By Colin Campbell 1/17/12 6:52pm

2014

Eric Schneiderman (Photo: Facebook)

Schneiderman and DiNapoli Report Fundraising Tallies

Admist monstrous fundraising numbers from Governor Andrew Cuomo this afternoon, two other statewide elected officials released their own totals.

And in the most recent filing at least, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is outpacing his counterpart, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. The A.G.’s campaign said that they raised a $750,000 and has $850,000 cash on hand, while Mr. DiNapoli’s reelection effort raised less than half of that, $330,000, and closed the year with a bit over $140,000 in the bank.

Attorney General Shchneiderman’s campaign war chest compares favorably to the last two Attorney Generals at this point in their term.  Former Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had $1.1 million dollars on hand in January of 2007, while Former A.G. Eliot Spitzer had $285,000 a year into his first term in 2001. Read More

By David Freedlander 1/03/12 5:50pm

Laws

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Kruger Files For Pension; DiNapoli Pledges Reforms

Disgraced Brooklyn lawmaker Carl Kruger’s application for his state-funded pension was processed today, leading state comptroller Tom DiNapoli to call for stricter measures of who is and who isn’t entitled to  a state-funded salary in retirement.

“Former Senator Kruger’s actions were a breach of the public’s trust, but the State Constitution prevents the forfeiture of his pension,” Mr. DiNapoli said. “My bill would ensure that those public officials who engage in corrupt practices and wrongdoing will suffer a cost to themselves and their families if they abuse their position for personal gain. Public confidence in government has been bruised and battered. This bill will be a strong step toward rebuilding trust.” Read More

By David Freedlander 11/10/11 11:02am

Economy

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DiNapoli Calls on State ‘To Live Within Its Means’

A report released today by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli as part of the state’s Quick Start budget process projects a slight shortfall this year, and bigger deficits down the line.

“The current year enacted budget made positive strides in addressing the ongoing structural deficit,” Mr. DiNapoli said. “However, we still face challenges and risks and there is much that could undermine some of the good work of the last year. Fiscal pressures – particularly on the revenue side – pose a significant challenge, and achieving balance will require an ongoing commitment by state leaders to live within our means.”

Over the three-year forecast period,  Mr. DiNapoli estimates that revenue and spending could deviate from current estimates by more than $1.5 billion.

The report notes that some efforts to reduce future spending may not be as effective as projected and that issues like global market volatility, lower Wall Street employment and income, high state unemployment and the struggling housing market continue to pose budget risks.

Mr. DiNapoli warned that this year’s revenue collections are currently below Financial Plan projections and may be slow to bounce back due to the state’s reliance on revenue related to employment and consumption. Read More

By David Freedlander 11/07/11 5:27pm

investigations

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DiNapoli Nabs State Worker for Hitting the Bars on Taxpayer’s Dime

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office announced this afternoon that an investigation administered by their office revealed that a  biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation routinely went drinking at a local bar during the workday while receiving a paycheck from the state.

According to Mr. DiNapoli, Christopher Keim admitted that he went to the bar two to three times a week, often for hours at a time, for as long as two years. Read More

By David Freedlander 8/30/11 8:25am

suggested reading

Morning Read: Weprin Gets Heat, Bloomberg Gets to Testify, DiNapoli Gets to News Corp

Mayor Bloomberg is obsessed with data, and now that data is showing a city administration in a slump, Sam Roberts reports.

After David Weprin pulled out of a debate last night, a local paper ran the headline–“Weprin to Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale & Ridgewood — DROP DEAD.”

Weprin read law books aloud to his Hofstra law school classmate David Paterson when both were students there to help the partially-blind future governor navigate his way through school.

Bloomberg is set to testify in the upcoming Haggerty trial. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 8/25/11 11:06am

dinapolimoney

DiNapoli Does GMA; No Sign of Cuomo

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli got some national attention on Good Morning America this morning, where he gave away oversized checks to ABC employees who had money waiting in the office’s unclaimed funds database.

The seven-minute segment included a cartoon of DiNapoli being orbited by some cash, along with a few checks to individual crew members Read More

By Azi Paybarah 2:12pm

In Defense of Overtime

New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s audit about overtime at the Port Authority is adding momentum to Governor Cuomo’s criticism about the agency’s management.

On his weekly radio show this morning, Mayor Bloomberg — whose private sector ethos hasn’t been eroded by a decade of public service — offers a countervailing view of overtime.

“You can cut anything, that doesn’t make it a rational policy…overtime really is part of good management cause you just don’t want the maximum work force for the maximum one-time-a-year when you need it.”

By Azi Paybarah 8/15/11 7:34am

suggested reading

Andrew Cuomo, campaigning for governor at a parade in 2010. (photo credit: azi paybarah / observer)

Morning Read: Cuomo in the Air, Giuliani for Turner, 'Chipmunk' Diss for DiNapoli

2012: Rick Perry gets support from some Western NY GOP. [Robert McCarthy / Buffalo News]

2012: Obama is vulnerable, so why is GOP going for Perry and Bachmann, who are both like George W. Bush? [Mike Lupica / Daily News]

2012: More calls for Christie. [Ross Douthat / New York Times]

2016: Rendell predicts Hillary will be the candidate (won’t say why); this would derail Cuomo’s plan. [Fred Dicker / NY Post]

2012: “It remains an open question whether [Bachmann] can tap into the economic message that rival Republicans are building their candidacies around.” [Jeff Zeleny and Michael Shear / New York Times]

Debunking Perry: “So, where does the notion of a Texas miracle come from? Mainly from widespread misunderstanding of the economic effects of population growth.” [Paul Krugman / New York Times]

NY-9: Giuliani to endorse Turner today. [City Hall News]

NY-13: Former business associate of Rep. Grimm has a criminal background; Grimm calls Luquis an independent contractor. [Benjamin Lesser / Daily News]

Transporting Cuomo: “Cuomo used state aircraft for more than a dozen flights to or from his home.” [AP]

Transporting Cuomo: Using state facilities for “private gain” is prohibited by state law. [Erin Durkin / Daily News]

Transporting Cuomo: Cuomo’s spokesman Josh Vlasto said, ” It’s outrageous that due to an apparent lack of news, The Associated Press has now decided to fabricate stories.” [AP]

Transporting Cuomo: Records obtained via FOIL. [AP]

Frenemies: Behinds the scenes tension between Cuomo and Schneiderman. [Jacob Gershman / WSJ]

Insults: Former Governor Paterson and current Cuomo administrations refer to State Comptroller DiNapoli as “chipmunk balls.” [Fred Dicker / NY Post]

Economy: Fears of a  double dip recession; “If we were to back into recession this quickly…we wouldn’t have some of the benefits we had last time,” said IBO’s Lowenstein. [Patrick McGeehan / New York Times]

Toll Hikes: Port Authority’s proposal was prompted by fear the agency’s credit was going to be downgraded. [Eliot Brown and Andrew Grossman / WSJ]

Transit: Cuomo should sign a bill making it tougher for lawmakers to raid money fro MTA. [Pete Donohue / Daily News]

Schools: Panel for Educational Policy will vote Wednesday on controversial $60 million contract to wire public schools. [Rachel Monahan and Ben Chapman / Daily News]

Gambling: Skeptical editors welcome the debate in NY. [NY Post]

Dissent: San Francisco Transportation officials “shut down underground cellphone service to prevent protesters from communicating about police locations.” [Dan Schreiber / SF Examiner]

Front Page in Norwich: “City Council members score well on attendance — mostly.” [Norwich Bulletin]

Headline: “Hyde Park GOP caucus rejects all incumbents.” [John Davis / Poughkeepsie Journal]

Parties: Bloomberg and Schumer were in Southampton for Leon Black’s party. [Cindy Adams / NY Post]

And Warren Buffet writes an op-ed in the New York Times calling on the rich to be taxed more.

By Azi Paybarah 9:44am

Survey Says

Poll: Cuomo Is Popular, So Is Property Tax Cap



A majority of New York State voters say they support capping property taxes at 2 percent and are less likely to vote for a legislator who opposes it, according to a new Siena poll out this morning.

The same goes for requiring full disclosure of legislators’ outside income.

But voters are less strident in their support for two other initiatives being pushed by Governor Cuomo: requiring an independent panel draw legislative lines, and legalizing same-sex marriage.

Cuomo–who has a 71-20 favorability rating in the poll, higher than anyone else in the state–has said he wants a property tax cap and ethics reform passed by the end of the legislative session on June 20, which he called “D-Day” for state government. (The governor has been pushing for same-sex marriage before the end of the session, but has said he does not favor bringing the bill for a vote, unless he believes the votes are there to pass it.)

Here are the numbers:

71-22: capping property taxes

80-14: full disclosure of legislators outside income

53-30: independent redistricting

54-42: legalizing same-sex marriage Read More