Kolb Won’t Criticize Silver, And He Won’t Knock Members Who Do

While the state GOP and some Assembly Republicans have called for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to resign over a secret sexual harassment settlement, Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb has refrained from joining in.

The Republican from Canandaigua said if members of the Assembly Republican conference want to call for Silver’s resignation, that’s their prerogative. He is waiting until investigations are complete before making any judgment.

“I’m going on my own personal reaction on this, and then if somebody wants to speak out and thinks the speaker should resign or there should be public outcry over it, they are entitled to their opinion,” Kolb said in an interview today with Gannett’s Albany Bureau. “I don’t want them thinking in lockstep.”

Kolb heads the nearly 50-member Assembly Republican conference, and there are about 100 Assembly Democrats. Since become leader in 2009, Kolb has maintained a cordial relationship with Silver, the powerful speaker since 1994.

Silver has been criticized for quietly agreeing in June to pay $103,000 in state money to settle a sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by two women against Assemblyman Vito Lopez, D-Brooklyn. Silver admits errors, but said the settlement was appropriate and legal.

Republicans have made Silver a campaign issue across the state. Assemblyman Steve Katz, R-Yorktown, has went so far as to compare Silver to Joe Paterno in the Penn State sex abuse scandal. The state GOP has a petition drive to oust Silver as speaker.

Kolb said his colleagues are free to do what they want. He said he doesn’t tell them how to vote when they are in Albany, either.

“I don’t tell my members how to vote, and I don’t tell them what they should do when it comes to making statements about whether it’s the speaker or anybody else,” Kolb said. “The thing I emphasize with every member since I’ve been leader, and it’s something I follow: The people you have to worry about are the people back home, so whatever you say, do, vote, you better do what you think your constituents that put you in office would want you to do.”

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IT’S TIME FOR UNFUNDED MANDATE RELIEF!

If you want a more affordable New York, help me deliver a message loud and clear to Albany: IT’S TIME FOR UNFUNDED MANDATE RELIEF!

Unfunded mandates are whenever state government tells localities and school districts to do something – start a new program, expand a service, or build a new school – yet provides ZERO funding to pay for it. Unfunded mandates increase costs for local governments and school districts, while driving up property taxes for homeowners.

Enough is enough – it’s time for Albany to deliver real unfunded mandate relief!

Here are my smart solutions to deliver real unfunded mandate relief, help local governments and protect taxpayers:

· Taxpayer Protection and Mandate Relief Act (Assembly Bill A.8447): Cap State spending and freeze the local share of Medicaid costs

· New York State Mandate Relief for School Districts Act (Assembly Bill A.10446): Provide comprehensive mandate relief for school districts, ensure the retention of quality teachers and the best utilization of resources

· Unfunded Mandate Moratorium (Assembly Bill A.4811): Enact a permanent moratorium on unfunded state mandates imposed on local governments and school districts costing more than $10,000 annually or $1 million statewide

Local governments and taxpayers have endured Albany’s costly unfunded mandates for too long. It’s time for unfunded mandate relief! Help me spread the word by forwarding this message to anyone who wants a more affordable New York, lower taxes and a more competitive economy.

Brian M. Kolb

REPORT OUTLINING CHALLENGES TO FISCAL STABILITY IS A WAKE-UP CALL TO ALBANY!

Legislative column from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,C,I-Canandaigua)

For the past few weeks, I have reported to you on the tremendous successes we achieved with this year’s State Budget, along with the numerous achievements of the past two Legislative Sessions that many are saying were the most productive in New York’s history. Along with this good news, I also offered a warning that despite these positive developments and Albany’s newfound ability to get things done, real challenges remain that could undo our recent progress.

I believe that the job of transforming New York – making our state more affordable for taxpayers and more attractive for job creators – is far from finished. We cannot afford to let Albany slip back to the bad old days of passivity, tax-and-spend and waiting for the next crisis. We need a proactive mindset that tackles and solves the remaining challenges we face.

STATE BUDGET CRISIS TASK FORCE ECHOES MY WARNINGS OF REMAINING FISCAL CHALLENGES FACING NEW YORK

A new report issued by the “State Budget Crisis Task Force” confirms my concerns and should provide a wake-up call to my fellow Legislative Leaders and all Albany policymakers that we still have a great deal more to accomplish. The Task Force report outlined six major challenges to the fiscal stability of state governments (New York included) and warned of threats posed by growing the costs of government, mandated spending programs and underfunded pension obligations, among other factors.

The State Budget Crisis Task Force is a non-partisan group of respected public policy experts including Richard Ravitch, former New York State Lieutenant Governor, and Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Federal Reserve under two U.S. Presidents. The Task Force analyzed the challenges facing state finances in New York; California; Illinois; New Jersey; Texas and Virginia. The Task Force’s report echoes the very same warnings I have made: even though New York is beginning to head in the right direction, the job of fixing our economy, restoring fiscal accountability and reducing government’s size and cost to taxpayers remains unfinished. You can read the Task Force’s report at http://www.statebudgetcrisis.org.

While the Task Force analyzed a variety of possible threats to the future economic stability of state finances, six principal challenges were ultimately identified:

Medicaid spending growth which is crowding out other needs;
Federal deficit reduction that threatens state economies and budgets;
Underfunded retirement promises creating risks for future budgets;
Narrow, eroding tax bases and volatile tax revenues undermining state finances;
Local government fiscal stress posing challenges for states; and
State budget laws and practices that hinder fiscal stability and mask imbalances.

The Task Force report stated that these challenges threaten state governments’ investment in priorities such as education and infrastructure, affect the ways in which they are more likely to issue debt (which taxpayers end up paying for) and imperils states’ abilities to provide essential services such as public safety. I would add to the Task Force’s list of challenges the urgent need to create more private sector jobs, as New York’s unemployment rate actually climbed to 8.9 percent in June.

In many ways, overcoming these challenges will be even tougher than solving late State Budgets, as they deal with the skyrocketing growth of massive, mandated entitlement programs such as Medicaid, as well as “inside baseball” issues such as State Budget laws and practices. However, make no mistake: these challenges affect every New York taxpayer regardless of income, political affiliation or zip code.

MY SMART SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS, REFORM ALBANY AND PUT NEW YORK ON SOLID FINANCIAL FOOTING

The good news is that by identifying these challenges, we can take proactive steps to fix the problems and put New York on solid financial footing. Here are some of my smart solutions for each of the identified challenges:

Reduce skyrocketing Medicaid mandate expenses by freezing the municipal share of local Medicaid program costs at the current level (Assembly Bill A.8453);
Cut the cost and size of government by enacting a State Spending Cap to reduce New York’s susceptibility to reductions in Federal aid (Assembly Bill A.5370);
Enact real cost relief for localities to help defuse New York’s ticking time bomb of billions in underfunded and mandated pension liabilities (Assembly Bill A.8447);
Stabilize and grow New York’s tax base by providing targeted tax credits to businesses that hire unemployed workers or veterans (Assembly Bill A.10350);
Place a permanent moratorium on Albany’s unfunded mandates that drive up costs for localities and property taxes for homeowners (Assembly Bill A.4811); and
Continue reforming state government’s fiscal practices such as banning “backdoor borrowing” i.e. borrowing without voter approval (Assembly Bill A.1517).

NOW IS THE TIME TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES

Each of the smart solutions I cited has a corresponding legislative initiative that has already been introduced and is 100 percent ready for the state Legislature’s enactment. As the old saying goes, “the best time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining.” Thanks to the recent success of these past two Legislative Sessions, the sun is starting to shine on New York; now is the time to address our remaining challenges. We must not squander this opportunity to build on our recent successes and address fiscal threats that the State Budget Crisis Task Force and I have identified.

REAL SOLUTIONS FOR A STRONGER, MORE COMPETITIVE BUSINESS CLIMATE AND MORE JOBS FOR NEW YORKERS

Legislative column from Assembly Minority Leader Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C-Canandaigua)

I previously outlined the many successes from our 2012 Legislative Session – real successes such as another on time State Budget, deficit reduction, pension reform, cutting wasteful government spending, in addition to long-term investments in better schools, safer roads and regional economic development. I also put those accomplishments into perspective by listing two remaining items of unfinished business that Albany must address: the urgent need for unfunded mandate relief for local governments, school districts and taxpayers, and more private sector jobs fueled by a stronger, more competitive economy.

This column will focus on the second half of those remaining challenges – the need for more jobs and more change necessary to transform New York’s economy – and list my smart solutions to make it happen. To start, I would like to share some good news on the economic front that shows my effort to move New York forward and reposition our state as a national leader in job creation and building an innovation economy is having a positive impact.

MOVIN’ ON UP: NEW YORK RANKS AMONG TOP 10 STATES FOR “GROWTH, PRODUCTIVITY AND LIVABILITY,” SAYS U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

A good indicator that we are beginning to see real progress for New York’s economy is found in a report recently issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce titled “Enterprising States: Policies That Produce.” The Chamber is the world’s largest business organization representing the interests of over three million businesses from mom-and-pop shops and local chambers, to leading industry associations and corporations, as noted on its website http://www.uschamber.com.

The Chamber’s report ranked New York among the top 10 “performing states,” including North Dakota, Texas and Virginia for criteria such as “growth, productivity and livability,” which included long and short-term job growth; overall expansion of gross state product; productivity growth; income growth; and livability among other factors. Here’s what the Chamber’s report said regarding New York: “New York is fourth in GSP (“Gross State Product,” or the economic output of a state) per job and ninth in per-capita personal income growth in the past decade. Much of this growth has been driven by the rebound in various high-value finance sectors. The state’s private colleges and universities also expanded rapidly, adding nearly 55,000 jobs for a rate of growth of 30 percent.” You can read the Chamber’s report here.

New York cracking the top ten meant our Empire State actually moved up 11 spots in the Chamber’s economic performance rankings, largely fueled by GSP expansion and per capita personal income growth. Cut through all the technical jargon and you will see these are positive signs that New York is finally beginning to turn the corner. Bottom line? Our economic recovery is moving from shaky and fragile to solid and strengthening.

CHALLENGES REMAIN: TAXES, REGULATIONS, BUSINESS COSTS

However, the Chamber’s report also listed other areas – exports and international trade, entrepreneurship and innovation, taxes and regulation, infrastructure to name a few – where New York did not break into the top 10. These areas constitute many of the remaining critical challenges to our economy and private sector job creation. New York has some of the very best schools, colleges and vocational training programs in the country; our workforce is one of the best educated, well trained and highest skilled in America and our overall quality of life is strong. Unfortunately, New York also has some of the nation’s highest personal, property and business taxes, the most complex, complicated and costly government regulations and an expensive cost of doing business that makes our state less attractive to employers.

If New York is going to continue making positive strides in terms of its economic performance –and realize its full potential – Albany must get serious about enacting a comprehensive pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda like the initiatives I introduced as part of my “GrowNY” Plan.

MY SMART SOLUTIONS TO MAKE NEW YORK STATE THE DESTINATION FOR MORE JOBS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND NEW INVESTMENT

The following are parts of my GrowNY Plan – each of these bills have already been introduced and, if enacted as one entire package, could be the game-changer New York’s economy needs:

BizBoom (Assembly Bill A.10364): Establish the “BizBoom” business startup program that will cut all application fees for new businesses by 50 percent for the first year, eliminate business income taxes for the first year and reduce income tax rates for the second and third years;
Division of Regulatory Review & Economic Growth (Assembly Bill A.10419): Create the “Division of Regulatory Review & Economic Growth” (D-RREG), led by a commissioner who has a fixed term, to review and make binding recommendations for the elimination of burdensome, job-killing regulations;
Mandate Relief (Assembly Bill A.8447): Enact the “Taxpayer Protection and Mandate Relief Act,” which includes a State Spending Cap, a moratorium on unfunded mandates on local governments and school districts costing more than $10,000 annually or $1 million statewide, and places a 2-year sunset date on every law that imposes an annual net additional cost to any locality in excess of $10,000 annually or $1 million statewide;
Innovators Corps (Assembly Bill A.10445): Develop the “Innovators Corps,” which is a four-member division of business experts to identify, recruit and/or retain domestic and international high technology businesses;

New York State Business Incubator Network (Assembly Bill A.10399): Establish the New York State Business Incubator Network to support the development of academic linked business incubators and to accelerate the growth and success of early-stage companies so important to building New York’s innovation economy;
High-Tech Worker-NY (Assembly Bill A.10359): Provide a Personal Income Tax exemption of up to $50,000 per year for the first five years for new high-tech employees who completed a high-tech training program within the past 12 months (any college, vocational or certification program);
Invest-NY (Assembly Bill A.10353): Create an Angel Investment Tax Credit to encourage private investment in business. This measure also amends the definition of a Qualified Emerging Technology Company to allow more companies to be eligible for the QETC tax credit and expands eligibility for the NYS Investment Tax Credits to ALL businesses that make new investments in property and equipment in New York;
Patent-NY (Assembly Bill A.10360): Implement a Personal Income Tax credit for patent fees to ensure NY remains home to the innovative breakthroughs our economy needs;
Retain-NY (Assembly Bill A.10354): Provide a Personal Income Tax deduction for all interest paid on student loans for taxpayers and increase the current college tuition tax-credit deduction from $10,000 to $13,820 and maximum tax credit from $400 to $553;
Work-NY (Assembly Bill A.10350): Reduce the tax rate for all manufacturers by 50 percent; provide a 10 percent Personal Income Tax credit for small businesses with incomes less that $250,000. The bill also creates a “Hire-NY” tax credit for businesses for each new job created, and an additional credit if it is filled by an unemployed person or a veteran. Finally, this legislation repeals the Ton Mileage Tax on trucking to alleviate the adverse effect it has on businesses locating fleets or distribution centers in New York State; and
Shop-NY (Assembly Bill A.10355): Eliminate the State Sales Tax on purchases of gasoline (8 cents per gallon), child car seats, protective helmets, as well as personal hygiene products, including baby diapers, soap and toothpaste.

BETTER… BUT NOT GOOD ENOUGH! NEW YORK HAS NOT SCRATCHED THE SURFACE OF ITS TRUE ECONOMIC POTENTIAL

After years of recession, is New York’s economy getting better? Absolutely. Have we achieved the types of job growth and economic transformation New York needs? Not yet. In fact, I believe we have not even scratched the surface of New York’s true economic potential. GrowNY will help us achieve these goals and become the national leader in jobs, productivity, business growth and economic innovation.

David Koon On Why He’s Seeking Old Assembly Seat

It’s been a year and a half since Koon’s bitter loss against Mark Johns.
“I could not believe it that night. I walked in expecting to win the seat back. I apologize to the people,” said Koon. “I got a little emotional that night but, ya know, first thing I find out is that I lost and you know how it is, I’ve got cameras in my face so it didn’t give me time to collect myself at all.”

Koon held on the the 135th Assmebly seat for 15 years until he lost in a close race by two-percent. For him, the numbers still aren’t enough to count him out.

“I think over a year and a half, so many people stopped me anywhere I went and said I can’t believe you lost, we want you back,” said Koon. “After hearing that so much I thought well, I can’t lose anything.”

Koon says he wants to finish what he started for the people in his district.

“I think I have a lot to give back. I’m not ready to retire. I know the system in Albany and I think I can bring home a lot, compared to” said Koon.

… Compared to his opponent, Mark Johns.

“David and I are friends and we should have a good contest this fall, but I think the difference is gonna be when we look back, do we want to have government that we’ve had the last two years or do we want to go back to the previous 15 years, where we’ve had late budgets every year, spending that increases three times the rate of inflations, unfunded mandates and other things people were quite frankly a little sick of,” said Johns, (R).

Koon says his experience, being a member of the majority, will give him an edge on Johns.
But Johns says his record so far stands for itself.

“We’ve had on time budgets, we’ve have ethics reform, we’ve had bi-partisanship with the govenor and leiutenant govenor to get all these things done,” said Johns.

Before Koon’s efforts can even result in a comeback, both agree he’ll have to go through one highly competitve contest.

“It’s always going to be a competitive election. I look forward to that,” said Johns.

Koon says he will soon start cirulating petitions to get back on the ballot. It’s a process he has to complete by next month.

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Kolb Differs With Constitutional Reformers On Redistricting Amendment

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb on CapTon last night called the redistricting constitutional amendment a “darn good start,” and adopted a something-is-better-than-noting attitude, even as his fellow reformers have condemned the measure and are calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to reject it.

“I’m certainly open-minded to making more changes or to strengthen that amendment,” Kolb told me. “…Certainly, I guess I would say is a half a cake is better than a full cake – if you can’t get the full cake.”

“As you know, Liz, all legislation could be made better. Attempts to do things perfectly – it’s like making sausage, it’s not very pretty, but in the end you get a product. I’m always making it the best product as possible, but, as you know when you’re dealing with compromise and consensus, you don’t always have the ability to pull that off.”

Kolb’s point of view is the polar opposite of Democratic activist Bill Samuels, with whom the minority leader and my father, Prof. Gerald Benjamin, created EffrectiveNY.org, – a website advocating for constitutional reform on a whole host of issues – including redistricting.

Samuels sent out an email last night deeming the constitutional compromise the governor appears to have struck with the Legislature a “bad joke,” adding:

“Using outdated Constitutional language and mathematical formulas from 1894 to justify adding a State Senate smacks of Skelos-Cuomo(?)-Silver “three men in a room” type of deal that have long hobbled reform in Albany.”

“At Effective NY, we have posted the three tortured and contorted mathematical methods from the 1894 Constitutional language that the leaders in Albany are using to avoid creating a 21st Century solution to this once every decade redistricting conundrum. It is a weird, confusing and disingenuous solution to the issue.”

“It is a breach of faith on behalf of elected officials in Albany and if the Governor is serious about reform, has one choice-veto the deal. Allowing the deal to pass continues to put the power to draw future legislative districts in the hands of self-interested legislators instead of in the hands of a truly independent process. Anything less than a veto and the Governor loses claim to being a reformer of the dysfunctional Albany process.”

That sentiment was echoed by the NYT editorial page this morning, which noted the constitutional amendment calls for a 10-member commission to draw the lines – a construction that “almost ensured gridlock” – doesn’t address deviation, makes no mention of a 2010 law requiring prisoners be counted at their homes and not where they’re incarcerated and ultimately kicks the whole mess back into the hands of the Legislature.

The Senate Democrats have also been beating the drum on this one, and are starting to suggest (well, at least Sen. Liz Krueger is) they will hold Cuomo personally responsible if he breaks his veto pledge. Apparently, however, their minority conference colleagues in the Assembly aren’t on board.

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Kolb Informs Special Master That State Lines Are ‘Anticipated’

As Liz mentioned in Here and Now, all objections to the special master’s final congressional lines need to be filed by today at noon.

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb did not make any objection to those lines but his attorney did send a letter to Special Master Roanne Mann informing her that legislative action on the Assembly and State Senate lines is “anticipated” for “on or about” today. Mann had given lawmakers until tomorrow to file an update on the status of the state lines.

In the letter, Kolb also includes that the legislature might take up bills for a constitutional amendment reforming the process, as well as a bill that would change the primary date for the Senate and Assembly seats. Currently, that primary would be held on September 11, while the Congressional and US Senate primary would be on June 26th. There has been a push from good government groups and the Governor to have just one primary day.

Kolb Letter to Mann

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Kolb covers all of Ontario and Yates counties under draft redistricting

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, would see a much more compact district under proposed maps released today. Now, Kolb’s 129th disrtrict includes all or parts of five counties. The preliminary map shows Kolb’s district covering two counties: All of Ontario and Yates counties.

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To view the maps.

Kolb: The Fix Might Be In On Redistricting

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb said last night on CapTon that he’s not convinced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s repeated claims he’ll veto any redistricting plan drawn up in the traditional, political manner by state lawmakers.

Cuomo has admitted a veto would likely cause “chaos,” putting the redistricting power in the hands of a judge who (theoretically) is politically beholden to no one.

The governor has also insisted – with varying degrees of certitude – that anything other than an independently drawn plan won’t receive his approval. Cuomo reiterated that claim in the written version of his State of the State address, but skipped over the topic in the delivered version of his speech.

That caused some observers – including Kolb – to question Cuomo’s motives.

“I’m not sure that I believe that yet – that he would actually veto a legislative plan,” the minority leader told me last night.

“Maybe I’m a little cynical because I’ve been around a little bit longer now. Maybe deals have already been constructed or talked about or set up as far as how the redistricting maps role out, advisory panel named. Do they cut a deal for 10 year from now? There are all sorts of things that politically could unfold with this process.”

“So I’m just, shall we say, waiting to see exactly what’s going to happen. But I wouldn’t guarantee anything. Something could create a change in what he has said so far because politics are at work or deals were struck with the two leaders.”

(It’s worth noting that Kolb and Cuomo had a bit of a falling out recently, and the minority leader said he hasn’t discussed redistricting – or anything else – with the governor).

The 10-year plan – in other words, making the redistricting process independent in time for the next Census through a constitutional amendment – is what the Senate Republicans want to do, even though they all signed ex-NYC Mayor Ed Koch’s reform pledge to support an independent commission this year.

I asked Koch last week if he could support a deal that kicks the can down the road; his response: Absolutely not.

CapCon’s Jimmy Vielkind wondered this morning whether the governor’s decision to include a call for campaign finance reform in his delivered SoS while omitting redistricting indicated a willingness to horse trade one for the other – particularly when it comes to the Senate GOP, which is VERY interested in redistricting, but has balked at campaign finance reform in the past.

Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey rejected that suggestion, telling Vielkind:

“Redistricting is going to be off the table fairly soon, one way or another.”

“There’s been a lot of advocacy around the need for campaign finance reform, and the governor wanted to focus his reform agenda on ethics and redistricting before getting to it. Now there’s plenty of room to pick up the gauntlet on it.”

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Kolb: What About Between Buffalo and NYC?

Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, Ontario County, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo hit the right notes in his State of the State address, but Kolb expressed concern that only New York City and Buffalo are seeing major infusions of cash for development.

Cuomo pledged a $4 billion plan to convert Aqueduct Race Track, located in Queens, into the largest convention center in the nation. Cuomo also pledged $1 billion to Buffalo for development. He didn’t mention other upstate cities for any specific funding.

“Certainly, I think the job-creation efforts” were laudable, Kolb said. “But the thing I was a little sort of wishing more of is what are we going to do about upstate New York –- in terms of the North Country, the Southern Tier, the Finger Lakes, central New York?”

He continued, “When you start talking about billions for New York City, for Aqueduct and the convention center, and a $1 billion for Buffalo – that’s a lot of money. And what about all the area and the geography in between? I thought that was missing, that I think we could be doing more.”

Rochester Business Alliance CEO Sandy Parker also had harsh words for the focus on Buffalo, the state’s second largest city, and not on its third largest city, Rochester.

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