I Love NY...For the Right Price
This is absolutely no surprise to anyone that even pays the least attention to the state of affairs in New York's capital, Albany. In fact, one doesn't even need to follow Albany to feel its effect. All you have to be is a citizen and it will affect you.
Published on August 21st, the New York Times editorial points out that the Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog organization, ranks New York State number one in the nation with the most lobbyists per lawmaker. Now that's an accomplishment! Of all the 50 states in the Union, New York is number one, baby!
The Times will likely require registration. Although it is free to register and look up recent articles, I'll post all the juicy details of my state's glorious victory over the rest of the country. Like this wonderful bit of information: Although most states average about five lobbyists per lawmaker, New York, on the other hand, has 18 (closer to 19 when doing the math) lobbyists per lawmaker! New York has 212 members in the Legislature, meaning that there are 4,000 lobbyists in Albany, a figure that has doubled since ten years ago. Luckily, New York's lobbying laws require that lobbyists register and report when they're busy influcing state lawmakers. Politicians in Albany like to call that "progress."
Additionally, in the same ten years, the money spent by those lobbyists has quadrupled to $144 million in 2004. Sadly, New York is not at the top of this list, with California and Texas having higher amounts of money spent by their own legions of lobbyists. However, New York spent nearly three times as much as the state that's fourth on the list, Minnesota.
Source: Hired Guns by the Center for Public Integrity
However, with an army of four thousand lobbyists, and new ones recruited every day, I'm confident this state will overtake Texas then California before too long.
This comes out to approximately $36,000 spent per lobbyist in 2004. This also means that per legislator, nearly $680,000 was spent by lobbyists that same year. Quick, somebody elect me! I promise to only have a third of that amount spent on me!
There wouldn't be four thousand lobbyists hanging around Albany if it wasn't working wonderfully. In fact, it works so well that, according to the Times piece, a former aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's (R) son are now lobbyists. I wonder if they have any luck at their new jobs....
Under the "reform" movement that was largely a campaign slogan to keep their own jobs, some tough new laws were passed. Like this one:
"The lobbyists have to make certain than any one gift is under $75, but as Mr. Horner likes to point out, that could mean a $74 breakfast, a $74 lunch and a $74 dinner all in the same day."
Source: New York Times piece
Blair Horner tracks lobbyists as head of the New York Public Interest Research Group, another watchdog agency.
The Times also suggests a couple of solutions that should at least curb the exponential growth of the lobbying industry in New York:
"One easy fix would be to ban fund-raisers in Albany during the legislative session. Right now, after a day's work, lawmakers go from the Assembly and Senate floor only a few hundred yards to the nearest fund-raiser where lobbyists hand out checks like Chicklets.
"And maybe New York could require a decent interval - more than a long weekend, please - before somebody in government becomes somebody lobbying the government. That might cut down on the numbers of petitioners that each legislator has to wade through to get to the floor."
That would be wonderful, obvious solutions that would go a long way to curbing the mass feeding in Albany that hands away taxpayer money as a guy on Broadway handing out cards for a strip joint. The problem is, there are a few obstacles to overcome on the road toward real progress. Those are:
Governor George E. Pataki (R)
Should go home.
Aside from breaking his own promise not to serve more than two terms, Pataki has also betrayed his downstate home (from Peekskill in Westchester County, just north of New York City, where he served as Mayor and in both houses of the Legislature before being elected Governor in 1994) by pandering to the Republican base upstate. According to testimony by current City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller, New York City sends $7 billion more to Albany than it gets back in the state budget. Perhaps New York City doesn't have enough lobbyists on its side. Any way you cut it, the Governor has completely ignored downstate New York in exchange for playing to his base upstate. And it's worked! He's been elected three times as governor, even though he is the most prolific public official in the state and the state's financial situation has grown steadily worse under his tutelage. But he is not alone responsible for creating this situation....
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno (R)
Also needs to go home.
The Senate Majority Leader, whose district is conveniently right next to Albany, has been at his current seat in the Senate since 1976 and as Majority Leader since 1995, rising to statewide leadership at the same time as Pataki. He has an obvious interest in keeping money upstate and that's fine, that's what elected representatives are supposed to do. However, he's exerted extreme influence over the Senate and the state budget. Which is the same as the next person on this list, however, given the usually friendlier relationship between the Governor and Senator Bruno, the Majority Leader usually has his way.
The third and final person....
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D)
Needs to get with the program or step aside.
Silver represents a district in New York City, therefore, he does try to bring funding to the city, or at least his district. However, as a member of the minority party in statewide government, he often loses out to Bruno and Pataki on such matters. The problem is that he does not speak out enough about this lobbyist feasting and is probably a willing participant, at least, if his former aide still has a job, he must certainly let the aide bend his ear a bit. Also, as a member of the minority party (though a majority in the Assembly), he has not done enough to bring attention to the cronyism at work in Albany. Results matter, Mister Speaker. You've been Speaker since 1994 and a member of the Assembly since 1976, the same amount of time as Senator Bruno. And yet your influence is limited.
Source for elected official information: Project Vote Smart
These three leaders essentially cut out all the usual democratic processes of debating bills on the floors of their chambers. Instead, these three often meet in a private room to work out the details of whatever it is they're working on, especially the budgets. The lone bargaining chip Silver has on his side is that he controls the Assembly, which is needed to pass a bill. This has led to the budgets being late for over two decades, a painful process that finally ended (for now) when this year's budget was passed on time. These budgets are filled with all sorts of pork barrel projects made possible by those wonderful lobbyists. And these "three men in a room" haven't yet lifted a finger to put an end to such practice.
The Senate is starting to show signs that the Republicans may lose their majority as soon as next year when the 2006 elections take place. Additionally, Pataki thinks he can somehow become President in 2008 ::cough::fat chance!::cough::, he will not try to run for a fourth term next year. Which is convenient because his poll numbers have finally started to fall off a cliff and he would have to go up against popular Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (anyone following Wall Street knows this name), who will almost certainly win the Democratic nomination. With that, perhaps the perpetual stalemate that has plagued state government will be washed away by the new blood being introduced to the levels of state leadership. Maybe even New York City could get a fair shake...or at least more freedom to guide its own city tax policy (all tax changes must be approved by Albany).
Or perhaps it will be politics as usual, if Spitzer has to pander to the upstate power structures in order to get anything done in office. One could hope it won't turn out that way, however.
Published on August 21st, the New York Times editorial points out that the Center for Public Integrity, a watchdog organization, ranks New York State number one in the nation with the most lobbyists per lawmaker. Now that's an accomplishment! Of all the 50 states in the Union, New York is number one, baby!
The Times will likely require registration. Although it is free to register and look up recent articles, I'll post all the juicy details of my state's glorious victory over the rest of the country. Like this wonderful bit of information: Although most states average about five lobbyists per lawmaker, New York, on the other hand, has 18 (closer to 19 when doing the math) lobbyists per lawmaker! New York has 212 members in the Legislature, meaning that there are 4,000 lobbyists in Albany, a figure that has doubled since ten years ago. Luckily, New York's lobbying laws require that lobbyists register and report when they're busy influcing state lawmakers. Politicians in Albany like to call that "progress."
Additionally, in the same ten years, the money spent by those lobbyists has quadrupled to $144 million in 2004. Sadly, New York is not at the top of this list, with California and Texas having higher amounts of money spent by their own legions of lobbyists. However, New York spent nearly three times as much as the state that's fourth on the list, Minnesota.
Source: Hired Guns by the Center for Public Integrity
However, with an army of four thousand lobbyists, and new ones recruited every day, I'm confident this state will overtake Texas then California before too long.
This comes out to approximately $36,000 spent per lobbyist in 2004. This also means that per legislator, nearly $680,000 was spent by lobbyists that same year. Quick, somebody elect me! I promise to only have a third of that amount spent on me!
There wouldn't be four thousand lobbyists hanging around Albany if it wasn't working wonderfully. In fact, it works so well that, according to the Times piece, a former aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno's (R) son are now lobbyists. I wonder if they have any luck at their new jobs....
Under the "reform" movement that was largely a campaign slogan to keep their own jobs, some tough new laws were passed. Like this one:
"The lobbyists have to make certain than any one gift is under $75, but as Mr. Horner likes to point out, that could mean a $74 breakfast, a $74 lunch and a $74 dinner all in the same day."
Source: New York Times piece
Blair Horner tracks lobbyists as head of the New York Public Interest Research Group, another watchdog agency.
The Times also suggests a couple of solutions that should at least curb the exponential growth of the lobbying industry in New York:
"One easy fix would be to ban fund-raisers in Albany during the legislative session. Right now, after a day's work, lawmakers go from the Assembly and Senate floor only a few hundred yards to the nearest fund-raiser where lobbyists hand out checks like Chicklets.
"And maybe New York could require a decent interval - more than a long weekend, please - before somebody in government becomes somebody lobbying the government. That might cut down on the numbers of petitioners that each legislator has to wade through to get to the floor."
That would be wonderful, obvious solutions that would go a long way to curbing the mass feeding in Albany that hands away taxpayer money as a guy on Broadway handing out cards for a strip joint. The problem is, there are a few obstacles to overcome on the road toward real progress. Those are:
Governor George E. Pataki (R)
Should go home.
Aside from breaking his own promise not to serve more than two terms, Pataki has also betrayed his downstate home (from Peekskill in Westchester County, just north of New York City, where he served as Mayor and in both houses of the Legislature before being elected Governor in 1994) by pandering to the Republican base upstate. According to testimony by current City Council Speaker A. Gifford Miller, New York City sends $7 billion more to Albany than it gets back in the state budget. Perhaps New York City doesn't have enough lobbyists on its side. Any way you cut it, the Governor has completely ignored downstate New York in exchange for playing to his base upstate. And it's worked! He's been elected three times as governor, even though he is the most prolific public official in the state and the state's financial situation has grown steadily worse under his tutelage. But he is not alone responsible for creating this situation....
Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno (R)
Also needs to go home.
The Senate Majority Leader, whose district is conveniently right next to Albany, has been at his current seat in the Senate since 1976 and as Majority Leader since 1995, rising to statewide leadership at the same time as Pataki. He has an obvious interest in keeping money upstate and that's fine, that's what elected representatives are supposed to do. However, he's exerted extreme influence over the Senate and the state budget. Which is the same as the next person on this list, however, given the usually friendlier relationship between the Governor and Senator Bruno, the Majority Leader usually has his way.
The third and final person....
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D)
Needs to get with the program or step aside.
Silver represents a district in New York City, therefore, he does try to bring funding to the city, or at least his district. However, as a member of the minority party in statewide government, he often loses out to Bruno and Pataki on such matters. The problem is that he does not speak out enough about this lobbyist feasting and is probably a willing participant, at least, if his former aide still has a job, he must certainly let the aide bend his ear a bit. Also, as a member of the minority party (though a majority in the Assembly), he has not done enough to bring attention to the cronyism at work in Albany. Results matter, Mister Speaker. You've been Speaker since 1994 and a member of the Assembly since 1976, the same amount of time as Senator Bruno. And yet your influence is limited.
Source for elected official information: Project Vote Smart
These three leaders essentially cut out all the usual democratic processes of debating bills on the floors of their chambers. Instead, these three often meet in a private room to work out the details of whatever it is they're working on, especially the budgets. The lone bargaining chip Silver has on his side is that he controls the Assembly, which is needed to pass a bill. This has led to the budgets being late for over two decades, a painful process that finally ended (for now) when this year's budget was passed on time. These budgets are filled with all sorts of pork barrel projects made possible by those wonderful lobbyists. And these "three men in a room" haven't yet lifted a finger to put an end to such practice.
The Senate is starting to show signs that the Republicans may lose their majority as soon as next year when the 2006 elections take place. Additionally, Pataki thinks he can somehow become President in 2008 ::cough::fat chance!::cough::, he will not try to run for a fourth term next year. Which is convenient because his poll numbers have finally started to fall off a cliff and he would have to go up against popular Attorney General Eliot Spitzer (anyone following Wall Street knows this name), who will almost certainly win the Democratic nomination. With that, perhaps the perpetual stalemate that has plagued state government will be washed away by the new blood being introduced to the levels of state leadership. Maybe even New York City could get a fair shake...or at least more freedom to guide its own city tax policy (all tax changes must be approved by Albany).
Or perhaps it will be politics as usual, if Spitzer has to pander to the upstate power structures in order to get anything done in office. One could hope it won't turn out that way, however.
posted by Will at 1:37 AM
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