As budget talks loom, Hochul hits the campaign trail

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Thursday Mar 10,2022 09:27 pm

Mar 10, 2022

Presented by AARP

Gov. Kathy Hochul took a break from her public gubernatorial schedule today, stumping for her election bid with the rest of the statewide Democratic ticket at a campaign event with the powerful New York Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.

The 40,000-member union has endorsed the Democratic ticket as Hochul faces a June primary, and its support is another example of Hochul locking up the early endorsement of major labor unions — critical for candidates running for statewide office.

The union members chanted “Kathy, Kathy, Kathy” at the Manhattan event as she thanked them for their support and for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic. She noted she's stayed in hotels probably five nights a week through much of her eight years in statewide office as lieutenant governor and now the state’s top executive since August.

“There are no tougher people who showed their true grit and resolve during this pandemic than our hotel workers. I applaud you,” Hochul told the crowd.

The union is a key player on development issues in the city, and one of its biggest pushes is to get a full-scale casino license for Resorts World Casino New York at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens.

The union and the casino owner, the Malaysian-based Genting, recently reached a deal to add 1,000 new workers if the facility lands one of the three downstate licenses up for grabs. In her budget proposal, Hochul would expedite the process for the licenses to this year, rather than waiting until 2023 as it now stands in existing law.

The governor didn’t talk policy to the union as budget talks loom in the coming weeks ahead of the March 31 deadline for an on-time deal,, but said their hard work through the pandemic has been able to bring back the New York City economy.

“We needed you there. And now you are there taking your rightful place in your jobs and doing such important work. So, I can tell the rest of the world: Come on back to New York because we are open because of all of you,” Hochul exclaimed.

It wasn’t her only campaign stop of the day: This afternoon she was making an announcement with Jewish leaders from Long Island and Queens.

A message from AARP:

More than 15,000 nursing home residents have died of COVID-19 – so far. That’s unacceptable. Yet long before COVID-19, chronic issues like understaffing and poor infection control put residents at risk. It’s time to strengthen oversight and put the safety and well-being of nursing home residents first. New York lawmakers must increase support for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program in the state budget. Learn More.

HAPPY THURSDAY: We’re back with your afternoon check-in to spill the day’s tea — as we know it thus far — during one of the busiest seasons in New York politics.

FROM CITY HALL

COLD WAR REVISITED: Mayor Eric Adams said today he wants to build a stronger partnership between City Hall and the business sector, with a reference to 1987 comments from former President Ronald Reagan regarding the Berlin Wall.

“For far too long, we’ve had a wall between our corporate communities and government,” Adams said at an event at the Hunts Point Produce Market. “We are going to borrow from Ronald Reagan and tear down that wall.”

He announced a $140 million investment in improvements at the South Bronx facility, which supplies 25 percent of the city’s fresh produce, and within the surrounding neighborhood, and released a blueprint on advancing the city’s economic recovery. The plan calls for a range of policies such as reducing bureaucratic hurdles for small businesses and investing in sectors such as the cannabis industry, offshore wind power and life sciences.

“It’s almost two years since Covid, and we’ve come to a stall. It’s time to recover and move towards restarting our economy,” Adams said.

THUMBS UP: A key Council committee approved two nominees to the Conflicts of Interest Board today, days after one of the appointees faced questioning over a potential conflict of her own. The vote paves the way for a green light from the full Council this afternoon.

Ifeoma Ike was questioned by a Council committee earlier this week over a business she founded that received a city contract a month after she resigned from a job at City Hall. Still, the committee voted 8-1 to approve her for a six-year term at the board, which investigates wrongdoing by municipal employees. Ike was nominated by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The Council voted to approve Georgia Pestana, who was nominated by City Comptroller Brad Lander, for a spot on the board. — Joe Anuta

COUNCIL RAISES: Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said today that raises being granted to staffers in the legislature are unrelated to negotiations with a newly formed union.

“Certainly, we heard the concerns of all staff when it came to [their] value,” Adams said during a press briefing. Increased personnel costs made up the bulk of a 24 percent increase in the Council’s internal budget compared to last year, boosting the spending plan to $100 million.

The bump is far beyond the increases proposed in the mayor's budget, and moves in the opposite direction of most city agencies, which were required to cut their budgets by 3 percent. — Joe Anuta

From the Capitol

JCOPE IS BACK ONLINE: After a cybersecurity breach, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics late Wednesday said its operations are back online. That means its electronic lobbying applications and financial disclosure systems can be visited.

But the much-maligned agency said the target of this cybersecurity incident, the pre-2019 legacy online lobbying filing system, will remain offline until further notice. Still, any filings due from Feb. 17 to March 9 will be automatically granted an extension to March 31.

Additionally, the March 15 lobbying bi-monthly report deadline is also extended to March 31.

“We are pleased to be able to restore these operations, knowing that the security and integrity of the data is in place,” JCOPE Executive Director Sanford Berland said in a statement.

REPUBLICANS SAY HELP UKRAINE: Republican leaders in the state Legislature today called on Hochul to direct state resources to help war-torn Ukraine.

Senate Minority Rob Ortt and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay sent her a letter says that Hochul should look to state agencies to pool their emergency resources to be sent to Ukraine.

“As New Yorkers, we must stand up for freedom and stand against tyranny. Ukraine is a democracy with a population of over 43 million people, and they desperately need humanitarian assistance,” the leaders wrote.

New York has the largest Ukrainian population in the U.S.

The Campaign Trail

A SENATE REMATCH: Republican Richard Amedure has announced he'll look to unseat Democratic state Sen. Michelle Hinchey after losing to her two years ago by about 3,000 votes in the Hudson Valley district.

“One party rule has been a disaster for New Yorkers — it’s time to restore checks and balances in our government," he said in a prepared statement, according to the Times Union.

This will be an interesting race to watch. One, it was fairly close and the district has been swing one since last redistricting 10 years ago. Second, the district’s line will be overhauled this November to make it more blue by getting rid of some suburban areas around Amsterdam and Schenectady.

A message from AARP:

ON THE BEATS

‘MOMENTOUS’ MARIJUANA MOVES: The Cannabis Control Board met today to consider proposed regulations for licensing the first adult-use cannabis dispensaries and conditional adult-use cultivator licenses.

Cannabis Control Board Chair Tremaine Wright, in her opening remarks, called the panel’s seventh meeting “momentous”.

“We've spoken with you all about how we're trying to streamline the timing of opening our adult-use cannabis dispensaries in the state,” she said. “And today's discussion will include exactly that: a plan to jumpstart cannabis cultivation and lay the groundwork for future adult use dispensaries.”

That plan, Wright added, will also “tie our goal and mandate to provide social and economic equity applicants with the resources they need to be successful.”

One key provision that has garnered immediate headlines: Dispensary licenses will first be exclusively reserved for people with marijuana convictions or people who have immediate family members with marijuana convictions from before the drug was legalized.

The measure would make New York the first to give those with marijuana convictions a first crack at the market.

WATER: The Drinking Water Quality Council met this afternoon to discuss emerging contaminants that advocates want strictly limit. The council has previously discussed treatment options and studied health impacts for a slew of PFAS compounds.

Ahead of the meeting, advocates urged the council to support the lowest possible notification level for 23 PFAS chemicals so residents would get a letter in the mail alerting them to the presence if a test came back with a detection.

“If notification levels are set too high, the public will not be meaningfully informed about PFAS contamination when water utilities conduct testing,” Environmental Advocates of New York wrote.

The Department of Health staff told council members during the meeting they were looking to set maximum contaminant levels for four of the PFAS contaminants. DOH’s Gary Ginsberg said these were the ones where the department thought they have the greatest opportunity for intervention and enforcement.

The four compounds are PFHxS, PFHpA, PFNA and PFDA. They have similar toxic effects to PFOA and PFOS, which are currently regulated. The proposed limit for all four is 10 parts per trillion. — Marie J. French

AROUND NEW YORK

— Six correctional facilities in upstate New York close while the inmate population drops.

— While a pilot program to detect weapons is used in Jacobi Medical Center, Mayor Eric Adams hinted the same system could eventually be used in city schools.

— The Department of Motor Vehicles released new designs for the New York State’s driver license, permit, and non-driver ID cards.

— New York City unions continue to grow, Gothamist reports.

— New York lawmakers are calling for expanded benefits of Earned Income Tax Credit in the state’s fiscal year plan.

A message from AARP:

More than 15,000 New York nursing home and long-term care residents have died of COVID-19 – so far. That’s unacceptable. Yet, long before COVID-19, chronic issues like understaffing and poor infection control put residents at risk. New York seniors deserve better. It’s time to strengthen oversight and put the safety and well-being of nursing home residents first.

New York lawmakers must increase support for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program in the state budget. Nursing home residents don’t need another study of this program – which is supposed to act as their voice; residents need an expanded and adequately-funded Ombudsman program. Learn More.