Joseph Spector of Gannett News writes:

“A commission is recommending the merger of the state Department of Transportation and the state Thruway and Bridge authorities as a way to save $50 million to $82 million a year.

The Spending and Government Efficiency Commission (SAGE) recommended in a report Thursday the combination of the Albany-based Thruway Authority and the Bridge Authority, based in Highland, Ulster County.

The Bridge Authority owns and manages five bridges in the Hudson Valley, while the Thruway Authority oversees the 641-mile long superhighway and the state’s 524-mile canal system.

The report recommends that the authorities’ functions be combined “where feasible” with the DOT.”

To read more click here.

Jimmy Vielkind of the Times Union writes:

“It doesn’t sound like news in the era of shrinking government, but it is: the New York state Senate, now controlled by Republicans, has reduced the size of its staff, closed offices around the state and is on track to be under budget this year.

“If you’re preaching, as we have been, that you’ve got to operate government more efficiently, you have to lead by example,” said Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse and chairman of the chamber’s Finance Committee. “That’s exactly what we did.”

The payroll had 1,132 people as of this week, down from a high of 1,503 in July 2010. Regional offices in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Long Island and Albany are all closed, and six departments have been consolidated into three.”

To read more click here.

An editorial in The Observer-Dispatch (Utica) states:

“The 2 percent property tax cap mandated by state law has local government officials squirming as budget season draws near — and rightfully so. There are even rumblings that Oneida County lawmakers might simply dance around the cap by mustering the 60 percent vote necessary to override it.

We’d strongly encourage them not to do that, and so should you.

Yes, we’re aware that state mandates have local governments handcuffed. But property taxpayers are handcuffed, too. Local government leaders argue that unless the state lightens its burden on them, they’ll be hard-pressed to craft reasonable budgets without cutting people, programs and services and/or raiding fund balances that already are bottoming out.

Most families across the state face a similar problem. Paychecks have been frozen — or lost entirely, while bills – often higher – continue to arrive. That has forced citizens to make the real tough decisions. Government leaders must do the same.”

To read the entire editorial click here.

In an e-mail sent to many New Yorkers, Governor Cuomo gives them an opportunity to send in ideas on how to reform state government. The text of the e-mail is below.

“The last major reorganization of New York State government occurred over eighty years ago.  Since then, our government has grown into a sprawling and expensive bureaucracy.

The Times-Union’s Jimmy Vielkind reports that the Cuomo administration has not set a deadline for state worker layoffs.

He writes:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that while “the clock is ticking” before the state moves to lay off as many as 9,800 public employees, there is no firm date after which officials will eschew ongoing contract negotiations in favor of pink slips.

“We’ve been going down the two tracks all along,” Cuomo said. “We’re at the negotiating table talking, we’re trying to find ways to avert layoffs. At the same time, the clock is ticking and we’ve been making internal plans on how you would handle layoffs. I don’t believe we’ve set a hard deadline, but time is short — I think everybody’s aware of that,”

Read more.

“Aides to Gov. Cuomo revealed yesterday that they found massive waste in state government — including 1 million square feet of unused state office space in New York City, nearly 2,000 vendors providing often duplicated products and services, and 425 toll-free phone numbers that haven’t been used in months.” write Fred Dicker and Brendan Scott in the New York Post.

“They discovered that state agencies rented costly new office space as recently as December — even as the equivalent of a skyscraper’s worth of state-owned and state-rented office space stood vacant — costing taxpayers more than $30 million a year.”

To read more from the Post click here.

According to a Siena College poll released today - “Nearly two-thirds of voters say that either a property tax cap (37 percent) or a new ethics law for state legislators including greater disclosure of outside income (27 percent) is the most important issue that they want legislators to address before the June end of session. Legalizing same sex marriages was identified by 13 percent of voters, extending rent regulations by 12 percent, and creating an independent redistricting commission by eight percent.

“A property tax cap and new ethics law are the top two priorities for Democrats, Republicans and independents, downstate suburban and upstate voters, moderates and conservatives. For New York City voters, ethics is number one, followed by extending rent regulations, one point ahead of the property tax cap. Liberal voters put legalizing same sex marriages at the top of the list, slightly ahead of a property tax cap and ethics,” Greenberg said.

For more detail on the polls findings click here.

“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, meeting the financial industry halfway, made amendments to his budget that would scale back the financial-enforcement authority he proposed for a new banking and insurance regulator.

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, narrowed the definition of financial fraud and financial products that would be used by the state’s Department of Financial Regulation. The newest version of the proposed budget also removes references to the Martin Act, a New York law passed in 1921 and a powerful tool for prosecutors because it doesn’t require a showing of a suspect’s intent to defraud,” writes Liz Rappaport in the Wall Street Journal(subscription-based).

To read more click here.

In public testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee, The Business Council expressed concern about the proposed merger of the Departments of Banking, Insurance and Consumer Protection Board into a new Department of Financial Regulation.  Since this proposal will have a major impact on one of the state’s most important economic sectors and will have no impact on the state budget, The Business Council urged the legislature to give it a complete and thorough review even if that means taking action outside the budget process.

The Business Council’s full testimony is available here.

Mark Peters And Mohana Terry write in the Times Union about the Cuomo adminstration’s plan to merge New York’s Insurance and Banking departments and the Consumer Protection Board into a single state agency.

“Depending upon how events unfold in Albany — and depending upon your perspective — New York is either poised to be once again at the cutting edge of financial regulation or about to embark on the creation of an unwieldy new regulatory regime that will chase companies to other financial centers.

What is certain, however, is that the governor and state Legislature have before them a bill that would dramatically consolidate power to regulate financial services and insurance in a single agency, giving that agency new powers and transferring other powers away from independent actors like the attorney general. If the bill is enacted, this agency will change not only the way financial services and insurance are regulated, but also the way in which market participants provide such services to New York and the rest of the country. Given these far-ranging implications, any legislative change should be subject to careful deliberation and open debate by all concerned.

So why change the world as we know it?”

To read more click here.

In public testimony before a joint hearing of the Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Ways and Means Committee, The Business Council expressed concern about the proposed merger of the Departments of Banking, Insurance and Consumer Protection Board into a new Department of Financial Regulation. Since this proposal will have a major impact on one of the state’s most important economic sectors and will have no impact on the state budget, The Business Council urged the legislature to give it a complete and thorough review even if that means taking action outside the budget process.

The Business Council’s full testimony is available here.

In a letter to New Yorkers, Governor Andrew Cuomo highlights the need for local school districts to get better results from the dollars spent on education.

——————————————————————————–
My Fellow New Yorkers,

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

PS: To learn more about the budget, please visit www.governor.ny.gov/budget.