Brian Tumulty writes on Pressconnects.com - “Gov. David Paterson said Tuesday he will call a special election “as soon as possible” to fill the 29th Congressional District seat.

That means Southern Tier and Western New York residents of the eight-county district could have a new congressional representative to succeed former Rep. Eric Massa of Corning as soon next month.

A short election timetable could benefit Republican candidate Tom Reed, a former mayor of Corning who has been campaigning for the seat since last July.”

To read more click here.

71% Do Not Want Him Impeached If He Doesn’t Resign
Confidence in Popular Attorney General to Conduct Fair Investigation
54% of Voters Are Now “Embarrassed” to Call Themselves New Yorkers

The Siena College Poll out this morning says - “A clear majority of voters, 55 percent, would prefer Governor David Paterson serve the remainder of his term, compared to 37 percent who would like him to resign and allow Lt. Governor Richard Ravitch to serve as governor for the remainder of the year. And an even larger majority, 71 percent, would rather see the Governor finish his term, while 21 percent would like the State Legislature to move to impeach the Governor if he does not resign, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo remains strongly popular with voters and a majority thinks he will conduct a fair and impartial investigation of the Governor and his staff, although two-thirds of voters would prefer to see the investigation conducted by an independent, outside prosecutor. While 70 percent of voters agree with the statement that New York has never been more dysfunctional than today, by 54-41 percent voters also say that what’s going on in Albany makes them “embarrassed” to call themselves New Yorkers.

“More voters have an unfavorable view of David Paterson now than at any time, and more voters view the job he’s doing as governor as poor than at any time in the two years he’s been governor. Yet, a clear majority want to see him serve out the remaining nine months of his term rather than resign by a more than three-to-one margin, voters do not want to see the Legislature begin impeachment proceedings,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg. “Republicans and downstate suburbanites are evenly divided on the resignation question, however, a majority of Democrats, independents, New York City and Upstate voters all favor the Governor staying on the job, and at least 65 percent of voters from every party and region oppose impeaching Governor Paterson.”

To read the result of the poll click here.

A poll shows support has plummeted among New Yorkers this week for scandal-plagued Gov. David Paterson to continue to serve out his term.

The Quinnipiac poll released today shows that 46 percent of New Yorkers say he should finish out his term. In a poll earlier in the week that number was 61 percent.

Paterson hasn’t been charged with a crime. He’s being investigated over whether he inappropriately contacted a woman who accused one of his top aides of domestic violence.

And this week a state ethics board accused him of violating a gift ban by seeking and obtaining free World Series tickets.
The poll questioned 1,325 New Yorkers on Wednesday and Thursday. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.

To read the poll click here.

The Business Council of New York State supports this bill, which modifies provisions of the state finance law related to procurement lobbying, and extends the expiration date of these modifications to July 31, 2014.

In 2005, the Procurement Lobbying Law was enacted by the State Legislature with the goals of bringing reform, consistency and transparency to the government procurement lobbying process in New York State. Provisions of the law have been subsequently extended for various duration periods. The current provisions have a sunset expiration date of March 10, 2010.

To read the supporting bill memo click here.

Robin K. Cooper of the Business Review writes - “Business lobbying groups fear they’re losing an ally following Gov. David Paterson’s announcement today that he will bow out of the gubernatorial race…

Paterson’s decision not to run renders him a lame duck with 308 days left in his term as governor, which began less than two years ago after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal.

“At a time when the state is facing tough economic choices there has been this endless parade of three-ring circuses in Albany,” Elmendorf said.

Besides the changes in the executive chamber, the Legislature also was hobbled by a monthlong battle last summer over control of the state Senate.

“It’s an appropriate step for the governor in terms of suspending his campaign,” said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of the Business Council of New York State.

“The important thing is for the governor and Legislature to focus on the state budget and the economic crisis,” Adams said. “New York is going to be the poster child for jobless recovery if we don’t get the budget right.”

To read more click here.

Kaitlyn Lionti of New 10 Now reports from Corning - “Getting New York’s economy back on its feet. The President and CEO of the Business Council of New York State came to Corning Wednesday to meet with the Corning and Watkins Glen Area Chambers of Commerce.

The visit was a chance to discuss issues and concerns facing businesses across New York, including the current budget proposal.
“If we can get Albany to reduce state spending, live within its means and reduce taxes, we will have private sector job growth, we will have companies hiring again. We don’t want New York to be the poster child for the jobless recovery,” said Kenneth Adams, the President and CEO of The Business Council of New York State.

One issue Adams addressed is the void the ending of the Empire Zone Program will create for small business.

“To have that expire in June of this year and to not have any other kind of incentive to retain our businesses, much less recruit new business, it’s a very huge issue that needs to be looked at,” said Denise Ackley, President of the Corning Area Chamber of Commerce.”

To read more or watch the video click here.

To read Kenneth Adams speech to the chamber click here.

To say no to new taxes and new spending and to tell Albany lawmakers that you are fed up Click here now!

Bill Hammond of the Daily News writes - “Question: What single step could Albany lawmakers take that would fight political corruption, democratize the Legislature, ease the budget crisis and promote fairer elections in one fell swoop?

Answer: Putting themselves on a strict pork-free diet.

This isn’t about pig meat, but pork-barrel spending - the age-old but sleazy practice of individual legislators doling out tax dollars to pet projects in their districts.

We’ve tried reforming these giveaways, but they’re still rotten through and through. It’s time for an outright ban…”

To read more click here.

A Siena College poll released this morning finds - “Governor David Paterson’s favorability, job performance and electability ratings all slipped over the last month, as he now trails Attorney General Andrew Cuomo by 42 points in a potential Democratic gubernatorial primary and trails former Republican Representative Rick Lazio by seven points, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll of registered voters. By a nearly three-to-two margin, voters think the State Senate was right to remove Democrat Hiram Monserrate from the Senate.

United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand maintains a better than two-to-one lead over former Representative Harold Ford in a potential Democratic primary, and looking at potential general election Senate match-ups, she continues to trail former Governor George Pataki, but she has large leads over former Nassau County Legislator Bruce Blakeman and Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman.

“After three months of seeing modest gains his favorability and job performance ratings, Governor Paterson has lost ground with voters over the last month,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg. “The only good news for Paterson is that voters did not believe the rumors that had been swirling around Albany for weeks that a story would break forcing his resignation. Two-thirds of voters said they didn’t believe the rumors, while only 22 percent of voter believed that the Governor may very well have acted inappropriately in office.”

To read the rest of the findings click here.

Cara Matthews reports on Pressconnects.com - “With the expulsion of Bronx Democrat Hiram Monserrate this week, Senate Democrats find themselves with 31 members, one shy of the 32 needed to pass legislation.

It remains to be seen whether the loss of power will create any gridlock in a closely matched Senate that was paralyzed for weeks last year when Republicans staged a coup. There are 30 Republicans in the house.

Gov. David Paterson has called a March 16 special election to replace the freshman senator, who was ousted by his colleagues Tuesday in connection with a misdemeanor assault conviction. If a Democrat wins the election, that would give the majority party enough time to have the new member seated before a vote on the 2010-11 budget.”

TO read more click here.

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s office identified $880 million in excess funds unnecessarily held in reserve accounts, missed cost savings and questionable payments by school districts across the state, according to a report DiNapoli released today. DiNapoli’s office completed 733 audits of all of the state’s public schools and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services from August 2005 through February 2010, before the statutory deadline of March 31, 2010.

DiNapoli’s auditors found 285 school districts and BOCES across the state improperly retained a total of $615 million in taxpayer money in various reserve accounts, with the majority of the money held in employee benefit accrued liability reserves (EBALR). This total reflects the amount of money in the reserve funds that exceeded reasonable estimates of the districts’ anticipated liabilities for the reserve funds.

To read the comptroller’s press release click here.