As portrayed in the tabloid news, and the message telegraphed to their readers, the New York state senate is the most dysfunctional in the country – the "bums should be thrown out of office." To follow this line of thought all the State Senators are equally to blame for the chaos and there has been no attempt since November to get any work done. Not only is this line of thinking inaccurate but it handily bulldozes a lot of important factors at work which lead to the June 8th coup. To read the New York Post which likes to post headlines like "COMPTROLLER PUTS FREEZE ON CLOWN POLS' PAYCHECKS" suggests that they wish to blame the entire legislative body and turn a blind eye to those deal brokers working behind the scenes thus missing the point completely. To lump hard working, progressive state Senators such as Liz Kruger, Tom Duane and Eric Schneiderman in with selfish opportunists like Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate makes little sense.
For the most part, there has been little emphasis on the role played by money-changer billionaire Tom Golisano who was present in the Senate chambers just minutes after the Democrats left shortly after the coup. Golisano was one of the largest benefactors of the Democratic party during the latest round of elections. Reportedly he then moved to Florida in a snit after Senate Democrats, who were in the clear majority at the time, proposed a tax hike on the wealthiest New Yorkers. As a result, he seems to have then devoted himself in overturning the very choices made by New York voters in last November's election. In fact, his ability to involve himself so thoroughly is a clear sign why need the public election funding bill – a piece of legislation given little attention by the media which was due to be voted on before Espada's defection. If passed, the new law would add considerable weight to the voter's voice and minimize the control wielded by corporate interests.
Also missing from the pages of most newspapers is the amount of influence that landlords groups have in Albany. Even one Republican to whom I spoke last week lamented that they control so much of what gets done in state capital. It is well known that real estate groups have funded the Republican party more heavily than most Democrats. I say "most" because Pedro Espada seems very willing to cooperate with their agenda, which is important to remember for a couple of reasons.
In this light, it is very odd that Senate Republicans call themselves the "Reformist movement". The "Business As Usual" movement would be more appropriate since they had, until November 2008, controlled the workings on NY State for over 40 years. They had plenty of time to implement "reforms" and yet this time period saw property taxes skyrocket statewide and in New York city building owners and landlords were allowed to run a third-world style campaign to get rid of rent regulated tenants. In the late 1970s, under former Mayor Koch, landlords were given free reign to harass tenants out of their homes, tactics which included turning off the heat in the cold of winter and bringing in prostitutes, thugs and former asylum patients. By 1980, the warehousing of rental units was common in order to deregulate rent stabilized apartments. There were also many "mysterious" fires in buildings owned by those owners who consistently appeared on the city's Top 10 Worst landlord lists.
Yes because of the Urstadt Law, pushed through by then Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1971, city housing laws were controlled by Albany and nothing was done to address these issues. The Urstadt Law was heavily supported by the same landlord groups which supported Joe Bruno and the Republican majority, and brought the mass gentrification of some of the most iconic neighborhoods of New York like the Upper Westside, Greenwich village, TriBeCa and So Ho.
Repealing Urstadt, and returning home rule to New York City, was one of many progressive laws poised to be passed by the new Senate majority.
The domestic workers bill of rights bill, if passed, would bring the rights of home-healthcare aids and nannies into the 21st centaury. As it stands now many of these workers make below the minimum wage and are not covered under health insurance plan. For live in aids, most still don't get overtime for working over 40 hours. The legislation would reverse these dismal realities by allowing these workers to unionize, receive quality healthcare and receive overtime pay along with an increase of hourly wages to minimum wages.
Perhaps the real crime behind the June 8th hostile takeover is that it allowed for the myth of a "do nothing" state Senate, when, in fact, so much was in place to move forward. The Republican party, which is seeing a decrease of support nowadays, would have to answer for not passing that legislation which is popular among the voters but not the money changers.
The reality is that because of the renegade Gang of Four, the Democratic majority could have spearheaded a progressive new wave of laws which would have made life easier for working class people all across the state.
Until next time…
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