GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

In Albany: GOP, IDC Gain Upper Hand in Senate Battle? 

Three weeks after the election,  two new developments have strengthened the GOP's position in the battle to control the NYS Senate. The issue is important: the Senate can't organize or spend money without a temporary president, and whoever is Majority Leader will chair the powerful Rules Committee, appoint committee chairs and members, and be an ex-officio member of all committees and temporary state commissions. On Tuesday, the absentee ballot count in the new 46th Senate District between Republican George Amedore and Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk was completed, and Amedore holds a 110 vote lead. The results will go to court, as both sides have challenged hundreds of ballots. Then, Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), who ran on the Democratic and GOP lines this year and who chairs the four-member Independent Democratic Conference, said he wants a "bipartisan coalition" comprised of his IDC and the Republican caucus: "...democracy in New York State does not have to be chaotic...It could work, Democrats and Republicans working together to get things done."  In the other undecided Senate race in the 41st SD, Democrat Terry Gipson has a comfortable lead over GOP Sen. Steve Saland in the paper ballot count. If Amedore and Gipson both win, and if Brooklyn Democratic Senator-elect Simcha Felder honors his pledge to vote with the GOP, and if the IDC-GOP coalition holds, their coalition would control 36 votes to the Democrats' 27. Even without an Amedore victory, Klein's decision means the coalition would still hold a 35-28 advantage. 

Cuomo Places "Sandy's" Cost to State at $42 billion

Gov. Cuomo said Superstorm Sandy was "more impactful" than Hurricane Katrina. The Governor met with congressional leaders as he outlined a federal aid request. He said recovery efforts would cost $32.8 billion, and some mitigation and rebuilding efforts would cost an additional $9 billion. 

In DC: Credit Unions Push for Business Lending Expansion
Credit unions are on Capitol Hill pushing legislation (S. 2231 and H.R. 1418) to more than double the statutory cap on credit union business lending from 12.25% to 27.5%.  A joint industry letter co-signed by IBANYS expressed strong opposition to the Senate legislation, which has never been considered before the authorizing committee, and noted the industry will strongly oppose any attempt to merge this permanent power grab with a temporary extension of the Transaction Account Guarantee program or any other banking legislation. Meanwhile, a new study found additional business-lending powers for tax-exempt credit unions would reduce tax revenues, and pose new risks to the health of the credit union industry and financial system as a whole. ICBA President Cam Fine said the study shows the proposal "will do little to improve access to credit while posing serious risks to our financial system and federal revenues. . .Expanding the business-lending authority for taxpayer-subsidized credit unions would widen budget deficits at the federal, state and local levels and increase the risk of failures throughout a credit union industry neither equipped nor designed to do wide-scale commercial lending."  An American Banker article profiles the issue and the industry's efforts.  IBANYS urges New York community bankers to contact their members of Congress NOW and ask them to oppose this legislation.