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Upstate Majority Senators should use their clout
March 10, 2009

At last, we seem to have a counter to Albany's "three men in a room."
 
By "three men in a room," you know I'm referring to the infamous title given to the Governor, Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader who control all Albany decision-making. If you remember, we had former NYS Senator Seymour Lachman, who authored the book "Three Men in a Room," here at the Partnership a couple years ago to discuss the dysfunction of how our direct representatives really don't have the opportunity to represent their constituents a good deal - if not most - of the time.

But for Upstate right now, there is hope - that is, if the political will exists among five Upstate Democrat senators who have found themselves carrying considerable clout. Our own Bill Stachowski and Antoine Thompson, with David Valesky (Syracuse), Darrel Aubertine (Watertown) and Neil Breslin (Albany), have proclaimed themselves the Senate Majority's Upstate Caucus. It's not difficult to see, given the slim 32-30 state senate majority, the kind of influence that five Upstate-minded senators can exert.

Specifically, as reflected in a letter from Unshackle Upstate to these senators last Friday, what we specifically need them to do is:

• Reject the proposed $650 million assessment on energy and telecommunications;
• Reject the additional $460 million in health insurance taxes and assessments;
• Reject any increase in personal income taxes, particularly on small business owners.

In addition, because we believe you can't simply say "no" without offering solutions to tackle the state's $14B deficit, we continue to point to Unshackle Upstate's reform platform: implementation of the newly-proposed Tier 5 employee pension system, strategic reforms to the Medicaid system and the consolidation of state agencies.

So far, the Senate Majority's Upstate Caucus hasn't gotten off to a promising start: all five supported February's deficit reduction package, which included hefty increases in health insurance taxes and a "sweep" of NYPA proceeds. Before more damage can be done to the Upstate economy, we need to remind the five Upstate Senate Democrats of their clout, and of the influence that they, working together, can have in the on-going budget negotiations.

I urge you to join us in this effort by sending a message to the Senate Majority's Upstate Caucus telling them to block a budget that will harm Upstate. The state's budget deadline is now only a week away, so the time to weigh in is right now. We know that "five men in Upstate" have the power to influence the "three men in a room," and we urge them to use that power on Upstate's behalf.

Andrew J. Rudnick