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Presented by Philip Morris International: Your afternoon must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers | | | | |  | | By Jason Beeferman | Presented by Philip Morris International | With help from Irie Sentner
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The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation wants the insurance industry to start paying claims under the Child Victims Act. | AP Photo | Time is not on their side. Five years after the state Legislature passed the Child Victims Act into law, hundreds of victims are still waiting for compensation decades after being abused. The act, which gave victims a “look-back” window for abuse survivors to file civil claims, was a unique opportunity to extend the timeline for survivors to pursue justice. But the clock is ticking now, as child sex abuse victims — many of whom are now in their 70s and 80s — want justice for abuse endured in their earliest years. “The idea was to give survivors their day in court and to give them justice quickly,” said Hillary Nappi, an attorney representing the victims and a member of The Coalition for Just and Compassionate Compensation, an advocacy group for survivors of child sexual abuse. “That has not happened on any level,” she said. Standing in the way of compensation, however, aren’t the parties responsible for the abuse — the schools, hospitals, churches, Boy Scout summer camps and other locations where the crimes occurred — but their insurance carriers, survivors say. For years now, survivors have been battling with insurance companies that have been avoiding compensating victims, survivors allege. In total, victims of sexual abuse are awaiting at least $1 billion in outstanding claims from insurers in New York, the coalition said. The focus is particularly on the insurer CHUBB, which is handling many of the cases and has faced $859 million in molestation coverage claims. “CHUBB's actions are not merely bad faith; they are a deliberate and unconscionable campaign to deprive childhood sexual abuse survivors of justice,” the coalition said in a letter addressed to Attorney General Tish James and shared first with Playbook. The group says the state’s Department of Financial Services is not properly enforcing their own guidelines on the insurance carriers, and it believes James’ office should intervene and launch an investigation into CHUBB — which is also an insurer for the Archdiocese of New York — and the entire insurance industry. “It is reflective of a larger business strategy being deployed throughout the United States to force insureds into bankruptcy and reduce its obligations to pay on claims up to its policy limits,” the letter reads. During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers and advocates are hoping to make the Child Victims Act permanent and end the statute of limitations for most childhood sexual abuse claims. Meanwhile, victims are still awaiting their compensation. In a statement to POLITICO, CHUBB refuted the coalition’s claims that the insurance company was the one responsible for payment delays. “The victims of sexual abuse were harmed by the actions of the Archdiocese of New York and its clergy and laity,” the company said. “The Archdiocese of New York is trying to shift financial responsibility for claims of sexual abuse to insurers, but insurance doesn’t work that way. Even for a powerful Archdiocese, insurance covers accidents, not conduct that was perpetrated, tolerated, or hidden.” Still, some victims said the delays should stop. “Insurance giants care more about their own bottom line than coming to the table in good faith to negotiate with survivors,” said Julie Troy, who was a victim of sexual abuse when she was a child at a Westchester preschool three decades ago, in a statement to Playbook. “They should be held accountable — just like institutions who protected our abusers are now having to account.”
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International: At PMI, we are working to replace cigarettes with smoke-free alternatives. These products, such as ZYN nicotine pouches, are a better choice than continuing to smoke. We believe that by working together, we can look forward to a future without cigarettes—one in which we continue to guard against underage access AND provide accurate information about products that help adults 21+ move away from cigarettes for good. Watch the video and learn more. | | | |  | From the Capitol | | |  Fifty-four state government retirees were eligible for more than $200,000 annual pensions last year, up from nine a decade ago. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | NY’S HIGHEST PENSIONS: Fifty-four state government retirees were eligible for more than $200,000 annual pensions last year, according to new data from SeeThroughNY. That number includes hospital doctors, police officers, psychiatrists and government administrators. A decade ago, there were only nine people who were eligible to hit that pension mark from the New York State and Local Retirement System, the Empire Center, a fiscally conservative think tank, found. Shashikant Lele, the largest pension recipient, received $437,328 for his work at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. He was also one of several hundred who was eligible to collect a pension while still working, receiving $377,355 during the 2023 fiscal year, the group said. “New York’s pension system was designed over a century ago — and it wasn’t designed for this,” Ken Girardin, the group’s director of research, said in a statement. “The prescription here is for Albany to put future hires in a more modern, more flexible retirement plan such as the ones offered to SUNY faculty or political appointees.” — Shawn Ness
| | FROM CITY HALL | | | | 
Council Speaker Adrienne Adams joined faith leaders last week at a City Hall rally in support of overriding Mayor Eric Adams' veto. | Emil Cohen/NYC Council Media Unit | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: More than 100 faith leaders are backing the City Council’s scheduled vote Tuesday to override Mayor Eric Adams’ veto of the How Many Stops Act, according to a letter obtained by Playbook. The legislation requiring the police to report information on lower-level stops has been lauded by supporters as a step toward transparency and a means of shining a light on potential racial profiling. But opponents of the How Many Stops Act, including the mayor, say it creates unnecessary paperwork for police. “The HMSA is a crucial step forward towards police accountability and true safety for the Black, Latinx and other communities of color that we serve,” the 139 clergy and other faith leaders say in their letter to Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and her members. They add: “This legislation empowers New Yorkers with the vital knowledge of how, where, when, and why the NYPD conducts investigatory street stops of all levels.” — Emily Ngo GROWING STEM: Employment in science, engineering, technology and mathematics sectors has grown by nearly 70 percent in the New York City metro area over the last decade, according to a report today from the city’s Economic Development Corp. The industries’ share of the city’s total economic output increased by eight percentage points, the report found, from 8 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2022. That’s an increase in about 130,000 jobs fueled by about 7,000 new STEM businesses that have “increasingly chosen to locate in the city over the surrounding counties,” the report found. About 40 percent of the city’s STEM entrepreneurs are BIPOC. The average wage for STEM sector businesses was 65 percent higher than the private sector as a whole, the report found, coming in at a whopping $193,000 in 2022. Half of STEM-educated city residents are foreign-born, according to the report, but the city’s pipelines into STEM fields have also exploded. The number of STEM degrees conferred by New York City schools increased by 61 percent over the same period, according to the report, exceeding the national growth rate by 42 percentage points. — Irie Sentner
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International:   | | | | | | | 
Education Committee Chair Shelly Mayer addressed reporters at the Capitol advocating for an expansion of the Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids. | Shawn Ness/POLITICO | FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids coalition rallied today at the state Capitol to advocate for fully funded, no-cost meals for students across the state. In last year’s budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul invested $134.6 million to expand access to free school meals, but lawmakers said this upcoming budget should expand the program. “For less than one-tenth of one percent of the state budget, New York can provide school meals at no cost to all students, as eight other states have already done,” a press release for the event reads. One in six New York children experience food insecurity, the group said. “Governor Hochul, from one mom to another,” Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (D-Queens), said at the event. “We ask you, please fully fund our universal school meal programs. We cannot teach a hungry child, and we can not leave a single child behind.” Last year’s budget, although it gave over 347,000 students access to free school meals, it did not include a universal push for no-cost breakfast and lunch for students. And more than 320,000 students across 650 schools did not receive the benefits. “Last year, we took a significant step by investing in historic funding to expand access to free healthy meals, but too many children were left out of that expansion. We must do more to ensure we fulfill our obligation to care for every child,” Senate Education Committee chair Shelley Mayer (D-Yonkers) said. — Shawn Ness SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH FOR SCHOOL AID: Hochul’s school aid proposal — that would cut funding to more than half of the state’s school districts – is creating an unlikely partnership across the aisle. Democrats and Republicans are echoing the same message in the halls of the Capitol, calling for the restoration of school funding. Sen. Jim Tedisco, ranking member of the Senate Education Committee, questioned Hochul’s priorities in her executive budget. He said the use of reserve funds should be to invest in schools, rather than bolster funds for migrants. “We’re not going to go quietly into the night allowing them to pass a budget that is balanced on the backs of the future of our kids, their educators and so forth,” Tedisco, the Albany-area Republican, said at a press conference today. Sen. Jack Martins (R-Nassau County) said the Senate Republican Conference is open to creating a bipartisan coalition to restore cuts to school aid funding. — Katelyn Cordero CONGESTION PRICING: A slew of city and state lawmakers along with three civil rights groups are joining a push to halt the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion pricing plan. Eighteen elected officials representing Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens — as well as Suffolk, Ulster, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Delaware, Dutchess, and Otsego counties — have signed onto a lawsuit the city’s teachers union and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella filed earlier this month as co-plaintiffs. The A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement also joined the suit. This comes after the Municipal Labor Committee — an umbrella group for 102 public sector unions — voted last week to file an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit. “We are happy to welcome these groups and elected officials from the city, state, and federal levels to this lawsuit,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement. “We are determined to challenge the current regressive and discriminatory plan for congestion pricing.” The union and Fossella are calling on the MTA to put together a comprehensive environmental impact statement, including possible effects on air quality in Staten Island and the Bronx. The lawmakers include Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Council Members Joe Borelli and Kamillah Hanks as well as state Sen. Iwen Chu and Assemblymember David Weprin. — Madina Touré
| | | | A message from Philip Morris International: At PMI, we are working to replace cigarettes with smoke-free alternatives. These products, such as ZYN nicotine pouches, are a better choice than continuing to smoke. These products are highly regulated, and government data has shown that usage levels are actually extremely low among youth.
We believe that by working together, we can look forward to a future without cigarettes—one in which we continue to guard against underage access AND provide accurate information about products that help adults 21+ move away from cigarettes for good.
Watch the video about ZYN nicotine pouches from Dr. Moira Gilchrist, Chief Communications Officer at Philip Morris International. | | | | | | | 
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones picked some key support from the DCCC, as did fellow Democratic House candidate Josh Riley. | Jemal Countess/Getty Images | D-TRIP’S ENDORSEMENTS: The DCCC elevated two Democratic House candidates in New York to the “Red to Blue” program today — a signal of institutional support. Former Rep. Mondaire Jones and Josh Riley, who are both running in closely watched districts in the Hudson Valley and into central New York, were given the Red to Blue distinction. Both seats are considered key for the party to win back control of the narrowly divided House. An elevation to the program gives Democratic House campaigns organizational and fundraising support. Jones is running for the seat held by Republican Rep. Mike Lawler. Jones had vacated the seat in 2022 when he unsuccessfully ran for a House district in Manhattan after he was elbowed aside by then-DCCC Chair Sean Patrick Maloney. Riley is running for a second time in a rematch against Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro. Democrats want to flip five House seats this year in the Hudson Valley, Long Island and in Central New York. The party is defending one district held by freshman Rep. Pat Ryan. — Nick Reisman SCHUMER’S BUCKS FOR BATTERIES IN BINGHAMTON: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is bringing in a nice chunk of change for Binghamton University’s battery and manufacturing hub. The senator announced an award from the National Science Foundation, which he says will include $15 million in federal funding and potentially up to $160 million to upstate New York’s battery industry. “Binghamton’s battery hub is already electrifying Upstate New York’s workforce and economy, but this investment is the crown jewel that will help fuel scientific discovery and innovation to ensure this industry is here to stay in America,” Schumer said in a statement. The funding will be used for innovation and research over the next decade. It will focus on strengthening the supply chains and accelerating the transfer of battery technology from lab to markets, along with other areas, his office said. Schumer said the major federal award for Binghamton, doled out through the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines Competition, came after the senator personally called the head of the program multiple times to “showcase BU’s ability to spark battery industry growth.” “Thanks to my CHIPS & Science Law, Binghamton will be the beating electric heart of federal efforts to help bring battery innovation and development back from overseas,” he added. — Jason Beeferman
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Roughly four million New Yorkers were exposed to a data breach from medical transcription company Perry Johnson & Associates. (Democrat & Chronicle) — The head of the New York State Police investigators told a legislative panel that they are experiencing staffing shortages. (Times Union) — E. Jean Carroll said she wants to “do something good” with the $83.3 million that was awarded in her defamation case against Donald Trump. (New York Times) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |  |
