Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:44:59 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss William F. Hammond Jr. :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/William+F.+Hammond+Jr. istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/winds-before-the-storm/7443/ Mon, 10 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST As bad as things look for New York State's finances right now, the comptroller, Alan Hevesi, thinks they're going to get much worse. Mr. Hevesi predicts that heavy borrowing by the federal government will trigger a nationwide recession in the next year. That would throw tens of thousands of New Yorkers out of work, play havoc with the stock market, and decimate the tax revenues of the state and city governments. Albany is hardly in a position to absorb such a blow. It faces a huge projected... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pressure-builds-before-olympics-visit/7336/ Fri, 7 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Pressure is building on the two top leaders of the state Legislature to support a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan before Olympics officials visit New York City next month. Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki are putting on what one insider called a "full-court press" for approval of the project by the state's Public Authorities Control Board. That panel, which must sign off on borrowing by certain state agencies, includes representatives of the governor, Assembly Speaker Sheldon... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/governor-proposes-new-restrictions-on-lobbying/7256/ Thu, 6 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Governor Pataki launched his 11th year in office by proposing to shake up the way state government does business. In his State of the State speech yesterday, the Republican governor proposed to crack down on influence-peddling at the Capitol, overhaul the management of semi-independent commissions and authorities such as the MTA, and end the gridlock that has produced 20 years of late budgets. He also announced that he is appointing a supply-side economist and talk-show host, Lawrence... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-readies-plan-to-trim-medicaid-for-new-york/7194/ Wed, 5 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Controlling the mushrooming cost of New York's $42 billion Medicaid program is expected to be a major theme of Governor Pataki's 11th State of the State speech today. Officials in the health care industry anticipate that Mr. Pataki, a Republican, will call for austerity in the face of a projected deficit of $6 billion, including broad cuts in the Medicaid health plan for the poor and disabled. They expect the governor to propose trimming benefits and tightening eligibility... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/spitzer-riding-to-states-aid-in-school-case/7135/ Tue, 4 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Lawyers for the state are making a last-ditch effort to head off a court order to spend billions more on New York City's schools, arguing that the courts cannot force the governor and the Legislature to budget a specific amount for education. In briefs submitted late yesterday, lawyers from the attorney general's office, representing Governor Pataki, urged the judge overseeing the case to issue a "declaratory judgment" - essentially, a statement of what it will cost for the city... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-gets-off-to-slow-start-on-jobs-front/7062/ Mon, 3 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - A year after declaring that New York should create a million new jobs by the end of the decade, it is apparent that Governor Pataki has gotten off to a slow start. Employment across the state is growing for the first time since the summer of 2001, but at less than half the national rate - and at less than a third of the pace necessary to reach the 1 million mark by 2010. As of November, total employment in New York was up 53,000 for 2004, to 8.6 million, according to figures from the... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/new-majority-rules/7091/ Mon, 3 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EST Even as the top leaders of the state Legislature consider loosening their iron grip on the Capitol, and letting rank-and-file lawmakers play a greater role in decision-making, their counterparts at Washington are doing just the opposite. House Speaker Dennis Hastert recently let it be known that he will not allow major bills to come to a vote unless most of his GOP members support them. A "majority of the majority," representing little more than one-quarter of the House membership, would... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/democrat-calls-for-cuts-in-medicaid/7002/ Fri, 31 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - New York should control the spiraling cost of its Medicaid program by trimming benefits and tightening eligibility rules, according to a new proposal by an upstate Democrat. The plan from Assemblyman Robin Schimminger of Kenmore, near Buffalo, calls for the state to eliminate or restrict Medicaid benefits that are optional under federal rules, such as coverage for dental care and eyeglasses. Also, it says the state should deny all Medicaid coverage to people who have lived in New York... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-vetoes-pinch-social-services/6951/ Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Governor Pataki's budget vetoes, and the Legislature's failure to override them, are taking a toll on New York's safety net for the poor, according to social service groups. For lack of $18 million vetoed by the governor, child-welfare agencies no longer have the staff to screen abusive or neglectful parents for drug and alcohol abuse, meaning more children will end up in foster care, the groups said. Another veto of $5 million reduced by half the state's operating support for certain... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/budget-reform-effort-hits-roadblock/6705/ Thu, 23 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The same political gridlock that has produced 20 consecutive years of late state budgets now seems to be gripping lawmakers' efforts to fix the budget process itself. Yesterday, in an unusual session held three days before Christmas, the Republican-led state Senate declined to override Governor Pataki's veto of a budget reform plan that it had unanimously approved earlier this year. Instead, the Senate unanimously approved a different package of changes in the budget process that was... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/new-york-manages-to-flunk-electoral-college/6633/ Wed, 22 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Here's the latest goof out of the state Capitol: New York's delegation to the Electoral College recently cast its 31 votes for John L. Kerry to be president; actually, Senator Kerry's middle initial is "F" as in Forbes. A clerk apparently mistyped the name on the official paperwork used for the formal balloting, which was held December 13 in the chambers of the state Senate, according to a spokesman for the New York Department of State, Peter Constantakes. No one caught the mistake... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/court-upholds-citys-right-to-tax-commuting/6642/ Wed, 22 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The city of New York may tax the full income of city employees who live outside its borders, the Court of Appeals ruled yesterday. Dismissing a 4-year-old lawsuit brought by 13 part-time police surgeons, the high court ruled that the money withheld from the employees' paychecks is not, legally speaking, a tax but a "condition of employment." Therefore, the normal constitutional restrictions on taxing nonresidents do not apply, the court said. The ruling preserves a stream of revenue... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/technically-lieutenant-governor-donohue-is/6576/ Tue, 21 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Quickly, now: Who is the lieutenant governor of New York? The answer, Mary Donohue, may not come immediately to most New Yorkers' lips, but her identity takes on added significance as Governor Pataki travels in Europe for the next 10 days. According to the state constitution - Article IV, Section 5 - the lieutenant governor "shall act as governor" whenever the governor "is impeached, is absent from the state, or is otherwise unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office of... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/senate-gop-puts-forth-budget-plan/6583/ Tue, 21 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Senate Republicans are proposing a new plan to end the state's 20-year streak of late budgets, which they plan to take up tomorrow during a special session. The proposal, introduced late Sunday, is a variation on a budget reform bill that passed both houses of the Legislature earlier this year, only to be vetoed by Governor Pataki last month. The Senate is also considering overriding Mr. Pataki's veto, which would give the Democratic leadership of the Assembly several options if they... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/soros-factor/6534/ Mon, 20 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST The billionaire political impresario George Soros gambled $27 million on the campaign to defeat President Bush and came up empty-handed. But no one should conclude that he has lost his eye for a winning investment. The smaller wagers that he and his family have placed on New York politics appear to be paying off in spades. After years of debate, state lawmakers just agreed to reduce the penalties for drug crimes in New York, which have been among the stiffest in the country. In Albany County... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/cfe-says-state-could-face-42m-in-fines-a-day/6434/ Fri, 17 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The state should face $4.2 million a day in fines if it doesn't comply with a court order to increase funding for New York City schools, the plaintiffs in the case proposed yesterday. In a motion filed with the court, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity urged the judge overseeing the case, Leland DeGrasse of the state Supreme Court at Manhattan, to issue an order next month requiring state lawmakers to provide the city schools with more than $23 billion in additional funding over the next... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/court-affirms-governors-budget-power/6435/ Fri, 17 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The state's highest court is siding with Governor Pataki in his constitutional battle with the Legislature over budgetary powers, reaffirming the governor's primacy in managing the state's financial affairs. Ruling on lawsuits dating from 1998 and 2001, the Court of Appeals voted 5-2 to uphold the governor's power to change state law within his budget proposal and to forbid the Assembly and Senate from undoing his changes as they approve the budget. The court acknowledged that the... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/trouble-ahead-for-subways-bridges-in-ny/6358/ Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - New York should invest "tens of billions of dollars" in its transportation infrastructure over the next five years to avoid a repeat of the bridge collapses and subway derailments of the 1970s and early 1980s, a state panel recommended yesterday. Appointed by the transportation commissioner, Joseph Boardman, the panel called for hiking tolls, fares, petroleum taxes, and other fees to pay for repairs and improvements to the statewide transportation system. It also called for the state... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-may-run-for-fourth-term-in-2006/6304/ Wed, 15 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Governor Pataki says he might run for a fourth term in 2006 but won't make the decision until sometime next year. In an interview yesterday with the Associated Press, the Republican governor did not rule out challenging Senator Clinton at the end of her term, also in 2006, but hinted that the job does not appeal to him. "I enjoy very much being an executive," he said. His comments come one week after Attorney General Eliot Spitzer formally announced that he is running for governor... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/as-coast-jury-dooms-peterson-ny-debates-capital/6229/ Tue, 14 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - As Scott Peterson spends his second day on California's death row, the New York State Assembly will be debating whether capital punishment itself should be put to rest. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat of Manhattan, called the hearings after the state Court of Appeals, in a ruling in June, found a constitutional flaw in the state's death penalty law and declared it unenforceable. The sessions will not just focus on the legal snag but also study the broader pros and cons of... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/spitzers-dilemma/6190/ Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST New York's attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, is world famous for his legal triumphs, having won colossal settlements in a series of lawsuits against corporate giants. Arguably, however, none of Mr. Spitzer's victories on Wall Street carries as much consequence for average New Yorkers as his biggest defeat: the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case. Ruling on that case last year, the state Court of Appeals declared - despite the attorney general's arguments to the contrary - that the public schools of... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/stand-back-the-lawyers-are-fighting/6075/ Fri, 10 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Stand back, New York: The lawyers are fighting among themselves. A faction of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, including several of its former presidents, has broken away to form a rival organization, the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers. The dissidents are calling for a crackdown on excessive advertising and "ambulance chasing" by some of their colleagues, saying such tactics tarnish the reputation of the entire profession. They also promise to pay more attention... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/albany-leaders-retreat-behind-closed-doors/6001/ Thu, 9 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - During the fall elections, it seemed as if every candidate for the state Legislature was promising to fix Albany. Republicans and Democrats, incumbents and challengers - practically all of them rolled out plans to make state government more open, democratic, and responsible. After Election Day, the legislative leadership declared that they had gotten the message, loud and clear, and were ready to turn a new leaf. To judge by this week's session, however, they've already fallen off the... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/competitive-bid-rules-suspended/6010/ Thu, 9 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - In unusual move, state lawmakers are suspending the competitive-bidding rules for an obscure pilot project at the Health Department, allowing officials there to hand-pick the two institutions that will benefit. Officials said the intended recipients are Village Care of New York, which runs nursing homes and provides other services for the elderly and AIDS patients in downtown Manhattan, and Loretto, a long-term care organization in the Syracuse area. Both organizations are headed by... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/spitzer-vows-to-fix-broken-albany/5932/ Wed, 8 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Promising to shake up the state Capitol in the same way he has shaken up Wall Street, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer formally announced yesterday that he is running for governor. Republicans - testing what could become the theme of their counterattack - immediately tried to turn Mr. Spitzer's record against him, branding him a "job killer" who has damaged the state's economy with his celebrated lawsuits. "He's made a lot of enemies with his job as an attorney general, and it provides a... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/legislators-ease-drug-laws/5938/ Wed, 8 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - New York State will go easier on drug criminals, and New York City will get an expanded convention center under separate bills approved by the state Legislature yesterday. In a burst of lawmaking after months of gridlock, the Assembly and Senate found a way to compromise on two of the major issues that had stymied them all year. One bill lessens New York's harsh penalties for narcotics felonies, under which the possession of 4 ounces of cocaine can theoretically lead to lifelong... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/38-increase-in-minimum-wage-passes-into-law/5861/ Tue, 7 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will receive a government-mandated raise in January now that the state Senate has overridden Governor Pataki's veto of a $2 hike in the minimum wage. The 51-7 vote by the Republican-led Senate assures that the state minimum wage, which matches the federal rate of $5.15 an hour, will gradually increase to $7.15 by January 2007. It will go to $6 as of the New Year and to $6.75 in January 2006. The Assembly, where Democrats are in the majority... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/outlook-grim-as-conferees-view-schools/5784/ Mon, 6 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST More than a hundred of New York's most influential citizens gathered at IBM's Palisades conference center on Thursday and Friday to talk about the issue that has catapulted to the top of agenda for state and city government: finding more money for public schools. Earlier last week, a court-appointed panel called for Albany lawmakers to increase operating funds for the New York City schools by $5.6 billion, or 45%, over the next four years, and invest another $9.2 billion in construction and... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/solons-may-act-on-vetoes/5789/ Mon, 6 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - An effort to override a number of Governor Pataki's vetoes will be at the top of the agenda as members of the Assembly and Senate return to the Capitol today for a one- or two-day session. Among the vetoes most likely to go down is the one rejecting a plan to overhaul the state's notoriously gridlocked budget process, which has produced late budgets 20 years in a row. Lawmakers are also considering overruling the Republican governor on a $2 increase in the state's hourly minimum wage... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/huge-tax-hikes-ahead-if-school-plan-is-enacted/5637/ Thu, 2 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Substantial tax increases will be hard to avoid if state lawmakers follow a court-appointed panel's plan to increase school financing by billions of dollars, experts warned yesterday. The panel's recommendations, applying only to the New York City public schools, would cost $3.25 billion in the first year and a total of more than $23 billion over the next five. That price tag does not factor in the normal growth of some of the city's education costs, such as transportation, and will... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/democrats-retreat-to-manhattan-on-wall-streets/5644/ Thu, 2 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Assembly Democrats are using donations from Wall Street to finance a private, Democrats-only conference this week to discuss reform of the Legislature. Assembly officials said all expenses for the three-day meeting at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Battery Park - including tickets to a Knicks game and Broadway shows - are being underwritten by the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee, which is controlled by Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan. Records from the Board of Elections show... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/billions-more-to-be-sought-in-school-deal/5573/ Wed, 1 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Taxpayers must plow tens of billions of dollars more into the New York City public schools over the next several years to provide the "sound, basic education" mandated by the state constitution, a court-appointed panel recommended yesterday. The panel called for increasing the city schools' operating budget gradually until it has risen by $5.63 billion a year, or 45%, in 2008-09. That's slightly more than the amount requested by either the plaintiffs in the lawsuit or Mayor Bloomberg... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/lobbyist-fights-increased-restrictions/5510/ Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - One of the state Capitol's top lobbyists is fighting proposals to expand and strengthen New York's lobbying law, arguing they would infringe on the constitutional rights of New Yorkers to express political views and to petition their government. Testifying at a hearing yesterday, lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh said broadening the definition of lobbying to include any attempt to influence a government decision - a proposal of the Lobbying Commission and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/governor-proposes-5b-schools-boost/5513/ Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The plaintiffs in a lawsuit over funding for New York City schools were negotiating a settlement with the Pataki administration yesterday in a last-minute effort to avoid having a solution imposed on state lawmakers by the courts. One proposal from Governor Pataki would have increased the city schools budget by $5 billion, or about one-third, over the next five years, with about $2 billion of that to be supplied by city tax revenues, according to Assemblyman Steven Sanders of... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/senescent-senate/5460/ Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST A reporter's question touched a nerve the other day with the majority leader of the state Senate, Joseph Bruno. His fellow Republicans had just selected him as their leader for a sixth two-year term, and Mr. Bruno was describing how he intends to respond to the outcry for reform at Albany. The reporter wanted to know: Why should New Yorkers expect anything new or different from "old leadership"? The crowd of senators gathered for the news conference let out a collective groan. One grumbled out... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/suit-threatened-for-change-in-state-capital/5373/ Fri, 26 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - A pair of minority-party lawmakers are threatening to file a constitutional lawsuit unless Governor Pataki and legislative leaders reform the notoriously dysfunctional way state government does business. The proposed suit by Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat of Manhattan, and Assemblyman Thomas Kirwan, a Republican of Newburgh, would claim the existing rules and procedures - which concentrate power in the hands of the Senate majority leader and the Assembly speaker - "discriminate"... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/anti-un-drive-is-spreading-in-legislature/5220/ Tue, 23 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Anti-U.N. sentiment is spreading in the state Legislature, with at least one Democrat, Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn, joining the opposition to expanding and renovating the world organization's headquarters on the East Side of Manhattan. Mr. Hikind, the deputy majority whip, told The New York Sun yesterday that he will fight any legislation that helps the United Nations, which he called a "cesspool" of racism, anti-Semitism, and opposition to Israel. He predicted other members of... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/late-budgets-cost-silver-some-support/5232/ Tue, 23 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - A newly elected Democrat in the Assembly is withholding his support from the powerful leader of that chamber, Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, in a dispute over Albany's 20-year streak of late budgets. The assemblyman-elect, Mark Schroeder of Buffalo, skipped the meeting last Wednesday at which Assembly Democrats nominated Mr. Silver to another two-year term. Mr. Schroeder said he was following through on a campaign promise to oppose the speaker's re-election unless he pledged to... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/battle-brews-in-legislature-over-uns-site/5138/ Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The Battle of Turtle Bay is escalating in the state Legislature, with some lawmakers emphasizing the safety and economic benefits of expanding the U.N. headquarters at Manhattan while others would just as soon see the world body driven out of New York altogether. The current facility, which is 52 years old, isn't sufficiently safeguarded against fires and terrorist attacks, defenders of the renovation project said. A proposed 35-story annex would be built to modern building codes and... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/hospitals-hit-the-wall/5170/ Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST After a year of study, Governor Pataki's Working Group on Healthcare has delivered its prescription for New York's ailing hospital system: Lose some weight. The report, which went to the governor last week, points out that New Yorkers spend $18.2 billion a year on hospital care - far more per capita than any other state - and are not notably healthier than other Americans as a result. California, which has 15 million more residents, spends just $17.8 billion on acute care. Hospital officials... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/senate-gop-promises-budget-reform-before-end/5068/ Fri, 19 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Senate Republicans are promising to overhaul the dysfunctional state budget process by the end of this year, even if it means overriding a veto from Governor Pataki, Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said yesterday. Mr. Bruno said he still hopes to negotiate an agreement on budget reform with Mr. Pataki, a fellow Republican, and majority Democrats in the Assembly before returning to the Capitol in early December. If that doesn't happen, however, Mr. Bruno said he will push ahead with the... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/albany-reform-starts-to-hear-call-to-action/4986/ Thu, 18 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The minority parties of the Assembly and Senate, hoping to capitalize on the outcry for reform of state government, are stepping up the pressure for rules changes that would give them a greater voice in the Legislature. Assembly Republicans announced yesterday that they will support a resolution sponsored by Assemblyman Scott Stringer, a Democrat of Manhattan, that would loosen the tight control of Speaker Sheldon Silver, also of Manhattan. The 46 GOP votes, when added to the 27... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/assembly-senate-expected-to-re-elect-silver-bruno/4930/ Wed, 17 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - After two tumultuous years in the Legislature, members of the Assembly and Senate are preparing to re-elect their top leaders for another term. In a meeting today at the Capitol, Assembly Democrats are expected to nominate Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, who first became speaker in 1994, to continue through 2006. Senate Republicans will huddle to pick their majority leader on Thursday, and there is little doubt that they will stick with Joseph Bruno of Rensselaer County, who has been... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/gop-chairman-says-party-better-oin-a-governors/4933/ Wed, 17 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The newly elected state Republican chairman is calling Senator Schumer's decision to stay in Washington a "break" for the GOP, saying Mr. Schumer would have been more difficult to beat in the 2006 gubernatorial race than the other likely Democratic candidate, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. "I thought we got a huge break ... when Chuck Schumer decided to stay in the Senate," the Republican leader, Stephen Minarik, said yesterday on WROW radio. "I thought he was the tougher of the two... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/schumer-clears-way-for-spitzer-to-make-his-bid/4849/ Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Senator Schumer is taking himself out of the race for governor in 2006, opting instead to play a more powerful role in Washington. Mr. Schumer, who was re-elected this month in a landslide, announced yesterday that he will be taking two new jobs within the Senate: a seat on the Finance Committee and the chairmanship of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In accepting the positions, Mr. Schumer said he promised the incoming minority leader, Senator Reid of Nevada, that he... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/pataki-vetoes-budget-reform-bill/4860/ Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - Governor Pataki is picking another fight with the Legislature, vetoing a budget-reform bill that the Assembly and Senate passed unanimously earlier this year. Mr. Pataki argued the bill would not end New York State's 20-year streak of late budgets, as its authors promised, but would actually give lawmakers a new incentive to delay. He also cited technical flaws that he said would put state government at risk of defaulting on debt and shutting down for lack of spending authority. The... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/gop-chairman-promises-boost-in-aggressiveness/4861/ Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - The new chairman of the Republican State Committee, Stephen Minarik of Rochester, is promising a more aggressive style of politics as the party tries to recoup its losses in recent elections. After two weeks of recriminations and finger-pointing over GOP losses on Election Day, party leaders made a show of unity and optimism at their meeting yesterday and elevated Mr. Minarik, the party chairman of Monroe County, to statewide chairman in a unanimous voice vote. The committee also... William F. Hammond Jr. http://www.nysun.com/opinion/pros-and-cons/4806/ Mon, 15 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST As state legislators gather at the Capitol this week for post election party caucuses, they will no doubt devote a lot of their discussion to the issue that helped to defeat several of their colleagues: fixing Albany. The movement to reform state government, which has been simmering for the past year, came to a full boil during the campaign. An early victim of the turmoil was Assemblyman David Sidikman of Nassau County, a majority Democrat who lost in a Democratic primary to Charles Lavine, an... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/national/election-may-doom-the-estate-tax/4695/ Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST Republican gains in the U.S. Senate on Election Day have changed the politics of the estate tax, anti-tax activists said, greatly increasing the chance for a permanent repeal early next year. By increasing its number of seats to 55, the GOP moved four votes closer to the 60 needed to abolish the tax beyond 2010. The results on November 2 also could persuade other opponents of repealing the tax to change their minds. The issue was a factor in the defeats of three of the Democrats who lost on... WILLIAM F. HAMMOND JR. http://www.nysun.com/new-york/tug-of-war-over-budget-reaches-climax-in-albany/4635/ Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST ALBANY - A tug-of-war over the purse strings of state government is coming to a head at the Capitol. On Tuesday, the state's highest court will hear arguments in two longstanding budget disputes between Governor Pataki and the Legislature. Tuesday is also the deadline for Mr. Pataki to sign or veto budget reform legislation crafted by Assembly and Senate leaders that deals with some of the same issues as the litigation. Both decisions will affect the constitutional balance of power, either by...