In June, delegates from Leagues across the country will be meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, for LWVUS National Convention. It will be 5 days of meeting  new and old friends while also learning, debating, discussing and voting. The delegates will adopt a budget, approve a program and elect new officers and a board. Many of our state Board members will be attending, as well as local League members from across New York.   

 

Take a look at the convention portion of our website at www.lwvny.org.  We are listing the entire New York State delegation to convention.  If you are going to convention and have not yet been listed as a delegate on our website, send us your name, League, and e-mail address, so that we may add you to the list.  New materials about caucuses, concurrences, and resolutions are posted as they are received.
 

LWVNY Concurrences and Resolutions
The Saratoga County League has recommended a concurrence with Maine's marriage equality position.  The concurrence has been endorsed by LWV Maine and LWV Maryland.   At its May board meeting, the LWVNY voted to support bringing the Marriage Equality Concurrence to the floor of the Convention for a vote by convention delegates about whether to adopt the marriage equality position by concurrence from the floor of the convention.
 
The Tompkins County League has introduced the following resolution to support expansion of LWVUS legislative priorities to encompass safe drilling and mining for energy resources:

Be it therefore resolved that we, representatives at the 2010 National Convention of the League of Women Voters, call upon the Board to use the resources of the League to support and lobby for significant strengthening of appropriate regulation, oversight, inspection, and penalties associated with the development of fossil fuel resources.  This strengthening should include elimination from national and state legislation of the exemptions for drilling and mining, as well as additional legislation requiring the federal and state agencies to regulate drilling and mining in a manner consistent with the preservation of a healthy environment.

This resolution is put forward to enable, among other things, the LWVUS and its members to lobby at the national level for stricter oversight in the hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus shale.  At its May board meeting the board of the LWVNY voted to support this resolution.
 
The Tompkins County League has also introduced the following resolution to urge the LWVUS to support Medicare for All legislation:

Whereas the League of Women Voters of the United States believes quality health care at an affordable cost should be available to all U. S. residents; and

Whereas the current and proposed systems do not achieve the League goals of affordability and access to everyone; and

Whereas an improved Medicare for all, a publicly funded and privately delivered national health care plan, is consistent with this goal;

Therefore, be it resolved, we, the representatives of local and state Leagues assembled at the 2010 LWVUS Convention, call upon the LWVUS Board to advocate strongly for bills that legislate for improved Medicare for all.

At its May board meeting the LWVNY decided it would not endorse this resolution because it was highly unlikely that additional health care legislation would be introduced in the near future and because resources could be more effectively used to monitor and comment on implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 at both the state and national levels.

 

We will report to all League members when we return on the full Convention happenings.

The League, along with our good government partners, Common Cause, NYPIRG, Citizens Union and the Brennan Center, were the main sponsors of a very successful event that sought to put state leaders on the record on where they stand on critical reform issues facing the state.  We were joined by a new group, Reinvent Albany, which produced the event.   Over 300 attendees, most of them League members, heard from Governor Paterson, Comptroller DiNapoli and the four legislative leaders who outlined their plans to fix Albany now.

 

Click on links below to see photos from the event, power point presentations on each of the issues, introductory video on why we need reform in Albany, and a video of the entire event. Jay Gallagher, former Gannett Bureau Chief, questioned each of the speakers. 

 Update on Redistricting Reform

Currently in New York, the political parties in the majority draw the lines for their respective houses. In other words, legislators chose their voters not the other way around.  The only check on this system is the possibility that the Governor could use his veto power to force changes.

We believe that creation of an independent redistricting commission must be a top priority for those interested in reform. We expect to take a leading role in educating the public about this critical issue.  The process began on February 9, when over 60 people from 9 local Leagues and other organizations attended the Forum on Redistricting held at the Rockefeller Institute. Videos from the Forum are now available on the Rockefeller Institute website at www.rockinst.org/forumsandevents/.  You can also get a DVD of the event by e-mailing or calling the League office.  Expect to hear from us soon about more collaborative educational efforts with our good government partners, including easy to use educational materials that will be available to local leagues. We would like local leagues to schedule an educational meeting on redistricting as early as possible in the fall to utilize the forthcoming materials.

On the immediate horizon, the League supports a legislative solution that would immediately create an independent redistricting commission in time for the drawing of Congressional and legislative lines in 2011.  The leading bill to do this is sponsored by Senator Valesky in the Senate, S1614-A and Assemblyman Gianaris in the Assembly, A5279-A.

The bill calls for a nominations committee to select 15 Democrats, 15 Republicans and 10 people who are registered with neither party.  An 8 person reapportionment commission would be chosen from this pool and those 8 people would support 3 more members, one of whom would be the chair. The 8 members of the nominations committee would be appointed by the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals, the attorney general, the state comptroller, the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority leader of the senate, and the minority leader of the assembly.  

The state budget is now over seven weeks late and negotiations are going nowhere.  On Tuesday, May 18th, the Governor called the first open leaders meeting since early March.  The Red Room of the Capitol was crowded with everyone from Republican Senators to reporters, lobbyists and staff people.  It lasted over an hour and was hightlighted with much political theater and no progress.  The fundamental issues holding up the budget remain; here are a few of them.
  
The Governor wants severe budget cuts to close a $9 bilion dollar budget gap (he is not running for office this year). The Senate majority (Dems) want to hold onto and increase their majority so do not want to alienate the special interests both education and health care. They also have to protect their upstate members by railling against park closures and state worker layoffs.  The Assembly majority (Dems) want to negotiate a budget behind closed doors because they don't want to expose their members to doing cuts in public (they want to protect their veto proof majority).

All parties know there must be cuts done but feel if they can keep doing weekly extenders, the inevitable won't come until after the elections.  This would appear to be a very risky strategy since the state will not be able to pay its bills after June first, but politics is politics.
 
The League feels very strongly that the budget process should be open and should give rank and file legislators the opportunity to participate in the process so they are responsive to their constituencies.  There have been no open joint conference committees to date and we will continue to advocate with the members (most are on our side) and with the media to pressure the Assembly to move their one house budget resolution to conference committee.  Senate Majority Leader Sampson indicated in the Leaders meeting that he is ready to go to conference committee.  Senator Skelos, the minority leader has been pushing for the open committee and Assemblymember Kolb also wants conference commitees.  Assembly Speaker Silver is the single holdout, however, he seems to be driving the bus in Albany these days.  He has stated that he does not feel anything can be accomplised until they have a three way agreement (behind closed doors).
 
There will be another open leaders meeting next Tuesday and the Governor has said that he may call special session for next Thursday and Friday depriving the Democrats from going to their party convention which starts next Tuesday.  Let's see who blinks first.

The NYS League of Women Voters has had a long-standing advocacy position on court restructuring (formerly called court merger). The current system of 9 separate trial courts is confusing to litigants and costly to everyone involved in the courts: litigants, taxpayers, and the court system itself. Consolidation of the state's trial courts requires a constitutional amendment, which needs passage by two separately elected legislatures, followed by an affirmative vote in the November general election. Traditionally, constitutional amendments receive first passage in the second year of the legislative session, followed by second passage of the newly elected legislature the following year. They then appear on the November ballot for voter approval. A court merger constitutional amendment actually received first passage in 1986, but was not passed by the legislature the following year, and it died before reaching the voters. (more info)
 

The NYS League of Women Voters has long embraced innovative efforts that promote economic, social and judicial efficacy, including alternatives to incarceration at all levels of the criminal justice process. The economic and societal costs associated with the present New York State criminal justice system are staggering; the cost of incarceration has become prohibitive and the rate of recidivism continues to be high. The juvenile justice system in New York is a microcosm of the inadequacies and failures of the state's criminal justice system. The annual cost of juvenile detention in New York State now exceeds $100million.The recidivism rate is unfathomably high. A decade-old report shows that 75% of youths released from state custody between 1991 and 1995 were re-arrested, 62% were re-convicted and 45% were re-incarcerated. A juvenile justice system designed decades ago has ostensibly failed in its mission to promote public safety, hold youth accountable for their crimes, and produce positive outcomes for these youth. (more info)

 On April 11, over 30 students from 24 Leagues and 2 MAL Units met in Albany for the state League's annual Students Inside Albany Conference. The students learned about lobbying from different types of lobbyists, such as special interest lobbyists, union lobbyists and paid lobbyist; they heard from a media panel as to how the media can influence the public policy making process and they participated in a role-playing with Assemblywoman Sandy Galef to determine tips for being an effective citizen lobbyist. Click here to see photos from the Conference. They also shadowed both their Senator and Assembly member for one afternoon each. Below is an interview with one student from Tompkins County that was published in Ithaca Parent and Teen (Summer Issue).


Andrew Dunn, a senior at Charles O. Dickerson High School in Trumansburg, recently returned from Students Inside Albany, a four day conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albany. Dunn was chosen to represent Tompkins County in the statewide forum, hosted each spring by the New York State League of Women Voters and funded by local Leagues.
In his application essay Dunn wrote that he was interested in attending SIA to get a more in-depth look at politics. Read on to see if he was able to achieve this!

Q.        Albany has been in somewhat of a turmoil recently Was this evident to you students during your time in the Capital District?
A.        Yes and no. With the budget it was definitely a busy time of year. When we sat in on the Assembly I noticed that the Republicans were trying to gain more influence and the Democrats were definitely not receptive to this because right now they have the majority vote.  Also the Republicans were saying that the Democrats were making the budget behind closed doors and not including the Republicans in their decisions and that they should remember that bipartisanship means inclusion.
            The day we visited the Senate was a Tuesday which I guess is usually a pretty quiet day. They do what's called a "Resolution Calendar"; for example one resolution was to make April 15th a "Safe Stop" day. They also commended a high school basketball team for their success and thanked a Common Council for hosting a benefit.

Q.        As part of the SIA program you attended some lectures related to government and politics. What were your favorites?
A.        I really liked the talk by Robert Freeman who is the Executive Director of the NYS Committee on Open Government. He was an interesting speaker and really knowledgeable. He advises people about how to use the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) which deals with citizen's rights to access to government records and the Open Meetings Law to their advantage to keep Boards (Town, School etc...) from holding meetings that should be public behind closed doors. He explained that "closed door" meetings can only legally occur at very specific times, which is not something everyone knows.
The Media Panel lecture was really good too. There were panel members from the Times Union newspaper, Newsday, a public access TV program, and a blogger. They talked about the effect of media on politics and the role of a journalist in the political scene. They also told us about breaking stories, confidential sources, and the power that journalism still has.
The other thing that was interesting was when they talked about the influence that the Internet has and how it often doesn't have the journalistic integrity of newspapers because newspapers and reporters still check their sources and try to be as accurate as possible while blogs are often just someone's opinion.

Q.        You also took a tour of the Capital. What did you see?
A.        Our tour guide focused mostly on the history and the architecture of the Capital Building. We did see the Senate and Assembly Chambers and the "Million Dollar Staircase". It goes up multiple levels in the middle building and is made of this expensive red Scottish sandstone and has all of these intricate carvings on it.

Q.        The League of Women Voters sponsors this conference each year. Did you know anything about the League beforehand and did your impressions change after the conference?
A.        I didn't really know anything about the League except for what I heard from Ray (the student who went last year). What I learned about them at the conference was that they're non-partisan; they don't support any political parties. They do in-depth studies to decide what they stand for and then they lobby for lots of different causes. I think their positions seem to be sound ones.
            The League was founded to help women get education and to have the right to vote. Today one of the things they're working on that I agree with is extending elected officials political terms so that politicians can focus on issues while they're in office not just on getting reelected.

Q.        You also shadowed your county representatives-Senator George Winner (R) and Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton (D). What did you learn from them?
A.        I liked both of them and thought they both knew a lot about their jobs and what was going on in the areas they cover. They each have staff members who help them read the local news to find things that might be of interest to them and I saw Lifton reading an article on hydrofracking which is a big deal in Tompkins County. I got to watch Senator Winner record a clip about some of his views for a local new station and Assemblywoman Lifton showed me around the "back rooms" of the chambers.
They're both smart and good at their jobs. I think I would vote for both of them (Dunn recently turned 18).

Q.        Were their jobs what you had expected?
A.        The Senate was, Things were more formal there and they seemed more businesslike. The other students and I were all surprised about how laid back the Assembly members were. They were doing all sorts of other things like eating and talking about movies they were going to see while there was a debate going on down on the floor.

Q.        How do you think your generation can change things in Albany?
A.        Well, the most important thing I learned was that politicians are real people. Before the conference I had the idea in my head that they weren't approachable and that things like writing letters wouldn't make a difference to them one way or another. But now I see that politicians do meet with people and they do read the letters and emails they get and listen to phone calls. Politicians pay attention to local new and they seem to care about what people in their districts want. So we need to be willing to approach politicians so they can hear what we have to say,
            Through the Media Panel, I realized that the Internet is more important than ever because this generation is more comfortable using technology. With media technology we can keep up with current news easily and be more informed from a variety of sources in a very short time. We just need to makes sure that the information we get is accurate. And, we really need to think about things critically and not just accept them as true.

Q.        You'll be heading off to college next fall. Will your intended major mesh with your interest in politics?
A.        I think so. I never wanted to be a politician and I still don't! I would like to have a research job studying the effects that the citizens have on politics through things like voter trends and the decision making process that people use when they're deciding who to vote for. So I'd be on the outside evaluating and then I'd convey my results to the general public.

Q.        How about your personal life and politics?
A.        From this conference and from the AP Government classes that I've taken, I always knew that I'd be active in politics on a local level by voting and making sure my voice gets heard at meetings if there's something happening that I really care about.

Q.        Would you encourage other students to apply for the Students Inside Albany program next year?
A.        I would. Some of it was a slight review of the AP Government class that I'm in but the extra lectures and the shadowing made a big difference. The other people I met were excellent. My roommate was from Long Island and he's going to Cornell so I may see him again. There were lots of kids from the cities (NYC, Albany, and Rochester) and their view of Albany is really different from mine because of the wealth, the location, and the population density of their communities. And-everyone there liked to talk about politics which was great!

Sue Henninger (www.fingerlakeswriter.com) and fellow Tompkins County League of Women Voters member, Kathleen Yen, co-chair both "Students Inside Albany" and the elementary school program, "Take Me to Vote!"
This article originally appeared in Ithaca Parent and Teen-Summer 2010 (www.ithacachild.net) 

Jay Gallagher, former Bureau Chief for Gannett News in Albany, is writing a blog for the state League. The blog provides current information on the happenings in Albany politics - with some extra quotes, comments and stories to enliven the facts. He is updating the blog almost daily so if you want to follow the decisions and discussion in the state Assembly or Senate, read Jay's blog. There is a link to the blog directly from our website - just click on "New League Blog" in the upper right corner of the homepage. And, if you would like to comment on the blog, follow these instructions (and you don't have to sign in or join):
2.      If using Firefox as your browser. Be sure 3rd Party Cookies is enabled.
         Click on Tools -select Options - then select Privacy - then check the box marked  Accept Third Party Cookies
3.      Click the link marked Comments below the blog on which you want to comment
4.      Type your comments into the box marked Leave your comment
5.      Scroll down to Word Verification and Type in the word that you see (graphic)
6.      Scroll down to Choose Identity and select Anonymous
7.      Click Publish your Comment.
8.      Your comments will not be published until approved by office

This is a great way to stay current on politics in Albany and to join in the conversation about them. Give it a try!

Don't forget to tell the state League office if you have remembered the state League in your will.  Join the 1919 Society, by including the LWVNYS in your will. If you already have included the League in your will, just let us know and we'll add you to the members of the Society. We will not ask for either proof of the bequest or its amount - we just want to honor your future support. As a member, your name will be engraved on a plaque in the state League office, listed in the State Voter, and on the website.
 
You have worked so hard for the League for so many years. Why not help to ensure the future of the League by including support for the League in your will?  Your donation can specify the Centennial Fund of the Education Foundation, a perpetually endowed fund, the general fund of the Education Foundation or the League. The process is simple, and we can help you with the correct language.  Just contact Laura Ladd Bierman, Executive Director, LWVNYS, at Laura@lwvny.org or by phone at 518-465-4162 for more information or to join this new Society.
 
If you believe that a strong League is vital to the health of our democracy, please become a member of the 1919 Society.