AlBANY pOsts

Former Congressman Rick Lazio lashed out at New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo this week at the Conservative Party Political Action Conference.

MICHAEL BRENDAN

DOUGHERTY

“You can’t lead from a foxhole,” Lazio said. “It’s time the people of the state of New York heard less about the politics of Andrew Cuomo running for office and more about his ideas for holding public office.”

Lazio, who represented central Long Island in Congress from 1993 to 2001, blasted Cuomo, saying that since his election, Cuomo “has locked himself inside his office and watched as Albany burned”

Lazio, is the last potential Republican candidate standing. Ed Cox, chairman of the Republican State Committee, signaled that he would not run for New York’s top executive seat, clearing the field for Lazio, who ran for New York’s Senate seat against Hillary Clinton in 2000.

Lazio has proposed a unique solution for legislative logjam in Albany: abolish the Senate. In a New York Times op-ed from last year, Lazio talked up the virtues of a unicameral system of government, which eliminates the need for back room deals to make two versions of the same bill harmonious. To make a unicameral system work, Lazio proposes an independent citizens’ board that would draw district lines, preventing incumbents from ensconcing themselves forever in favorably redrawn districts.

Recent polls say that in a hypothetical election, Cuomo would defeat Lazio by 40 points, whereas Governor Paterson runs almost even with the presumptive Republican challenger.

“While the Conservative Party politicians have started their campaigns, the Attorney General is focused on his public service, representing the people of the State by fighting corruption and greed on Wall Street and rooting out waste and abuse in government,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Bamberger

“The Democratic Party is running everything in Albany, and they’re making a hash of it,” Cox told reporters at the Holiday Inn on Wolf Road, where the Conservatives had gathered.

We have a solution here—that’s Rick Lazio, who is our candidate for governor. We are behind him and we’re giving him our support and we’re doing everything that we can.”

Paterson Looks for

More Charter Schools

Governor David Paterson says he’ll keep pushing for more charter schools.

Under current statutes, New York may have up to 200 charter schools. Paterson has proposed pushing that number up to 460. Such a move, Paterson claimed, would increase New York’s chances of getting more federal aid in the national “Race to the Top” program which can provide up to $700 million to fund innovative public schooling options.

Paterson’s pro-charter school remarks come just two weeks after the Democrat–controlled legislature refused to consider Paterson’s proposals. New York State’s limits on charter schools have been especially criticized by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who described the legislature’s position as “an insult to parents and children and Dr. King and his legacy.”

Slush Fund for Two

Legislators Exposed

This week two Queens legislators were exposed for bilking a charitable organization they founded of nearly $150,000

State Senator Malcolm Smith, of the 14th district in Queens, and U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks, whose district covers areas around J.F.K. airport, have been exposed by the National Legal and Policy center for scamming constituents and taxpayers with their charity, the New Direction Development Corp.

Instead of sending aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina, Smith and Meeks used the charity to pay for meals, entertainment, consulting fees, and IRS penalties. Nearly $150,000 in funds remain unaccounted for, according to watchdog groups.

The bogus charity received not just donations from individuals and community groups, but also taxpayers. Since 2001, State Senator Malcolm Smith has directed at least $56,000 to the charity through “earmarks” in the New York State budget.

“When you see lots and lots of consulting fees with large amounts flashing around, at some point one wonders if an elected official is trying to sell their office,” said Ken Boehm, head of the National Legal and Policy Center.

Governor In It

to Win It?

Governor David Paterson has proposed taking New York Lottery revenues, and placing the money in taxable municipal bonds, in an effort to close the state’s $7.4 billion budget gap.

Currently the New York Lottery’s funds are held in U.S. Treasuries, but Paterson’s plan may generate up to $50 million for state coffers due to the difference in the market rate of return between municipal bonds and treasury bonds.

The New York lottery has $1.5 billion in treasury holdings.

Lawmakers in 2009 rejected a similar proposal from Paterson that would have placed prize money in a package of stocks, corporate bonds, and real estate investments.