LATE-night comics can afford to laugh at the mess in Albany. But for New York’s local governments, it’s no joke: At stake are thousands of jobs, essential services, property-tax reform and our kids’ education.
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It’s said that “all good things come to those who wait.” Let’s hope that’s true. Because of the state Senate’s deadlock, a lot of New Yorkers are . . . well, waiting.
New York City is waiting to see if Mayor Bloomberg will continue to control its schools, while 36 county governments are waiting to see if they still have the legal authority to impose local sales taxes. The state comptroller is waiting for pension reform; industrial-development agencies are waiting for restructuring; developers are waiting for changes in their lower-tax “empire zones.”
Upstate businesses are in the dark over the future of the “Power for Jobs” program, which gives lower-cost electricity to eligible companies. A stimulus-related bill that will help the state and local governments leverage more money waits for the light of day. And hundreds of human-services programs throughout the state stay stuck in the Senate mud.
There’s even a bill to help Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in their fight to stop the foreclosures of their homes that can’t be brought to a vote.
Failure to pass many bills will result in reductions in local programs and services, staff cuts and huge local property-tax hikes.
On Long Island, we are waiting for millions of dollars to fund highway patrols on the Long Island Expressway, cigarette taxes to subsidize social-service programs and cellphone surcharges in Suffolk to help fund 911 emergency service. The national economic crisis triggered an unprecedented drop in sales-tax collections, blowing a $130 million hole in Nassau’s budget.
In February, I presented a detailed plan to close that gap, which included $45 million in federal stimulus funds, $55 million in labor concessions and $30 million in revenues from initiatives pending in the Legislature. Here in June, we’ve got two of the three: The stimulus funding has been secured and agreements with our labor unions are in place.
But all we’ve gotten from Albany so far is authorization to proceed with red-light cameras — and the tickets from that will give us only $3 million of the $30 million we need.
So, like everyone else, we wait.
If the Senate doesn’t act, and our added revenues fall through, the state budget won’t feel much impact, but we locals will. Youth, senior-citizen, social-service and mental-health programs will be cut. Community-based groups in Nassau have already been informed that their programs will be defunded, effective July 1.
There are really only three issues staring down our legislators in Albany. The first and most important is the passing of a series of necessary bills that will keep open county and local governments — sales taxes, stimulus funding and economic-development programs, to name a few.
The second is the leadership of the state Senate and all the power and perks that flow with it: committee chairs, member items and capital spending.
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Third is the need to address the systemic problems with our state Legislature and reform it to make it more transparent and accountable.
My suggestion: Figure out a way — any way — to pass the legislation urgently needed by the hundreds of local governments now being held hostage by the Senate’s gridlock.
Then, take as much time as needed to resolve the Senate power struggle. At the same time, use this debacle as an opportunity to institute reform once and for all.
It’s just not good enough to move from today’s non-functional Legislature back to a dysfunctional one. Come Jan. 1, Albany must stand ready, willing and able to turn away from politics and get on with the business of the people.
Tom Suozzi is the Nassau County execu tive.