY to students.
The final proposal included a number of provisions that the Governor had not
initially agreed to. Private schools were also included in the proposal but
with the state only paying up to $3,000 and only if the college agreed to match
that money. SUNY and CUNY students can receive up to $5,500 per semester. To qualify
students must have a household income below $100,000 for the next four years;
the qualifying amount will be raised to $125,000 by 2020. Students must also
take a certain number of credits, maintain a GPA specified by the school, and
they must work in New York State for 4 to 5 years post-graduation. Students who
do not work in the state will have to repay their grant. This policy does not
include room and board for schools or books. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The budget also included Upstate Ridesharing. The new policy
comes with a hefty sales tax, mandatory background checks for all drivers, and a
$1.5 million insurance policy for all drivers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Governor said this was the most difficult budget he had
to negotiate because of his concerns over potential budget deficits from
Washington. A major sticking point in this budget negotiation was the
Governor’s insistence that his budget division be given unilateral authority if
there are federal budget cuts. The legislature agreed to give the Governor authority
to put out his own proposal but only if the Assembly and Senate have the option
to pass their own version within 90 days of the release. If the legislature
does not act the Governor’s proposal would stand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year’s education budget was a tug of war between public
schools and charter schools. The League had advocated strongly for an increase
in foundation aid. The resulting budget allocated $700 million for Foundation
Aid, which is funding for both rural and urban high needs school districts.
Total education aid was $1.1 billion. The charter school cap remains intact but
charter aid was unfrozen for this year. There was also a $500 per student increase
in tuition aid and a $500 increase in charter’s capital aid reimbursable by the
state. The state took this over so it wouldn’t be such a large toll on local
districts. STAR rebate checks will also continue. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another issue the League lobbied during this budget session
was a $2.5 billion for water infrastructure which will be used to rebuild and
replace aging water infrastructure. This investment will be used by localities
and local governments to help pay for clean drinking water projects and new
infrastructure upgrades as well as water testing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One issue area that was completely absent from budget
negotiations was voting reforms. The League had lobbied legislators leading up
to the release of the one-house budgets to include voting reforms in their
budget packages. Although the Governor and Assembly had included early voting
and automatic voter registration in their respective budget proposals, the
Senate had not even toyed with the idea of including voting. As soon as
negotiations began, both the legislature and Governor were silent on the issue
of voting reform. We are truly shocked that the two houses and Governor were
able to compromise on so many policies but NOT voting. You can read our full
statement on our budget disappointment <a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/election-law/2017/Press-Budget-Deal_041017.pdf">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The legislature remains on break until April 24<sup>th</sup>.
The League will host its annual Lobby Day April 25<sup>th</sup> and we plan to
hit the ground running and screaming about voting reforms! The time is now to
bring New York’s antiquated voting system into the 21<sup>st</sup>
century! <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-22477658699562181022017-03-23T18:29:00.003-04:002017-03-23T18:29:33.054-04:00The Joint Conference Committee Sessions Have Begun! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSuc9C4inohh8SIMtgIvJd0UGmpuI2ySatl-95EK3kK9EPh8v_CR416WLmwuUup6cwLfb25TS8aU2tEqReLKayzwxujt7LT-COkNmyETFssTqPQ6fN_DReXwe3aIvEs2CDh6BHPiYy74/s1600/Joint+Conference+Committees+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKSuc9C4inohh8SIMtgIvJd0UGmpuI2ySatl-95EK3kK9EPh8v_CR416WLmwuUup6cwLfb25TS8aU2tEqReLKayzwxujt7LT-COkNmyETFssTqPQ6fN_DReXwe3aIvEs2CDh6BHPiYy74/s320/Joint+Conference+Committees+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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What a whirl wind week! Monday
the Joint Budget Conference committees met to lay out their respective
priorities. We were not surprised to find out the Joint Committees had not
received their table target budget amounts. The Joint Leader’s Conference met fist.
Senator Flanagan kicked off the committee, emphasizing the Senate's desire to
spur job creation, transportation infrastructure, college affordability, the
creation of a clean water bond act, and workers compensation. Assembly Speaker
Carl Heastie reaffirmed the Assembly's commitment to Raise the Age and funding
of Foundation Aid. Senator Klein, leader of the Senate Independent Democratic
Conference was allowed to speak before Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart
Cousins, he laid out the IDC's budget plan emphasizing the IDC's commitment to
seeing Raise the Age pass during this budget process. The Assembly Minority
Leader Brian Kolb spoke next about the minority's concerns over the STAR rebate
program and the oversight of the Regional Economic Development Corporation.
When Senator Stewart-Cousins was finally allowed to speak she started off with
her disappointment that the Senate Democrats were not permitted to have their
budget considered by the Senate. She said the IDC's Raise the Age proposal was
inaccurate and that the Senate needed a greater focus on school funding. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WqY3H2KNo5FpD5R_JxQ4PEOPbXNT3Xa-fdM8y8zNMCxywwUxEZTeTk0b-afDCornqIZhwlcKdp_vdAb9yzRCc8Co1iHgPdyqXzk9GFxEqynETwUZkgcd9wRHo0hbNVoVVyjJJpTVeCY/s1600/Joint+Conference+Committees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7WqY3H2KNo5FpD5R_JxQ4PEOPbXNT3Xa-fdM8y8zNMCxywwUxEZTeTk0b-afDCornqIZhwlcKdp_vdAb9yzRCc8Co1iHgPdyqXzk9GFxEqynETwUZkgcd9wRHo0hbNVoVVyjJJpTVeCY/s400/Joint+Conference+Committees.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Joint Committees broke out
into three meeting rooms, each presented for an average of 15 minutes with much
of that time being spent on members saying what aspects of the budget were most
important to them. The League sat in on several committees including health,
environmental conservation, transportation, public protection, and education.
We were pleased to see that the Education Committee reaffirmed their commitment
to a full phase in of Foundation Aid. The bipartisan committee also agreed that
they needed to take additional steps to help with the recent influx of English
as a second language students in both New York City and Upstate. The two houses
did not agree on Mayoral Control. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The League and its good
government allies fought tirelessly to make sure that budget negotiations are
open to the public. New York State law now mandates that these budget
conferences meet in public and allow citizens to see how deals are being made.
Unfortunately, these conference sessions have become political theater and much
of the budget negotiations will be done behind closed doors. We do not
anticipate any other joint conference meetings. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Thursday the legislature was
hit by another federal indictments. Senator Robert Ortt and former Senator
George Miziarz were accused of filing a false instrument by Attorney General
Eric Schniederman. Ortt is accused of giving his wife a no-show job when he was
Mayor of North Tonawanda. Miziarz's case is somewhat more complicated and
involves a staffer accused of sexual harassment that was paid by the county GOP
committee even after he had stepped down from his position. The payments had
been concealed to avoid scrutiny. The legislature and Governor continue to blatantly
ignore the obvious problem of corruption plaguing Albany. While we hope that
the legislature will add stronger ethics reforms to the final budget proposal,
there has been little attention paid to the issue.<o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-34740569950143691032017-03-17T12:19:00.003-04:002017-03-17T12:19:34.290-04:00March Budget Madness Continues<div class="MsoNormal">
Monday started with a conference and rally by NYCLU dealing
with reproductive justice, GENDA legislation, and legal services for the indigent
and immigrants. The conferees rallied outside of the Capitol in very cold
temperatures but the conference attracted over 2,000 people. All of the speakers delivered moving firsthand
accounts of the challenges they have faced because of outdated and prejudicial
laws surrounding reproductive health care, the judicial system, and
immigration. Several League members were part of the rally. The one house
budget resolutions were released in both houses but because of the blizzard
Tuesday’s session was canceled. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday New York State was hit with a large snow storm
that stalled budget negotiations in the Senate and Assembly. Wednesday business
resumed and the two houses began debating their budget resolutions. The
Assembly included early voting, automatic voter registration, closing the LLC
loophole, and some other ethics reforms in their package. They also included as
a priority Raise the Age, funding for immigration services, a $1.8 billion
increase in school funding, and a commitment
to a full phase-in of the Foundation Aid formula starting with a $1.4 billion
increase this year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Senate’s proposal was quite different with a heavy focus
on further reducing taxes on the middle class and wealth 1%. The Senate also proposed
an increase in school aid by $1.2 billion and increase in foundation aid by
$4.7 million over executive proposal. Both houses disagree with Governor over
the elimination of foundation aid formula. Both resolutions also included a
clean water bond act, and an opioid addiction plan. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Senate Democrats put forward their own resolution that was
not permitted by the majority to be considered by the full Senate. There was
extreme tension between the GOP and Dempcrats that resulted in a heated debate
between Senators Bonacic and Gianaris. The Independent Democratic Conference
(IDC) also created their own budget resolution. The Senate GOP allowed the
conference to have their resolution come to the floor for a vote. Mainline
Democrats were furious and all voted against the resolution after some very raucous
debate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The IDC resolution was largely the same but did focus on
Raise the Age (although not the same Raise the Age provisions as the Assembly),
more money for legal defense for immigrants, different monetary amounts for Medicaid, the
DREAM act, and a few other “progressive” policies. Over all the two bills are
very similar and the Democrats were furious over the obvious power play by
Senator Klein. Senator Gianaris was particularly upset and got into a heated
debate continues with the new Senator
from Manhattan Marisol Alcantara who eventually went on to accuse Gianaris of
white privilege because he was opposing the DREAM Act (a bill which Gianaris is
actually a staunch supporter). Eventually Senator Flanagan had to rise and
remind the Senators to keep with chamber decorum or else face being removed
from the chamber. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Even though the IDC resolution passed this really doesn’t
mean anything. We expect on Monday the
General Conference Committee (aka Mothership) will meet this coming Monday and
our hope is that they will set table targets for the different issue area
committees to discuss (ex. Health care, education, transportation). As always
the three men in the room do the actual budget negotiations behind closed
doors. The League will continue to push
for open leaders meetings as the budget negotiations continue. It is likely that
many of these proposals will be stripped from the final bill but we hope that
the Assembly will stand strong on their proposals to include Raise the Age and
a full phase in of Foundation Aid. <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-51377671269581209692017-03-09T16:21:00.002-05:002017-03-09T16:21:45.928-05:00The Budget Deadline Nears...<div class="MsoNormal">
As the budget clock ticks closer and closer to March14th the
League is continuing to advocate to keep early voting and automatic voter
registration in the final budget. Both of these voting reforms will need seed money
to get them up and running. Over the course of this week we met with several legislators
and urged them to put money behind Governor Cuomo’s early voting proposal.
Although early voting could be achieved legislatively, without the proper
funding counties will have to find their own source of funding to pay for the
poll site locations and staff to man the locations.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In addition to election reform funding, the League has been
lobbying to keep foundation aid in the final budget proposal. Past failures to fulfil
the state’s mandated commitment to Foundation Aid has left students in
overcrowded classroom with limited resources. The League has partnered with several
education activist organizations and is working to make sure the legislature fulfills
their commitment and funds public schools in New York State. We are advocating for
a three year phase in of Foundation Aid.
This year the Governor did not include the Education Tax Credit in his
budget proposal but the bills have been introduced legislatively in the Senate.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were pleased to see several of our voting reform bills
move out of committee in both the Senate and Assembly. These bills include removing
party emblems from ballots, allowing for the usage of email addresses on voter
registration forms, the Voter Friendly Ballot Act, pre-registration for 17 year
olds, and a bill to allow for the usage of electronic poll books. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We expect the Senate and Assembly to release their budgets
on Monday, March 13<sup>th</sup>. Stay tuned for our analysis of their proposed
budgets. <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-55109584367782606542017-03-06T09:43:00.000-05:002017-03-06T09:43:11.939-05:00Women's Suffrage and A Special Announcement! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST-BNZr14bKKPgkLW1KkW8lC52Q1PY0H2kufr5zr3iy7A9t_BAZWs3HY6TtQDAoTV_DGMJhNI50RPWhyCG0hSn8naqJgzr5sgssTJgY-7W7D7qOBQEiB5k9RkPiIE7qP3dEvKvDzmVqw/s1600/Hocul+Women%2527s+History+PResser+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiST-BNZr14bKKPgkLW1KkW8lC52Q1PY0H2kufr5zr3iy7A9t_BAZWs3HY6TtQDAoTV_DGMJhNI50RPWhyCG0hSn8naqJgzr5sgssTJgY-7W7D7qOBQEiB5k9RkPiIE7qP3dEvKvDzmVqw/s320/Hocul+Women%2527s+History+PResser+2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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This week the legislature returned from their week long
recess. On Wednesday the League was invited to attend an event with the Lieutenant
Governor Kathy Hochul, Women’s Bipartisan Political Caucus, and Suffrage
Celebration Commission kicking off Women’s History Month. Our League President,
Dare Thompson, is a member of the Suffrage Celebration Commission. She and the
other commission members will be working to plan events around the state. The
commission has established a suffrage website which can be accessed <a href="https://www.ny.gov/programs/new-york-state-womens-suffrage-commission">here</a>.
The League has already began our
suffrage celebrations. You can see more information on our suffrage plans on
our website: <a href="http://www.lwvny.org/programs-studies/womens-suffrage/index.html">here</a>.
You can also see a calendar of all local League events happening throughout New
York State <a href="https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=74k4b1rr7brh3vgk53a9nn7fik%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York">here</a>.
In addition to celebrations and historical materials, we have set up a blog to
highlight famous New York Suffragists: <a href="http://lwvnys100thanniversary.blogspot.com/">http://lwvnys100thanniversary.blogspot.com/</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6ktP9iFo65UPfi_9dPxjGIb74UnRn0nnc3wTplawuKZUxsCmVOJSzOUAhs5nY57rrdPVHSYi2jnxfvkec5rY0PsCefDjhkw3wf7SXOhneLvo6KZbJLsHrTbic9I_uTMtIQjPTi-NkZc/s1600/AQE+Presser+on+CFE+Barbara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl6ktP9iFo65UPfi_9dPxjGIb74UnRn0nnc3wTplawuKZUxsCmVOJSzOUAhs5nY57rrdPVHSYi2jnxfvkec5rY0PsCefDjhkw3wf7SXOhneLvo6KZbJLsHrTbic9I_uTMtIQjPTi-NkZc/s320/AQE+Presser+on+CFE+Barbara.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On Thursday we had several meetings with Senators from both
political parties. We have been working hard to lobby to keep early voting and
automatic voter registration in the budget. We have also been lobbying Senators
on the Reproductive Health Act and Comprehensive Contraceptive Coverage Act. In
the afternoon we attended a press conference hosted by Assemblywoman Nolan on
full funding for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. The League has long been a
supporter of full funding for CFE and we will continue to work on this effort
in 2017.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IdoDpypjaLH3BkPasrORg8aAKcj9ljPvL6D6aTi5gux8d2hWNFMDf0J1aqb-MbReXKxODVhPxBDZIA1L9LY7dLiPXaTEmUZ1lJbJY7l9g2822_BRkirQ0weP1Anu8Xuz83x0sbnsC4Q/s1600/BeEarthwise+png.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9IdoDpypjaLH3BkPasrORg8aAKcj9ljPvL6D6aTi5gux8d2hWNFMDf0J1aqb-MbReXKxODVhPxBDZIA1L9LY7dLiPXaTEmUZ1lJbJY7l9g2822_BRkirQ0weP1Anu8Xuz83x0sbnsC4Q/s400/BeEarthwise+png.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Finally, the League is proud to announce our newest
campaign: Be Earthwise! In support of the League’s effort to respect the
environment and address the impacts of climate change, the League of Women
Voters of NYS has launched Be Earthwise, our new campaign to engage all
Americans from every state to learn the facts, vote with your dollars and vote
with your daily actions to preserve our planet. We are asking that citizens
take the pledge to Be Earthwise on Earth Day 2017:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll vote with my dollars. I PLEDGE to respect the
environment and address the effects of climate change when making my consumer
purchases.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll vote with my actions. I PLEDGE to respect the
environment and the address effects of climate change through my daily
activities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll participate in our democracy. I PLEDGE to take action
as a citizen to help shape public policy that respects the environment and
addresses the effects of climate change<o:p></o:p></div>
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To learn more and take the pledge visit our pledge page <a href="http://participate.lwv.org/c/8551/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12734">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-78285218970703251592017-02-17T16:02:00.003-05:002017-02-17T16:02:41.046-05:00Testimony Continues and Constitutional Convention Talk in Utica<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This week the legislature
continued their budget hearings and negotiations. On Monday the Environmental
budget hearing was interrupted by protesters fighting for climate change
justice. This is the second budget hearing that was temporarily halted due to
protesters (the first was last week during the Tax hearing). These are the same
protesters who staged a sit in in Governor Cuomo’s office earlier this year.
Some protesters had been arrested during that demonstration but luckily no one
was arrested Monday and after several minutes of chanting the group filed out
of the hearing room. Some attempted to return later and ultimately the guards
resorted to locking one set of doors so that no one could sneak through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tuesday was an
extremely busy day. The Education Budget testimony occupied much of our
attention. Although we were not given the opportunity to testify this year we
did submit testimony to the committee. You can read our overview of the budget </span><a href="http://www.lwvny.org/advocacy/education/2017/Budget-Testimony-to-Joint-Committees-on-Education_021417.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here.</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> We sat in for much of
Commissioner Elia’s testimony and were pleased to see such a heavy focus on the
need for more support for English as a second language students. In the morning
we attended the Assembly Election law Committee meeting. Two of our priority
bills were moved. The Voter Friendly Ballot Act (memo </span><a href="http://www.lwvny.org/advocacy/vote/voting-reform/lobbying/2017/MOS-Voter-Friendly-Ballot-Act.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">) and legislation to close
the LLC loophole (memo </span><a href="http://www.lwvny.org/advocacy/election-law/campaign-finance-reform/2017/MOS-to-NYS-Assembly-on-Closing-the-LLC-Loophole.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here)</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> were both voted through the
committee. We later attended the Assembly Health Committee where we monitored
the NY Health Act, also known as the Single Payer bill (more information </span><a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/healthcare/other/2017/MOS-to-NY-Assembly-for-NY-Health-Act.pdf"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">). The bill was passed
through the committee with Assembly Republicans opposing the legislation.
Surprisingly, the minority ranker, Assemblyman Raia, did not allow his
conference to debate the bill. He told the Chairman “We’ll save our debate for
the floor”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Later that day
we were elated when the Assembly passed a package of judicial reforms including
Raise the Age. The League is very supportive of raising the age of criminal
responsibility to 18 and we were delighted to see this bill pass in the
Assembly so early in the session. We hope that the Senate will act quickly on
this reform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On Thursday
the State League hosted it’s fifth Constitutional Convention forum in Utica
with support of our Utica/Rome League. We had a great turnout and fantastic
discussion from the audience. For more on our Utica/Rome League visit their
website: </span><a href="http://www.lwvuticarome.org/"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://www.lwvuticarome.org/</span></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We
will be hosting a fifth forum on February 28<sup>th</sup> in Binghampton at the
Vestal Public Library. More information on that forum can be found on the
Broome Tioga website: </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.lwv-broometioga.org/"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">http://www.lwv-broometioga.org/</span></a></span>League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-64292082652472212752017-02-10T15:55:00.000-05:002017-02-10T16:06:24.530-05:00Dueling Voting Reform Packages <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This week the League was very pleased to see two major pushes
for voting reforms – one from Senate Democrats and a second from the Attorney
General. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On Monday we stood with the Senate Democratic Conference as
they announced their package of voting reform bills. The package includes many
reforms that the League has long supported including early voting,
consolidation of primaries, automatic voter registration, and ballot reform. You
can read more about the proposed legislation </span><a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/andrea-stewart-cousins/senate-democrats-announce-resistance-agenda-protect"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">. We were
very happy to see the conference roll out this package but we will need to work
extremely hard to get Senate Republicans on board with these bills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeg0NtR5KIt3_h9RNtuZjNGqFKhZesrNAJfCaVAYuVyizmzUEuqu7ax4um8t5n0i8X7Ds51iePECDaw9K-gOgci3j67T1pO9RyBdTbmJ61IyOmv9zIEjHjUwS-ax8SDgWpaGBd0f-6Hk/s1600/Presser+on+Voting+Reforms+Senate+Dems.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMeg0NtR5KIt3_h9RNtuZjNGqFKhZesrNAJfCaVAYuVyizmzUEuqu7ax4um8t5n0i8X7Ds51iePECDaw9K-gOgci3j67T1pO9RyBdTbmJ61IyOmv9zIEjHjUwS-ax8SDgWpaGBd0f-6Hk/s320/Presser+on+Voting+Reforms+Senate+Dems.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Tuesday morning we attended the annual budget briefing given
by Fiscal Policy Institute. It is an
informative session that both advocates and legislators attend. The questions for the FPI staff Economists
centered around the probable Federal cuts and their impact on New York's
budget. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Taxation budget
hearing held that same day was interesting this year for two reasons.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The hearing was interrupted twice by
protesters, which has never before.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Assemblyman Farrell tried strenuously to get them to leave, finally
Troopers came in and the protesters left.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The questions centered again on the impact of possible congressional
cuts to the state budget.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIzfp4lW6cW26vnZIn47Xyuk4Hs02yZEYF2MWAARQ1Tp0m7_Odl1GowTu4oRaoWb7i355ns1mr8ps_En83fGxS5grDir2XRfH63dL16YYAW-_8fTGqIRegVIjHVNrs32IpZS_fsKkQFg/s1600/Schneiderman+Presser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIzfp4lW6cW26vnZIn47Xyuk4Hs02yZEYF2MWAARQ1Tp0m7_Odl1GowTu4oRaoWb7i355ns1mr8ps_En83fGxS5grDir2XRfH63dL16YYAW-_8fTGqIRegVIjHVNrs32IpZS_fsKkQFg/s320/Schneiderman+Presser.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">On Wednesday the Attorney General unveiled his own voting
reforms package. The AG’s list of
proposals was quite a bit longer and more comprehensive than the reforms put
forward by the Democratic Conference. His reforms were motivated by the massive
issues New York Voters faced on Election Day 2016. The reforms would not only
empower voters by instituting common sense reforms such as early voting and
no-excuse absentee voting; but would also protect voters from unfair treatment
on Election Day through enhanced poll worker training and protections against
improper ballot challenges. Our Vice President of Issues and Advocacy, Sally Robinson, spoke at the press conference. You can see his full proposal package </span><a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-introduces-comprehensive-bill-protect-and-expand-voting-rights-new"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">here</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We are so pleased to see a renewed passion for election law
reforms from our elected officials. The League has fought for decades – nearly
a century – to repair our broken election system. As we move closer to the 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and our own 100<sup>th</sup>
anniversary, we are even more impassioned to fight for these reforms. This
legislative session we will do everything in our power to see that voting is
not put on the back burner by our legislature or our governor! We will pass
these common sense reforms! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4h3mc5l1ArHj1j9eiV6Xkulmxlome5EW98JMQ4X5uh1MZmPhFHiRtvs1UfEi0Npf0JuWCdbjjjBgCYJH6zZulHOXDijV6aLG0-qYizA9vE4QUOqF4PRIm1pWfcJo3yyTAJYJNCutn-OE/s1600/NY+Suffragists+Parade%252C+1912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4h3mc5l1ArHj1j9eiV6Xkulmxlome5EW98JMQ4X5uh1MZmPhFHiRtvs1UfEi0Npf0JuWCdbjjjBgCYJH6zZulHOXDijV6aLG0-qYizA9vE4QUOqF4PRIm1pWfcJo3yyTAJYJNCutn-OE/s400/NY+Suffragists+Parade%252C+1912.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-21282970837647399192017-02-02T16:07:00.003-05:002017-02-10T16:07:23.111-05:00Planned Parenthood Lobby Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNNUzdI6xFKHIpSueYKtydh9hahm1oTY6x5yrbL82bkuVPu3SDW4bnrDzTcDSsJAdjQjX_q0NTeWD40sdQrO-PoDLwOUrC_HKFpcanYQ_5TIKFnsBlxDWru4XsGie8OE7TTS2s9J6GXg/s1600/FPA+Lobby+Day+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNNUzdI6xFKHIpSueYKtydh9hahm1oTY6x5yrbL82bkuVPu3SDW4bnrDzTcDSsJAdjQjX_q0NTeWD40sdQrO-PoDLwOUrC_HKFpcanYQ_5TIKFnsBlxDWru4XsGie8OE7TTS2s9J6GXg/s400/FPA+Lobby+Day+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKy3q5ewj7JomyCHKd8K7CE7OxKT4_-H6WwTfL1IdH46ZU2kib0_w_RNICKDqvF17NWeFqDsVyRYbwNFrQBK2c8WjdKbTVRwc_0u70XGajJRZxInN2R5seo6T_gUsuFXRJ9Gpw_bQ1BWQ/s1600/FPA+Lobby+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKy3q5ewj7JomyCHKd8K7CE7OxKT4_-H6WwTfL1IdH46ZU2kib0_w_RNICKDqvF17NWeFqDsVyRYbwNFrQBK2c8WjdKbTVRwc_0u70XGajJRZxInN2R5seo6T_gUsuFXRJ9Gpw_bQ1BWQ/s320/FPA+Lobby+Day.jpg" width="320" /></a>The week began on an exciting note – Monday was the annual Family
Planning Advocates (FPA) Lobby Day. This year the event was held for the first
time since the Spritzer administration in the Convention Center. The annual
gathering recently has been held in the Well of the Legislative Office Building
but due to the November election and the threats to women’s reproductive choices,
1,700 advocates filled the Convention Center almost to capacity. Many advocates told their stories about how
they became involved with Planned Parenthood. The President of Planned
Parenthood US, Cecile Richards, spoke
later in the afternoon about the need for New York State to stand strong
against any threats to reproductive health. The sea of pink that filled the
convention center was a throwback to FPA’s rallies in the 1980’s and a
reaffirmation that NY continues to have a strong commitment to women’s rights.</div>
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The governor surprised the audience and showed up as the
final speaker. You can watch his full speech <a href="http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/lifestyle/announcements/2017/01/30/cuomo-abortion-rights/97250020/">here</a>.
He spoke eloquently about women’s health and New York’s commitment to
immigrants and people of all faiths. Following the rally we were invited to the
Governor’s Mansion for lunch with the Governor. We were able to have a
conversation with him about his renewed commitment to women’s health and we
applauded him for being a leader on this issue.</div>
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We returned to the Capitol to monitor the Assembly Election
Law Committee. There are several new committee members including a new
Republican chair. The Committee passed two bills which the League supports – a
bill on allowing the Board of Elections to use voter’s email address to transmit
information and a bill on consolidation primary elections in New York State to
a single June primary. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Later that day we testified at the Local Government/General
Government budget hearing. We reiterated our recommendations on ethics and
campaign finance reforms and highlighted the need for additional funding to be
set aside for public education on the upcoming Constitutional Convention ballot
question. You can read our full testimony <a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/gov-reform/ethics-lobbying/2017/Testimony_013017.pdf">here</a>.
Two of the Committee members thanked the
League for our tireless efforts to making government responsive to its
constituents. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday we submitted testimony to the Joint Committee on
Public Protections. The testimony focused on election law reforms and the need
for additional funding for the Board of Elections so that they can beef up
their cyber security measures. You can read our full testimony <a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/election-law/2017/Testimony-for-Public-Protection-Budget-Hearing_013117.pdf">here</a>. </div>
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Over the next two weeks the League will continue to focus on
the executive budget. We intend to testify and submit testimony to a total of
six committees this year. Stay tuned for more testimony! <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-13613023311563197052017-01-27T15:24:00.003-05:002017-01-27T15:24:40.829-05:00Women's March and Healthcare Concerns<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This week
National politics were at the forefront of our minds. Saturday January 21<sup>st</sup>
the League participated in the Women’s March on Washington. Leagues from all
over the country made their way to DC to show their concern for the current
state of affairs in Washington. Our
local Leagues participated in sister marches all over the state. They marched
in <span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">NYC, Albany, Glens Falls,
Seneca Falls, Sag Harbor, Hudson, Ithaca, Utica, Rochester, and Syracuse. Some
members even made the long journey to our Nation’s Capital. Many members have
shared their personal experiences with us; all were very moved by the passion
and energy of the marchers. They marched alongside their daughters and in some
cases their granddaughters! Some members were disheartened to see the issues
they had fought for over three decades ago brought back to the surface. Others were
proud to see so many women and men engaged in such an important movement. We
are thankful for everyone who chose to participate in the march and we hope
that we can keep this momentum going as we move forward in 2017. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt;">As the legislative session continues we turn our attention
away from reproductive health and towards general health care. On Monday we met
with Assemblyman Gottfried, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee. Assemblyman
Gottfried has always been an ally of the League and we have had the pleasure of
working with his office on many important healthcare issues. The Assemblyman
and his staff briefed us on the current state of healthcare in New York State
and helped us understand the risk our state faces should the ACA be repealed by
Congress. We will be testifying on Health during the upcoming budget
negotiations and plan to highlight these concerns.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We kept our focus on healthcare on Tuesday and sent memos of
support for two important healthcare bills – read our memos </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="file:///S:/Director/My%20Documents/Legislative/ISSUES/HEALTHCARE/2017"><span style="background: white;">here</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"> and </span><a href="file:///S:/Director/My%20Documents/Legislative/ISSUES/HEALTHCARE/2017"><span style="background: white;">here</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;">. Both bills were advanced to the Assembly Codes committee.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In addition to our legislative work this week we presented
two public forums on the upcoming Constitutional Convention question. On
Election Day of this year all New York State voters will be faced with the
question of whether or not to hold a Constitutional Convention. The League is
currently working to educate our members and the public on this important
issue. For more information visit our </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.lwvny.org/programs-studies/con-con-edu.html"><span style="background: white;">website.</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"> This week we presented in Albany and Saratoga. We will
continue our presentations until the question is put out to the voters on
Election Day. To request a public forum in your area contact our State League
office at </span><span style="background: white;"><a href="mailto:lwvny@lwvny.org">lwvny@lwvny.org</a></span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We end this blog on a somewhat sour note. This week our new
President called for a National investigation into the 2016 election. It is his
belief that this election involved massive voter fraud – particularly in New
York and California. There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this
claim and we do not believe an investigation is warranted. Our National League
has issued the following statement which we fully agree with:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“President Trump is calling for a major investigation into
voter fraud - in an election that he won! We know that wide-spread voter fraud
is a myth perpetuated to push election laws that restrict voting. We cannot allow false claims to drive
policies that will limit participation in our election process. There is no
need for an investigation into a non-existent problem. The issue has been
studied and put to rest.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-19156378421467305482017-01-20T11:44:00.004-05:002017-01-20T11:48:41.325-05:00Contraceptive Coverage and Reproductive Health Bills Pass Assembly <div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
legislative session began in earnest Tuesday after the MLK holiday with an
Assembly press conference on the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) and the
Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act (CCCA).</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The League was well represented at the press
event and then we went on to three committees, health, codes and
insurance.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The debate in health
committee was predictable with the Republican minority voting against the RHA
apparently concerned with person hood and penal law.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We then moved on to codes where the vote was
the same, minority in the negative.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">On
to insurance committee, but same result.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally the debate began about 5 pm.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">After about one and one half hours of debate which harkened back to the
1980's, the vote was 98 to 46.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">All
Republicans except Assemblyman Clifford Crouch of Binghamton voted
against.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The CCCA had the same result
although not as long a debate.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The CCCA
was put forward by the Attorney General, it is necessary because if the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed women will no longer be able to get
contraception paid for by insurance. Unfortunately these votes don't bode well
for these issues in the State Senate. The Senate is currently controlled by
Republicans who have no interest in seeing these bills put into law. The hope has
been that because of the renewed threat to Roe v Wade and the ACA, New York
would at last codify Roe here in New York and that contraception would remain
guaranteed.</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have work to do in the
Senate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaw9AEQvwA6ruVou0MBBWoYDHQcmbLHIUSwrbg93pjCQ_iJQEX-ffucpKki4L6LNAnqmcR5zyTaQ2G-cuiM5f9DbhsJl3KV-k-pEm7L73kr6RzYAqvP8rjJ-2qORDhxONTn4XtXDLAXA/s1600/Press+Conference+Heastie+-+CCA+and+RHA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDaw9AEQvwA6ruVou0MBBWoYDHQcmbLHIUSwrbg93pjCQ_iJQEX-ffucpKki4L6LNAnqmcR5zyTaQ2G-cuiM5f9DbhsJl3KV-k-pEm7L73kr6RzYAqvP8rjJ-2qORDhxONTn4XtXDLAXA/s320/Press+Conference+Heastie+-+CCA+and+RHA.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">On the same day Governor Cuomo released his budget proposal.
He originally wanted to brief the Senate first at a lunch meeting and the
Assembly later in the evening at a dinner in the Governor’s Mansion. He had
extended to the press the opportunity to view his plans in the afternoon but
told them they would have to wait until 7:30 pm to release the details. The
press refused to wait and ultimately no one was told anything until his formal
address at 7:30 pm. It was a rather awkward presentation with Cuomo presenting
his plan in front of just Capitol press and staff – no members of the
legislature or the public attended.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Although the day had a rocky start Cuomo and his
staff were able to post his proposed budget online for the public right after
he concluded his presentation. The full proposed budget, an archive of the
presentation, and his budget briefing book are all available on the Department
of Budget website https://www.budget.ny.gov/<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The legislature has released their Joint Legislative
Budget Hearing schedule and the League plans to testify and submit testimony
for at least 4 of the proposed Committees.
These Committees include Local Government, Taxes, Education, and Health
– it’s shaping up to be a busy January.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-50692478867211669312017-01-13T11:25:00.004-05:002017-01-13T11:26:01.819-05:00State of the State Wrap Up<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Week two of session was a busy
week for the League. We kicked off the attending the State Board of Election’s
Commissioner meeting. The meeting was not nearly as exciting as the December
and November meetings which involved heated debates between chief enforcement
council, Risa Sugarman, and Commissioner Doug Kellner over the whether or not
non-filers should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. However, we did
learn that the enforcement unit is moving forward with a plan for get
non-filers into compliance as soon as possible by issuing warnings in the form
of letters and emails. Commissioners Kellner and Kosinski did not seem
impressed. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the meeting adjourned we
headed over to the Elections Commissioners Association’s (ECA) Winter
Conference. Every year the League and some of our good government allies attend
the winter conference in Albany to lobby county election commissioners on our
voting priorities. This year we handed out materials supporting opt-out
automatic voter registration and opposing voter ID requirements. We were able to sit in on their Legislative
Committee meeting and hear their debate over their new proposed legislative
priorities. The committee proposed 7 new priorities included pre-registration
of 16 and 17 year olds, extended term lengths for Election Commissioners, new
post mark rules for absentee ballots and voter registration forms, a proposal
for automatic voter registration, and a new requirement for all New York voters
to present a government issued ID on Election Day. The committee debated the
proposals and ultimately only voted to adopt a single new proposal that would
allow the county Board of Election offices to issue same day absentee ballots
to people who are hospitalized within 24 hours of Election Day. This proposal
will be added to their 2016 proposals which can be found <a href="http://www.newyorkstateelectioncommissionersassociation.com/pdfs/legagenda/2016%20NYSECA%20Legislative%20Agenda.pdf">here</a>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday we returned to the
conference and handed out more materials listing our legislative priorities
related to election law for 2017. You can read our Joint Statement <a href="file:///S:/Director/My%20Documents/Legislative/ISSUES/ELECTION%20LAW/ELECTION%20LAW/2017/Joint%20Policy%20Statement%20on%20Voting%20Reform%20Priorities%20for%202017.pdf">here</a>.
We sat in on several panels and spoke with commissioners from around the state
about our priorities. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Wednesday the League was able
to attend Governor Cuomo’s Albany State of the State address. We had members
attend his addresses in New York City, Buffalo, and Westchester as well. We
were pleased to see he included ethics reforms in his Albany address but a bit
disappointed that they were the same old reforms he’s been pushing since before
2016.<br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Next week we will anticipate the
release of his 2017 budget and the calendar of proposed Joint Budget
Hearings. </span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-64255083908129858562017-01-05T15:52:00.000-05:002017-01-06T13:42:43.355-05:00And we’re back! <div class="MsoNormal">
The 2017 legislative session is officially underway and what
a better way to start the new session than with two totally opposing opening
remarks from our legislative leaders. While Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie
highlighted the bipartisan nature of his house and the Assembly’s willingness
to work with the Senate; Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan swore to keep his
house independent. How will this shake out in the upcoming session? Only time
will tell.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Heastie highlighted education, health care, and reproductive
choice as his top priorities for this session.
Flanagan made several remarks about Upstate jobs and the moderate
successes of Start Up NY and the Regional Development Council. Much of his
speech appeared to be digs at the Governor. The Assembly finished their session
rather quickly while the Senate lingered until 3:00pm debating the lack of democrats on the Senate Ethics Committee and a new rule
change that would ban Senators from using their phones to take photos or videos
while in the Senate Chamber. The general public has already been barred from
using cell phones while in the galleries but now the rule applies to Senators
and the press alike. <o:p></o:p><br />
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The day ended with countless receptions held throughout the
Capital. We spoke to many members and found that legislators regardless of party expressed anger over Governor's meddling in the Wage Commission which had been set up to be outside of the political haggling. That feeling seemed to shadow the first day of session as well as the feeling that the Governor had disrespected the legislature's rightful position by moving the State of the State outside of the Capitol. There was also among many members, a veiled threat of budget negotiations being impaired by this level of animosity between the executive and legislative chambers.<br />
<br />
Next week we will begin business as usual and hopefully get a chance
to attend Governor Cuomo’s State of the State road tour. Here are the dates and locations:<br />
<br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: RobotoRegular, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; left: 20px; line-height: 26px; list-style: none outside none; margin: 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: static;">
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Monday, 11 a.m.: One World Trade Center in Manhattan</li>
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Monday, 3 p.m.: University at Buffalo Center for the Arts</li>
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Tuesday, 10:30 a.m.: SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center</li>
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Tuesday, 1 p.m.: Farmingdale State College on Long Island</li>
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Wednesday, 10 a.m.: University at Albany Performing Arts Center</li>
<li style="list-style-position: inside; list-style-type: disc; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em;">Wednesday, 1 p.m.: Carrier Theater in Syracuse</li>
</ul>
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Here’s
hoping this session brings some actual ethics reforms! <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-11677683583789902602016-06-20T09:41:00.003-04:002017-01-05T11:51:12.435-05:00So Long 2016<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 10.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dn46wp0PD3-60QVFjG7z3oAgDgaEGVs2clryW8uJhFj5Y_IoF6N5-3AypUaYWU6k0Q15ocC5LN5KJRxhnE6uFfBxzSRrb4hMLM6pQspQ3j6PefWJx6cirV4fDMIZaj5chAnqiXA6COSI/s1600/BarbaraAndReporter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dn46wp0PD3-60QVFjG7z3oAgDgaEGVs2clryW8uJhFj5Y_IoF6N5-3AypUaYWU6k0Q15ocC5LN5KJRxhnE6uFfBxzSRrb4hMLM6pQspQ3j6PefWJx6cirV4fDMIZaj5chAnqiXA6COSI/s200/BarbaraAndReporter.jpg" width="119" /></a>Session is finally over and
although we are excited to switch our focus to developing new educational
programs and updating our electronic voter guide for the upcoming primary and
general elections (<a href="http://www.vote411.org/" id="LPlnk80207">http://www.vote411.org/</a> we
just posted the candidates for the Congressional primary so be sure to check it
out!) We are disappointed at the lack of campaign finance and ethics
reforms this session; but before we dwell on the negative, let’s take a moment
to reflect on the positives. In total the League had quite a few successes this
session:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">· We
once again kept the Education Tax Credit from coming to a vote in the Assembly,
an arduous but satisfying fight.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">· We
saw movement in the Assembly on some of our core voting reforms including early
voting, allowing for electronic poll books, an amendment for no-excuse absentee
voting, and the Voter Friendly Ballot Act.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">· We
also helped push the LLC loophole for a vote in the Assembly where it passed
easily with support from both democrats and republicans.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">· We
were also successful in raising public awareness for our core ethics and
campaign finance issues. We held many press conferences and issued countless
memos and statements pushing to see some form of ethics reforms happen before
time ran out.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To see all of the issues we worked on throughout this
session visit our website at<a href="http://www.lwvny.org/">http://www.lwvny.org/</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even though we’ve had success moving these issues in
the Assembly, we are very disappointed the Senate did not take the opportunity
to vote on any of these common sense election law and campaign finance reforms.
It is however very satisfying to see these bills at least move in one house,
many of these bills have never even been voted out of committee!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEuo96GukxLBlZVTBrdaLilv_DlQIPRzGq7rnFDH64AhXXbjepJc5-TEOp6Eyk6Lvyg8kdtz9OEIPBjyEG0QIBzPp_7r0t8uiLMVzII6eSegm6ZWJOEvu7saZXUwel6comyrtMaXm2QqL/s1600/Ethics+End+of+Session+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQEuo96GukxLBlZVTBrdaLilv_DlQIPRzGq7rnFDH64AhXXbjepJc5-TEOp6Eyk6Lvyg8kdtz9OEIPBjyEG0QIBzPp_7r0t8uiLMVzII6eSegm6ZWJOEvu7saZXUwel6comyrtMaXm2QqL/s200/Ethics+End+of+Session+2.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Although the legislation we advocated for was not
signed into law, the Governor did put forward an ethics packaged aimed
primarily at independent expenditures which we have mixed feelings about. On
the one hand, the package includes some reforms that we have been fighting for
for nearly a decade. Pension forfeiture of elected officials
convicted of corruption, the timely closure of political PACs after a candidate
passes, and having political consultants register as lobbyists, are all
measures the League supports. What we don’t support is how the Governor quickly
put together this package, without including laws aimed at bigger issues such
as closing the LLC loophole and eliminating pay to play by lowering contribution
limits, and then the two houses passed the package in the dead of the night
(Senate <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">at
2:00am</a> and Assembly <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://5" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors="true">at 5:00 am</a>). For this entire legislative
session, the League and its good government partners have held press
conferences urging the Governor to pass these reforms and put his focus on
money flowing directly to elected officials. Yes we want to take away
pensions from corrupt politicians, yes we want better disclosure for lobbyists,
yes we want consultants to be on the record as lobbyists, but we also want to
see some bigger changes. Changes that would limit and bring transparency to money in politics, changes that would strengthen JCOPE, And changes that
would actually address the underlying problems that allow politicians to
receive unlimited campaign contributions from undisclosed donors.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Are we happy? No, not really. Are we disappointed?
Well, at least we got more done this year than last year. The truth is until we
pass strong anti-corruption laws we will continue to see politicians abusing
the system for their own self gain. For now we will take advantage of the new
“Boozy Brunch” law, have a few Bloody Mary’s, and start to strategize our
approach for next session. Have a great summer everyone!</span><br />
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-17255240322625964272016-06-10T16:14:00.001-04:002017-01-05T11:55:07.485-05:00Only 3 Days Left of Session 2016<div class="MsoNormal">
My how six months can fly by! With only one
week remaining it appears that once again no ethics reforms will be passed.
This week the Governor released his independent expenditure bill which he says
will help address the problems created by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2010
Citizens United case. Unfortunately for New York, campaign finance abuses have
been occurring long before Justice Kennedy issued his final opinion of the case.
The League distributed a full statement after the event which can be read <a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/election-law/campaign-finance-reform/2016/statement-on-Gov-Announcement_60816.pdf">here</a>.
In our statement we recognize that this proposal will only address a small part
of the larger problem that we face with our campaign finance system. The League
has spent a significant amount of time and energy researching and studying
campaign finance and this proposal is not nearly enough to curb corruption in
our state. In 2012 we issued a large briefing paper on the topic which can be
found <a href="http://lwvny.org/advocacy/reform/2012/Background%20Paper--PreservingOurDemocracy102612.pdf">here</a>.
If you’re interested in seeing what it would really take to overhaul our
campaign finance system it is certainly worth a read! <o:p></o:p></div>
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This week the Assembly took up Assemblywoman Glick’s bill on
reproductive rights. The bill would ensure that current law on the issue remains
strong and would expand a woman’s access to reproductive services. As usual the
Assembly Republicans took the opportunity to grad stand on the issue and try to
gin up support from other religious members in the Assembly. This debate was
unlike the debate in years past and seemed more akin to the debates that took
place when New York was first dealing with the issue of reproductive choice.
The new Republican member from the south shore of Staten Island rose to speak
on the bill and ignited an all-out race debate in the Assembly. Nearly all Democratic members rose to their
feet to ask the new member to yield. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Eventually the outraged members cleared out of the chamber
as he continued his comments. When the members did finally file back in they
launched into a nearly 3 hour “debate” over why his comments were both racist and
sexist. Finally Assemblywoman Corwin and Assembly Minority Leader Kolb had to
defuse the situation and ask for a short break in the session before the vote.
The bill did eventually pass but it is unlikely the Senate will consider this
bill. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As session winds down, the League is still advocating for
some of our core issues. We are concentrating our efforts on the Contraceptive Coverage
Act, the constitutional amendment that would allow for no-excuse absentee
voting, and ethics reforms. Even though
the outlook is grim, we will continue pushing for ethics reforms until the very
last day of session! <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-37030041146427804272016-06-03T16:12:00.003-04:002017-01-05T11:55:35.660-05:00Where's The Ethics!?<div class="MsoNormal">
With seven days of session remaining will the legislature
pass any ethics reforms!?!? At that moment we’re feeling rather pessimistic,
especially in light of this being an election year. Many members are anxious to
head back to their districts to collect signatures for their petitions before
the August 8<sup>th</sup> deadline. Although we are pessimistic we continue to
be proactive and have been working with our good government partners planning
our moves for the final days of session.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Luckily some of our other priority issues are moving
including the Single Payer Health bill which passed in the Assembly on
Wednesday. The League has also partnered with PowHer to push a bill on Pay
Equity. We issued a joint memo of support to the Assembly and Senate for
A.8487/S.6059A. This legislation would ensure that companies receiving state
contracts are paying their employees fairly regardless of gender and race. You
can read the full memo <a href="http://www.lwvny.org/advocacy/womens-issues/pay-equity/2016/LWVNY-MOS-A8487-S6059A-Establishing-Equal-Pay-Disclosures-for-State-Contracts.pdf">here</a>.
The League is also keeping a close eye
on the Contraceptive Coverage bill which would ensure all forms of
contraception are covered by private insurers. We are hoping to push this bill
through the Assembly and Senate before session ends.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Wednesday we were treated to an explosive Assembly
Election Law Committee meeting. Many of our priority bills on voting have been
moved out of committee and placed on the calendar but there were several bills
which went on to be held in other committees. Assemblywoman Walker was furious
that her new omnibus bill on voting reforms was not even considered by the
committee. The Chairman, Assemblyman Cusick, instead chose to move his own bill
which had similar reforms but excluded some key components of her bill that
would add additional protections for minorities who are discriminated against
at poll sites. The Assemblywoman took a stand and demanded to know why the
other omnibus bill was pushed through the committee while hers was not
considered. The two then engaged in a
lengthy debate (nearly 15 minutes of yelling!) over whether or not the Chairman
had followed the protocol surrounding bringing a bill to vote in a committee. Many
bills were held including Assemblywoman Galef’s pay-to-play bill which would
ensure that all businesses dealing with the government could not make large
campaign contributions (looking at you LP Cimminelli). Much to our dismay, the
bill was held. We will be joining the Assemblywoman at a press conference on
Friday and urging the legislature to take action on instituting real ethics
reforms. Here’s hoping something happens between now and June 16<sup>th</sup>!<o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-13411421083852335972016-05-16T10:58:00.001-04:002017-01-05T11:56:08.004-05:00Lobby Day For the League<div class="MsoNormal">
This week was a very exciting week for the League. We kicked
off the second week of May with a large list of priority bills being moved in
both the Assembly and Senate. On Monday we stood with Senator Daniel Squadron
and his Senate allies outside of the Senate chamber to make one final push to
move his LLC loophole bill through committee and onto the floor. We were joined
by Senators Kreuger, Latimer, Rivera, Montgomery, Little, and Kaminski; as well
as the Assembly sponsor Brian Kavanagh. There was quite a showing of press and
several reporters made their way over to the committee meeting to see what would
happen to the bill. Unfortunately, the bill did not move to the floor. Instead
Senator Akshar moved the bill into Codes, he said this was requested by a
member of the Codes Committee but did not specify who. Senator Squadron was
distressed over the new committee assignment and this will likely be the last
we hear about this bill for the rest of session. The League was also interested in two other
bills in this committee, one on early voting and one on electronic poll books.
Both bills were moved to new committees and we are hopeful that they will reach
the main calendar before the end of session. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday the League had its annual lobby day. It was an
extremely busy day and many other groups were also holding events and lobby
days including the coalition on Raise the Age. Several of our members from
Schenectady attended the Raise the Age press conference and lobbied with the group.
After our morning presentations our members spent the afternoon mingling with
their local legislators and advocating for voting and ethics reforms, as well
as several social policy issues. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wednesday was not quite as busy or exciting but the
constitutional amendment on no-excuse absentee voting was moved to the assembly
calendar (finally!) and a bill on allowing the State Board of Elections to make
use of voters email addresses was also moved to Ways and Means. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thursday former Senate Majority leader Dean Skelos and his
son Adam were finally sentenced following their acts of corruption when Skelos
was leader. The former Senator received 5 years and his son was sentenced to
6.5. The trial was live tweeted by several reporters and much like the Silver sentencing,
we spent the hour and a half leading up to the sentences glued to our phones.
Whether or not these sentences are enough to deter corruption in Albany remains
to be seen. The rest of session will surely be interesting especially since it
appears the US Attorney’s investigation of Buffalo Billion funding is finally
heating up. As Preet Brahara would say “stay tuned”!<o:p></o:p></div>
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League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-1021191895904840182016-05-08T12:58:00.001-04:002016-05-08T12:58:20.602-04:00Session is once again underway and now more than ever the League is fighting to ensure something, ANYTHING, gets done on ethics this session. Tuesday was a monumental day with former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver being handed a heft sentence of 12 years in prison, $1.75 million in fines, and an additional $5 million in forfeitures, for his underhanded backdoor deals while in power. The League and our good government allies held joint press conferences in Albany and New York City calling on the legislature to implement stronger reforms on ethics and campaign finance. Whether or not the Governor and legislature will heed our cries is to be determined later this session.<br />
<br />
On Wednesday, the League attended an event which we co-sponsored with Common Cause and the Rockefeller Institute on voting modernization. We heard from two former Colorado election officials on how their state has modernized their voting system successfully. The system in place in Colorado is both cost effective and inclusive of all voters. We were delighted to see several New York State election officials in attendance including the State Board of Elections Commissioner, Peter Kosinski, and Co-Executive Directors, Robert Brehm and Todd Valentine. The panel was well received and the audience posed many interesting questions. <br />
<br />
Next week the League will be extremely busy with our annual Lobby Day on May 10th. We expect to have a great showing from our members and anticipate our lobby visits will cover a wide range of topics that we are advocating for this session. League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-25273326552869444492016-04-20T14:10:00.001-04:002016-04-20T14:12:54.757-04:00TEst BlogTest blogBarbara Bartolettihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04300981347440486131noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-81899661416147100592016-04-18T14:17:00.002-04:002016-04-18T14:17:22.674-04:00<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<b>TOMORROW IS ELECTION DAY IN NYS: </b>Presidential Primary, Special Elections and Special Help Hotline - read below!</div>
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Polls are open on Primary Day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.in the following localities: New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Erie. In all other counties in New York State, polls are open on Primary Day from 12 noon to 9 p.m.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE BALLOT INFO</b><br />The purpose of the Presidential primary is to select delegates to a national convention of a political party. Voters must be registered in the Democratic or Republican party to vote in that party’s primary. In New York State, the Republican and Democratic Presidential primaries are organized differently.</div>
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<b>REPUBLICAN VOTERS</b> will be issued a ballot with candidates listed. The voter will choose one candidate, but will not vote for delegates. Please be advised that some candidates have withdrawn from the race but are still listed on the New York Ballot. Delegates for the Republican Party’s national convention are selected by the state’s Republican Committee.</div>
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<b>DEMOCRATIC VOTERS</b> will be asked to vote for the Presidential candidate AND delegates for the democratic convention. The delegate distribution will be determined by the number of votes each Presidential candidate receives. Based on the population of your congressional district, you will vote for 5-7 delegates (indicated on the ballot instructions). Outside of NYC, the delegates listed in the same row across from the Presidential candidate are the delegates for that candidate. In NYC, the delegates are listed in a separate column next to the column of Presidential candidates; the name of the candidate that they are pledged to support is indicated under the delegate’s name .</div>
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For any questions regarding your ballot please call your County Board of Elections office or call our State League office at (518) 465-4163</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>SPECIAL ELECTIONS</b><br />If you are registered to vote in Lower Manhattan, Central Nassau, South Shore of Staten Island, or South East Brooklyn you will have the opportunity to vote in a special election for state legislators representing your Assembly or Senate district. Go to <a href="http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FVote411.org%2F&h=mAQEvP22GAQETaNLOjDSH6yDL2987aQfe2gAEVYY7PIu_4A&enc=AZNpjkAyvBHNofb_00thNiX_5gpljNaPrrfX-X3Art3pqbOuCp4a8d9OUiJIJHhgiryC1ZaA-xCImeoV_01RxMVrQaeSL1hK_yXgbRg209GvckEFY7CYtypn4AmF4ZLF4asMGxMM11lSb3je3AElf8gz-dKr4PCmZPc9n6KQfcNVDEdI2nDziEpe3TIHi2mV-03w8QUoegam96XD7y-VwRV2&s=1" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Vote411.org</a> and enter your address for information about each of these races and the candidates. You do not need to be registered in a party to vote in a special election, but must be registered to vote.</div>
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• Lower Manhattan: Assemblyperson for the 65th District<br />• Central Nassau: Senator for the 9th District<br />• South Shore Staten Island: Assemblyperson for the 62nd District<br />• South East Brooklyn: Assemblyperson for the 59th District</div>
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HOTLINE FOR INFORMATION, GUIDANCE AND ASSISTANCE ON ELECTION DAY<br />As New Yorkers will head to the polls to vote in the New York presidential primary election on April 19, 2016, Election Protection (EP) – the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee) – will ensure that all eligible New Yorkers have an equal opportunity to vote and provide voters with information, guidance and assistance. The 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) hotline will be available to answer calls live on primary Election Day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>Hours for Live, Real-Time Assistance:</b><br />Tuesday, April 19, 2016<br />6 a.m. to 9 p.m. EDT for English assistance (866-OUR-VOTE)<br />5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. EDT for bilingual English/Spanish assistance (888-VE-Y-VOTA)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-top: 6px;">
Election Protection’s toll-free hotlines, 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) administered by the Lawyers’ Committee for English, and 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682) administered by NALEO Educational Fund for bilingual assistance (English/Spanish), are available to any voter who needs information, assistance or guidance in understanding their rights. Assistance is also available in six Asian languages—Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bengali, Urdu and Tagalog—through the 888-API-VOTE hotline, which is managed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice—AAJC and APIA Vote. However, for the primary election, the 888-API-VOTE hotline will not be providing real-time assistance on April 19; voters will be asked to leave a voicemail.</div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-34115877884325176192016-04-18T09:03:00.001-04:002016-04-18T09:03:18.692-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Spring
recess is upon us. The League spent the final week before spring break running
to Assembly and Senate Committee meetings on Monday and Tuesday. We will be
spending most of our break gearing up for our May 10<sup>th</sup> Lobby Day and
our Student’s Inside Albany program which will take place from May 22<sup>nd</sup>
until May 25<sup>th</sup>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Enjoy
the nice weather everyone!<o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7511503908721786610.post-85342883982812990892016-04-04T13:05:00.001-04:002016-04-04T13:05:30.934-04:00<div class="MsoNormal">
This was the week that we didn’t think would ever end and as
of Friday afternoon (right now 2:58 pm) the Assembly is STILL in session only
now taking up the education, labor, housing, and family assistance budget bill. The Senate, following a grueling all night
session, adjourned at 9:37 am today. One has to feel disheartened that
legislators had to endure no sleep and an inability to read what the Governor
called “a remarkable budget” and “the best plan produced in decades”. This budget process has been the most
secretive process in several years. At one point, negotiations were taken off
the Capitol Campus to the Governor’s private residence where it is impossible
for reporters to go. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday started with several press events including a press
conference outside the Senate where the good government community discussed the
lack of ethics and transparency in the budget, including lump sum discretionary
funds. After our press conference we taped a segment with Susan Arbetter and
the local television stations. In the afternoon we pulled Assembly members off
the floor reinforcing our opposition to the Education Tax Credit and support
for increasing Foundation Aid. Late afternoon, early evening was spent
exchanging intel with coalition members for any leaks of information from the
second floor (the Governor’s office). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Tuesday rumors circulated that the Senate was planning to
trade minimum wage for the Education Investment Tax Credit. The League quickly
issued a memo restating our opposition to the EITC and asking that members stay
strong in their opposition. That ended a long day and long evening. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On Wednesday we went up to the Capitol late in the day, amid
rumors that the charter school increases were now attached to minimum wage by
the Senate and the Governor’s office. Does anyone see a theme here? We sent
some time speaking with the Education Chair and other legislators to again
reiterate our support for public education. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Much of Thursday was spent waiting for the republican Senate
conference to end and the budget debate to actually start. The Assembly took up
bills unrelated to the budget while waiting for final negotiations to be
hammered out. The Senate finally began debating budget bills at 4:30 pm. The
debate started contentiously with Senator Gianaris and Senator Young raising
their voices. Senator Gianaris was particularly disturbed and vocal about the
lack of transparency and the fact that bills would be debated without any
opportunity to first read the language. The same complaints were being echoed
by the Assembly republicans during their debates. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thursday night debate of the budget dragged on in the
Assembly until approximately 2:00 am when they stood at ease so the legislators
could actually read the budget bills on their computer. The Assembly came back
in at 2:50pm to continue their debates. The interesting thing to note is that
the Assembly democrats do not debate these budget bills. The Chair of the Ways
and Means Committee, Denny Farrell, stands on his feet throughout the debate to
answer the questions of the Assembly minority. The debate is all one sided for
a reason, because the Assembly is so large if every democrat in the majority
rose to debate, the session would go on endlessly so democrats are told to rise
to explains their votes only when absolutely necessary. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Although this has been a secretive process, which we have
repeatedly criticized for a lack of transparency, and insufficient time for
legislators to thoroughly review budget language, the League and our allies
were successful during this process in
preventing the EITC from being included in the final budget. We were also
pleased to see the legislature pass the Governor’s minimum wage and paid family
leave proposals, both of which we supported. We continue to be disappointed
with the lack of process on comprehensive ethics reforms and we will continue
to advocate post budget for these common sense reforms. <o:p></o:p></div>
League of Women Votershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07836367660507235732noreply@blogger.com0