Music
From Albany, this is the Legislative Gazette, a weekly magazine on New York State Government and Politics,
your host is Dave Gleffli with Commentary by Political Scientist Dr. Alan Shartoff.
Hello and welcome to the Legislative Gazette coming up this week for the sixth year in a row,
New York missed its budget deadline. Our political analyst Dr. Alan Shartoff will be here to share his insights into what went wrong.
Also, last week's AIDS protest at the state capital could wind up costing taxpayers $10,000 in keen up costs.
We'll tell you about that. Two state lawmakers are trying to protect some Canadian Indians, will explain how,
and the first black woman elected to Congress more than two decades ago came to Albany to urge other women to become politically active.
All that and more on this week's Legislative Gazette.
New York State this week entered a new fiscal year without an official spending plan enacted.
April 1st marked the sixth consecutive year the governor and the legislature were unable to meet the budget deadline.
I spoke with our political analyst Dr. Alan Shartoff.
Yes, it really was disgraceful David because it's frustrating to New Yorkers to see their so-called professional class of politicians behaving in an adolescent and absolutely in-nept fashion.
And it's not only that they're adolescent and in-nept in their behavior, it's that what they have created is a sort of pandemonium among their own state workers who were concerned about their jobs and their agency's efficiency and their ability to do what they're charged with.
And also it's costing a fortune because every day you postpone this you start adding up the interest.
The bond ratings have gone down significantly in New York State to the point where something like 48th in the nation that is terrible.
So that what has happened is that this Northeast malaise, which has hurt Vermont, you just got a governor, Cunen who says that she's not going to run.
Governor O'Neill in Connecticut is down, Ducakis has become a laughing stock.
Time magazine has written some unfortunate things about the governor and saying that this was a terrible week for him.
Whether this is true or not, this budget morass and mess just compounds all of it.
The interesting thing was that I think that some of the people in the legislature, particularly the Senate, thought that they could take the heat and that it would resound to the governor's deficit side.
And I don't think that's worked out.
In other words, I think it is true that Mario Cuomo has not been helped by any of this and in fact may well have been hurt, but that so have the Republicans and Ralph Moreno in particular because it looks like frankly that they didn't have an effective plan, that they weren't trying to be statesmen like and to work it out.
And so what you ended up having was a lose, lose situation where everybody looks good.
I don't think that anybody in this legislature thinks that the Senate Republicans are heroes. I think that nobody who is saying good things about the governor, this just makes state government look terrible.
And I think that that's what everybody walks away from this with.
Political analyst Dr. Alan Shartock.
New rules concerning lighting up in the workplace are now in effect in the Empire State.
The regulations are the final phase of the state's comprehensive no smoking law.
Steven Steinhardt, Associate Counsel for the State Health Department says all employers are now required to adopt a written smoking policy.
It requires that employers provide non-smoking employees with a smoke free area.
An employer may set aside a work area for smoking if all employees assigned to the area agree.
And that means that if you have one employee assigned to one of these common work areas and that one employee says I don't want this common work area to be smoking permitted, that means that common area is now smoke free.
And that doesn't, it's not a majority rules.
The law includes a flat prohibition on smoking in auditoriums, hallways, restrooms, elevators, and areas in the workplace that hold common equipment such as copiers or fax machines.
Smoking is also banned and company cars occupied by more than one person and meeting in conference rooms unless all participants agree to permit it.
The no smoking law was signed by Governor Cuomo last July.
The part of the bill concerning smoking in public places went into effect in January.
Steinhardt says judging from the phone calls he's received, many employers have already implemented smoking regulations.
Most of them already have policies and they're calling in really to fine tune them.
They're calling to make sure that what they already have in place meets the law and where if anywhere they have to upgrade their policy.
Steinhardt says fines for employers who do not obey the law can be up to $500 for each infraction in counties where there's a local health enforcement officer and up to $1,000 in some smaller upstate counties where there are no enforcement officers.
Officials say it's costing the York thousands of dollars to clean up after act up for more on that story. Here's Brian Shields.
The state was left with a bill of more than $10,000 after the AIDS activist group held a demonstration at the state capital last week.
The money pays for security at the protest and cleaning up the litter, stickers, and red tape left behind.
Thomas Tubbs, a spokesman for the State Office of General Services, says that does it include extra security costs for the state police and Albany police.
But some of the act up demonstrators claim the extra cost is due to the hiring of those police to intimidate the protesters.
Tubbs says that's ridiculous.
Well I comment as absolutely without basis our police officers and I spent the day with them where they're monitoring the situation throughout.
Our tactical squad is expert in the handling and treatment of people and if need be the removal of people from any given area to a transport van.
They did that in expert fashion.
No one was hurt. One demonstrator claimed that he had hit his head on the stairway, I guess, from being carried.
Taking to the local hospital and summarily examined and released.
No, there was absolutely no disenfranchisement of any of those demonstrators.
In fact, the restraint exhibited by our capital police was exemplary, I would say, and any assertions that the cost of the cleanup, the cost of increased security as being what I understand to be quote wacko on our part,
that's absolutely without basis.
Tubbs also says the state is considering billing act up for the damages.
Many says during these tough fiscal times the state just can't afford to pick up the protesters' tab.
Well it's more than obvious that there are no discretionary funds available to the state any longer and we just can't continue to support demonstrations to monitor to ensure the public safety in general,
to assure the continuation of governmental operations and guarantee the free expression of viewpoints and then find that it costs us from 2 to $10,000 to clean up after these demonstrations.
It doesn't make any sense.
Tomas Tubbs, spokesman for the State Office of General Services.
Meanwhile, Act Up spokesman Scott Wall says these are desperate times for people with the deadly disease.
Well, I mean, Act Up is a nonviolent organization but we'll do everything in our power in a creative way to get our message across.
And we believe that the state's spending money to get paint off the steps of the capital is nothing compared to the paint and suffering that people with A's are going through in the state due to lack of funds and services.
As for the possibility of Act Up having to pick up the $10,000 tab, Wall says the group will cross that bridge if and when it gets to it.
A crowd of about 1,000 Act Up demonstrators picketed the executive mansion recently and marched to the state capital. 80 people were arrested in the protest.
For the Legislative Gazette, I'm Brian Shields.
Two New York lawmakers are trying to do what they can to protect the land and livelihood of Canada's Cree and Inuit Indians.
Ten of them are currently journeying from Quebec to New York City by canoe.
The purpose of the journey is to inform the public of the dangers of the proposed James Bay 2 project.
A second hydroelectric plant planned by Hydro Quebec in order to supply New York in New England with power. Bruce Robertson has more.
Assemblyman William Hoyt is chair of that Chambers Energy Committee. The Buffalo Democrat is also a co-sponsor of legislation designed to help protect nearly 2,000 square miles of land which the Cree settled 5,000 years ago.
We're talking about massive construction and the diversion of rivers and the potential for an impoundment that would be the size of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire combined in order to create new sources for hydro power.
New York State right now has a series of contracts with Hydro Quebec and we import a couple of thousand megawatts of hydro power.
And those contracts would not be in any way threatened by this legislation which in essence has that Hydro Quebec would have to perform an environmental impact statement.
It's something they don't do now. I was quite surprised to learn that. Of an equal standard to what we do in New York State and that our DEC here in New York would have to in many ways certify that the extent of the environmental damage done.
And then the power authority would have to make up its mind whether they wanted to sign that contract.
Assemblyman William Hoyt, the first phase of the project James Bay One was built in 1973. Some say it has had disastrous effects on the area claiming that in 1985 alone 10,000 caribou were drowned in waters backed up by hydro project dams.
Others feel that the second phase of the project could be even more detrimental to the environment. Maurice Hinchy chairs the Assembly's Environmental Conservation Committee.
There is a serious likelihood that there could be wide ranging effects. The effects will be obviously on the immediate area.
Large tracks of land will now be underwater. The effects could flow throughout the entire ecological system. It may have significant impacts on the wildlife.
Certain wildlife may no longer be able to survive there.
The native populations are dependent upon the existence of those wildlife so that their continued existence then comes into jeopardy.
So it's important I think that we've learned this over and over again. It's important for us to analyze the potential environmental impacts of the things that we do.
We as humans, the dominant species on this earth have now taken control of all the natural elements.
Things occur in ways in which they have never occurred before because they flow from the actions that we take.
We have the dominant species on this planet and consequently all other species on this planet are dependent upon us in one way or another for their continued existence.
And for that reason it's important for us when projects of this size are contemplated that we factor into that thought process as much knowledge as we can possibly muster with regard to the potential impacts on the environment.
New York State Assembly, Min Maurice Hinchy chairment of that Chambers Environmental Conservation Committee and co-sponsor of Protective Legislation.
The Sierra Club and the American Autobahn Society are among the groups in support of the trip and the cause.
As for the legislative backing neither Hoyt nor Hinchy are sure about the bill's passage but they say just bringing the issue to the public's attention is an important first step.
Reporting on environmental affairs for the legislative Gazette, this is Bruce Robertson.
Meanwhile, there's been ongoing tensions on Native American territories in New York State fighting between pro and anti-gambling Mohawks at the St. Regis Reservation in Northern New York has been a problem for some time.
And recently on another reservation in Altoona, there's been a standoff between state police and Mohawks.
The issue is a National Guard helicopter that was recently shot at. Some say the shots were fired from the Indian territory.
They say that's not true and have refused to allow police onto their land to investigate.
We asked our frequent guest, Lieutenant Governor Stan Lundin, about the mounting tensions.
Well, I think what you're seeing is Indians much more concerned and perhaps militant about their own territorial rights and a feeling of growing resentment at other civil authority.
Whether that is with just claws and certainly whether they're taking appropriate action is another matter.
But I think what you're seeing all over the country is increasing militancy among Indian nation.
Meanwhile, many Native Americans say they simply don't trust state officials. In Altoona, a reservation spokesman cited mistrust as one of the reasons state police haven't been allowed onto the land.
Lundin says ironically Cuomo helped create that Mohawk encampment during negotiations back in 1977.
Lundin says Cuomo will continue to work with them.
I think they know that he is one governor they can trust. He is one governor who has made the Native Americans a very formal and very important part of everything we do in this state.
He is deeply concerned about Indian problems from northern New York to western New York and is committed to trying to resolve peacefully any of the kinds of disputes that arise.
New York, State Lieutenant Governor Stan Lundin.
Now joining us with a look at some other happenings this week in state politics is Paul Rosenthal with our legislative notebook.
Drimefri's licenses issued to young people in New York state will now look a little different than those given to their elders.
Anyone below the legal purchase age of 21 getting a new license will have the words under 21 years of age imprinted on the card.
The bill's chief backer, the Selman Robin Schiminger of Buffalo says the message will be printed partly over the picture to make it harder for people to make false IDs.
This new law is aimed at creating both difficulty and ease for different categories of people.
It's aimed at creating difficulty for young people who might attempt to tamper with a driver's license in the hope of creating for themselves the identification of a person older than the person.
This more readily distinguishable license will be that much more difficult to tamper with.
It's aimed at creating greater ease for people whose task it is in our society to identify people as legal to purchase alcoholic beverages, be they shopkeepers or store clerks or bouncers or bartenders presently under the old licenses.
The only indication of a person's age is the date of birth printed on their driver's license and this requires then some quick mental arithmetic on the part of the person behind the counter to ascertain the person's age, whether or not they are legal to purchase alcoholic beverages.
These new licenses will make it readily apparent that someone is under the legal age.
Shiminger is calling it the license to save lives. Only new licenses will bear the imprint. People under 21 who already have their licenses will not have to worry about getting them replaced.
State Attorney General Robert Abrams says a new bill being considered at the state capital would help protect victims of sex crimes under the new bill. Defense lawyers would be prevented from introducing a crime victim's sexual history at trial unless it's clearly relevant.
Abrams says evidence concerning a victim's sexual history is often irrelevant, embarrassing and full of innuendos. Abrams said that irrelevant allegations were made in court about Marla Hansen, the model whose face was slashed and Jennifer Levin who was killed in Central Park by so-called Preppy Murderer Robert Chambers.
To say to somebody who approved a bill this week that would allow 17-year-old New Yorkers to register to vote, Staten Island Assemblyman Eric Vitaleano says that lowering the voter registration age to 17 would make it easier to register high school students. He says that would get them ready to vote when they become eligible at 18.
State programs aimed at preventing adolescent and teenage pregnancy will be made permanent under a new state law. The adolescent pregnancy prevention and services program funds local community organizations that provide counseling and other services.
The Teenage Service program, which serves pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers on public assistance, was made permanent under another law. Lawmakers created both programs in 1984. This is Paul Rosenthal.
The sixth annual women's legislative caucus was held this week in Albany. Women came from throughout the state to try to get results from state lawmakers.
And as Ingasarter reports, one well-known guest speaker urged them to even try and become lawmakers themselves.
Sisters arise! Wake up! We were very proud of the fact recently, Haleen, that in the state of Texas, we were involved in running two women for counsel women at large in Texas.
And we won! Everybody said it couldn't be done! We won!
That was Shirley Chisholm, a former New York State Assemblywoman from Brooklyn, and the first black woman elected to Congress back in 1968.
She shared center stage with Governor Cuomo, both appeared to be big hits with the crowd of about 400, 400 who came to learn about legislation currently being debated.
That is of particular interest to women, including child care, education, and domestic violence issues.
She's a merged woman to bring their unique experience to the in-her-words gentlemen lawmakers.
Who better knows how to stand up on the Flora City Council or the state legislature or the federal legislature to inculcate into the minds of the gentle one legislator's the importance of day care, for example?
The importance of flexi time.
It is not a question of the gentleman actually being blinded completely to these issues.
It is partially attributable to the fact that they have not had the kinds of experiences that the women have had.
So therefore, having had these kinds of experiences, we are in a remarkable position to begin to move into public and elected offices to have some input into the policies that help a country to move in a certain direction.
She's a more so-orge women not to just lobby lawmakers but run for political offices as well.
She says women politicians have to act as mentors for other women with the same professional aspiration.
Having more women in political office, she maintains, is the only way women's needs will ever truly be met.
New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams was also on hand.
Describing himself as a feminist, he vowed to continue to do what he can to protect a woman tried to choose an abortion in New York.
He also vowed to continue to try and meet the needs of working women with young children.
In the last five years, we have brought lawsuits, for example, to challenge sex discrimination against the women employees.
We have overturned restrictive local zoning laws that seek to exclude family daycare centers from given communities.
And we have successfully pressed for legislation giving adoptive parents the same rights and benefits provided to other parents.
These efforts continue. Today, we're litigating against the major employer, which arbitrarily singled out pregnancy to be treated differently from every other type of disabling condition.
We're also fighting for legislation to strengthen the rights and remedies available when women are the victims of job discrimination.
New York State Attorney General Robert Abrams, as we mentioned, the governor also made an appearance.
A main focus of his speech was the proposed anti-biased bill. The measure would require stiffer penalties for so-called hate crimes, those committed out of prejudice against a particular group.
It has Cuomo support as well as the assemblies. It does not have the Senate support. The governor sees the moment to bless the Senate GOP.
And when the bill was first rejected by the Senate Republicans, because the Democrats have always wanted it in the assembly, the idea was they didn't take racism seriously.
But then finally became clear that that wasn't the objection at all. The objection was, it became clear and was stated by the Senate Republicans.
Not that blacks or African Americans were being protected by the bill or at least the statement was being made that was supportive of the cause.
It was that gaze and lesbians were included.
And the suggestion was made that if you would take out gaze and lesbians, we will pass this bill.
Think of that. I will not give you the whole speech I gave when I first heard that and what I said about God and who were you to make that judgment that you don't like gaze and lesbians because you think they're doing something wrong, who were you to decide whether it's right or not right?
It's not that you're asking about your habits but Lord knows the things you're capable of that other people in this society might find unusually different.
Governor Cuomo, he thanked the audience for its continued support for the measure and urged everyone to continue fighting for its passage.
In addition to learning about legislation currently being debated, the women came to learn how they can go about ensuring its passage. For the Legislative Gazette, I'm Ingasarda.
And that about does it for this week. The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
And that about does it for this week. The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
The program made possible with grants from the Legislative Gazette, the newspaper about state government.
Subscription information available at 518-473-6482 and Empire Information Services serving New York and New England with Electronic News Release Distribution. For the Legislative Gazette, I'm Dave Galetli.
The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
The Legislative Gazette is produced by Ingasarda with technical assistance from Phil's Los Angeles.
