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Buffalo Niagara will determine future of the State Senate
October 28, 2008

Control of the State Senate, now with the GOP, is up for grabs, and next Tuesday’s election features three races that are instrumental to determining the Senate’s make-up starting in 2009. Whoever controls the State Senate will be responsible for crafting the reapportionment plan that will guide statewide politics – and impact policy, particularly related to the Upstate/Downstate divide – for the next decade; without question, what happens in Buffalo Niagara on Election Day this year will have far-reaching effects.

As a resource for business community voters, the Partnership has prepared the 2008 Elections Primer, which includes a listing of all state and federal races, our analysis of key races, links to candidates’ web sites, and, most importantly, candidates’ responses to a questionnaire regarding the business community’s top policy priorities. From all that information, I want to highlight three specific state senate races:

58th NYS SENATE DISTRICT - DELANO/STACHOWSKI

Buffalo Police Department Detective Dennis Delano did not respond to the Partnership’s questionnaire. In fact, he’s been able to appeal to polled voters despite avoiding debates, forums, the media and any other public presentation of his platform. We simply don’t know where Delano stands on key issues, but he’s ridden a “rock star” status to positive polling results thus far.

Senator Bill Stachowski has served in the NYS Senate for 27 years. His voting record reflects his strong support for labor-oriented issues such as apprenticeship requirements, wage mandates and paid family leave, but he’s also been an advocate for brownfield reform and supported Unshackle Upstate’s TIF proposal. His top priorities, as indicated on his Partnership questionnaire, are to cut property taxes, create new jobs, cut unnecessary regulations and reduce burdensome paperwork. Senator Stachowski is the only Democratic Senator to be endorsed this year by the NYS Business Council, and is greatly positioned for a leadership role – chair of the Senate Finance Committee (which would make him the only Upstate Democrat in a leadership role) – should the Senate majority change hands as a result of the election.

59th NYS SENATE DISTRICT - KONST/VOLKER

Senator Dale Volker, a 34-year incumbent, has said his top three priorities are job creation, lower property taxes and lower business taxes. He has sponsored legislation to repeal the Scaffold Law, and supported Unshackle Upstate’s TIF/brownfields legislation. Senator Volker’s Partnership questionnaire responses demonstrate that his agenda – although not necessarily his public and private statements – is aligned closely with many of the Partnership’s priority issues, which his voting record generally has confirmed.

Kathy Konst, President and CEO of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce, also serves as Erie County Legislator. She states in her questionnaire that her top three priorities are Wicks reform, Taylor Law reform and reducing government waste. Not surprisingly, due to her role with the Lancaster Chamber, Legislator Konst’s questionnaire responses directly align with the positions of the Partnership on relevant issues. In the County Legislature, she has been a supporter of most Partnership priorities – including the Framework for Regional Growth and opposition to the county’s apprenticeship law – with one exception being her opposition to “bed tax” dedication for tourism marketing.

61st NYS SENATE DISTRICT - MESI/RANZENHOFER

Former boxer Joe Mesi has accepted the endorsements of the Working Families Party and virtually every local labor union. As a result, his platform in general conflicts with Partnership priority issues. Mesi did not respond to the Partnership’s questionnaire, and while he has stated support for some priorities similar to the Partnership’s – such as lowering property taxes and targeting state economic development investments strategically for better return-on-investment – he differs from the Partnership agenda in how to accomplish them. For example, Mesi supports the Assembly’s “circuit breaker” approach to property tax relief rather than the Partnership-supported tax cap proposed by Governor Paterson. The Vice-Chair of the Working Family Party’s WNY Chapter said about Mesi: “Whether it be fighting for living wage jobs or Paid Family Leave, Joe Mesi will fight for us in the State Senate...” putting him in a position contrary to the beliefs of the employer community.

In contrast, during attorney Michael Ranzenhofer’s 19 years in the Erie County Legislature, he has been a strong supporter of the Partnership’s agenda, including being the Legislature’s most vocal opposition to apprenticeship requirements, never voting for a sales or property tax increase, and sponsoring legislation to dedicate “bed tax” revenues to tourism marketing. He states that his top state priorities are to reduce taxes and spending and regulation and mandate reform. Ranzenhofer believes that taxes are the top issue facing employers in his district, and his stances on priority issues are nearly completely in-line with the Partnership’s.

Again, I urge you to peruse our 2008 Elections Primer, which also includes the rationale behind our congressional race endorsements of Brian Higgins, Chris Lee and Louis Slaughter, and then be sure to vote on Election Day – and encourage your coworkers to do the same.

Andrew J. Rudnick