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State Issues

NY State Flag The New York State Legislative Session officially convened on January 7, 2009, with the Governor's State-of-the-State Address. The Office of Government and Community Relations will continue to keep the University community informed of any relevant developments.

Highlights

On July 9, Sen. Pedro Espada rejoined the Democrats, who once again became the majority. The full Senate then worked into the early morning hours, passing more than one hundred "non-controversial" bills, which the Assembly had already passed in June. These bills were mostly extenders of legislation necessary for the operation of local governments. The Senate is expected to reconvene in mid-July. The Office of Government and Community Relations will continue to monitor the Senate's activity.

Who's who in the State Senate?

The following bills of interest to SU were sent to the Governor:

  • S6031/A9039 Extends provisions of law relating to low cost power ("Power for Jobs") Signed into law
  • S5672/A8611 Eliminate expiration of Timothy's Law (requires mental health coverage parity) Signed into law
  • S5957/A8391 Extends capital financing program for public broadcasting stations Signed into law
  • S6074/A8864 Provides for consideration of change in TAP award Vetoed

--Governor Paterson Appoints Lieutenant Governor

On July 8, Gov. Paterson appointed Richard Ravitch, former Chairman and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), Lieutenant Governor in a move to answer the question of succession. The appointment was under legal challenge. On September 22, New York State's highest court upheld the Governor's authority to appoint a lieutenant governor. Richard Ravitch is the first appointed lieutenant governor in New York State's history.

--Governor Paterson Announces More than $14 million in RESTORE NY Grants for Central NY

On September 2 at West Fayette St., Syracuse, Governor Paterson announced another round of RESTORE grants, for which $6.3M is for the Connective Corridor project. See the full transcript here.

--Governor Paterson Addresses Local Business and Community Leaders in East Syracuse

On June 8, Governor Paterson unveiled "Bold Steps to a New Economy: A Jobs Plan for the People of New York" at the Sensis headquarters in East Syracuse, NY. Following are the highlights from his speech. See the full transcript here.

--Governor Paterson Addresses Legislature

Governor Paterson delivered his first State of the State address on January 7, 2009. Here is a summary of key points.

09-10 Budget

--Legislature Enacts Budget

Please see our budget chart for specific data.

The Governor and top legislative leaders have hammered out the details of the FY09-10 budget. Voting by the Legislature began on Tuesday, March 31. The budget must be in place by statute on April 1. Due to delays in the Senate, that deadline was missed. In order to close the state's estimated $16.2 billion budget deficit, the Governor and the Legislature used some $6B in federal stimulus dollars. However, there is still a sizable gap which will be closed by enacting $6 billion in cuts to an array of programs, including cuts to higher education program. In addition, the budget raises $4 billion in new revenues through an increase in the personal income tax on higher-earning New Yorkers. The tax increase would be two-tiered, bumping the top bracket from the current 6.85% on a "head of household" making more than $250,000. For married couples, the threshold would be a household income of $300,000. For individuals making more than $500,000, the rate would raise to 8.98% regardless of filing status.

In his original Executive Budget, Governor Paterson proposed a number of cuts to higher education. Most of the higher ed programs (e.g., HEOP, Liberty Partnership, STEP, etc.) were slated for relatively small cuts. Those cuts were sustained in the final budget. However, the higher education community was successful in getting some funds restored to the CSTEP program which had been proposed to take a 50% cut. The final budget funds the CSTEP program at $7.6M, up from $4M which had been proposed. Cuts were also restored to the TAP program. Another positive development was aid to public radio and TV, which in the executive budget was cut by 50%. The final budget bill uses federal stimulus funds to add back in $5.6M, bringing their total budget to $15M. (Last year's funding level was $18.8M.)

We are also very happy to report that $350,000 for the Say Yes to Education program remains in the final budget.

Funding for the Centers for Advanced Technology (CATs), including SU's CASE Center, was also partially restored to $13.8M. Aid to Public Libraries also saw some of their cut restored. Prior year funding was $99.4M. The Governor had proposed $80.5M. The final budget will add $10.5M to the $80.5M. We are also very pleased to report that Assm. Magnarelli was able to get $125,000 funding for the College of Law's Technology & Commercialization Law Program and $100,000 for the Renaissance Internship Program.

--Governor Paterson Releases Budget

Governor Paterson presented his first Executive Budget on December 16, 2008. We are providing a summary of key points in addition to a budget chart.

Legislation of Interest

  • S.2578/A.290. Establishes the Say Yes to Education Demonstration Program in Syracuse.
  • S.4778/A.7907. The "Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act" (UPMIFA). Would allow charities and non-profits in New York State to have more flexibility in the management, investment, and ultimate use of charitable endowment funds.
  • S.3821-B/A.7950-D. "Ticket Scalping Bill". This bill extends the ticket resale law fifty weeks until May 15, 2010, directs the Secretary of State to generate a report, and prohibits an operator's agents from selling or conveying tickets to a secondary reseller that they own or control. This bill was signed into law.
  • S.5469/A.8401. Health insurance for unmarried children through age 29. This bill would allow unmarried children up to age 29 to be covered under the parent's group insurance policy. Employers would not be required to pay for this coverage.
  • S.4123/A.613-A. Amends the Labor Law in relation to unemployment insurance for certain part-time professional employees in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity with SUNY, CUNY and any public community college.

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