NEWS FROM THE WORKING FAMILIES PARTY

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2009
Contact: Dan Levitan, (718) 222 3796 x237

The Working Families Party today released the following statement on Governor Paterson's State of the State address. It can be attributed to Dan Cantor, Working Families Party Executive Director:

"Governor's Paterson's call for shared sacrifice in tough economic times is heartening.

"Working families across New York are facing the triple threat of a deep recession, painful cuts to programs they rely on, and nuisance taxes that will raise their cost of living.

"True shared sacrifice must mean asking the wealthy New Yorkers who have seen massive tax cuts to contribute a little more. Fair Share Tax Reform is enormously popular, will help balance the budget, and according to hundreds of our leading economists, it is the best way to revive the state's economy.

With the Governor's leadership, we can find a fair solution to the fiscal crisis, but only by asking all parts of society to pitch in."

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Statement from Ron Deutsch, Executive Director on State of the State Message

Shared Sacrifice or Spared Sacrifice? A Message of Contradiction

We applaud the Governor for urging the federal government to deliver federal fiscal stimulus package by the end of this month. We think the federal stimulus will significantly reduce the need for many of the cuts to vital state programs that the Governor has proposed in his budget.

We are concerned however, about the contradictions between the Governor’s wish list in his speech and the actions in his budget proposal. The Governor wants more New Yorkers to go to college but increases tuition at state universities, makes TAP harder to get for working parents, and cuts aid to community colleges making it harder for many to access higher education. He wants to increase the quality of education yet significantly cuts funding for schools this year and next. He wants more New Yorkers to have access to healthcare but cuts funding to hospitals, nursing homes and home visiting programs. He wants to create jobs but the massive cuts he has proposed will simply put more New Yorkers out of work. He is simply ignoring macro-economic principles.

Recently, over 100 Economists from around the state urged the Governor to adopt a balanced approach to closing the state deficit. They suggest that an income tax increase on the wealthiest would be less harmful to the state's economy then massive cuts to state spending. They posit that we need to keep as much money in the local economy as possible in order to effectively get out of this recession and close the budget gap (www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_Release_EconomistsOnFiscalPolicy_December2008.pdf). In March of 2008, Joseph Stiglitz, the Chair of the Governor’s Panel of Economic Advisors ( and 2001 Nobel Prize Winning Economist) stated the same message as the economist mentioned above (www.fiscalpolicy.org/StiglitzLetter_TaxesVsCuts_March2008.pdf). They are not alone! Poll after poll clearly indicates that the public overwhelmingly supports restoring progressivity to the Personal Income Tax by increasing the top tax rates on the wealthy.

A comprehensive solution means that all New Yorkers need to help solve this problem and that the wealthiest among us have an even greater obligation to contribute. While the Governor talks about shared sacrifice he seems to be practicing spared sacrifice. The governor says that he fears that wealthy New Yorkers will leave the state if we increase income taxes on the rich. It did not happen in 2003 and will not happen in 2009. We believe what will drive people out of NYS is a reduction in the quality of life for many working families in NYS that could be avoided by asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share of taxes.

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Common Cause/NY Statement on State of the State and New Majority Leader

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2008

Contact: Susan Lerner, 917-670-5670


Common Cause/NY congratulates Governor Paterson on the delivery of his first State of the State Address and the new Senate Majority leader, Malcolm Smith, on his election. “We look forward to working with the Governor and Majority Leader Smith and the new Democratic majority to breaking the decades-long deep freeze that has blocked reform and innovation in the Legislature,” Common Cause/NY Executive Director Susan Lerner said. “But more than calls to set aside partisanship are needed to effectively break that deep-freeze.”

The State of the State contained a lot of interesting suggestions and forward thinking programs, but nothing to address the fact that Albany has been unable to adopt truly innovative ideas and broad reform in the most recent decades. A call to put aside partisanship is always stirring, but without tangible proposals to help that happen, even with a Democratic majority in the Senate that promises additional openness, we fear business as usual in Albany with 3 men in a room deciding the financial future of all New Yorkers. The most detailed call for systemic change came from the Republican response to the State of the State, who, now that the Republicans are in the minority, are calling for the rules reform that Common Cause/NY and its coalition partners have been actively advocating for.

Common Cause/NY fully supports a thorough review of the rules and administration of the Senate - but what will the procedure be in the mean time? This is a moment of opportunity, and the Senate and Assembly should seize this moment to stand by their ideas and open the process to their members and the public. Instituting an open, transparent process at a moment like this strengthens the public’s confidence and can only improve upon already-good ideas.

Common Cause/NY stands ready to help the newly created review committee - if we will be permitted to do so. We call on Majority Leader Smith and Minority Leader Skelos to give the committee control over its own staff and budget and to appoint a chair and members who will immediately commit to conducting a complete rules review in a thoughtful and transparent manner, with meaningful opportunities for public input, public reports, and open public debate by members of the committee and others.

Rules Reform is one of Common Cause/NY’s leading legislative priorities for 2009. Common Cause/NY’s specific priorities relating to rules change are:

1. Allow individual members to move bills out of committee onto the floor for debate and vote;

2. Establish conference committees to meet and resolve differences between adopted Assembly and Senate bills;

3. Significantly strengthening the procedures under which committees function, including giving committee chairs control over the committee’s budget and staff hiring and instituting detailed requirements for more transparency and public participation.
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United Food Commercial Workers Union

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2009

Contact: Pat Purcell, Joinus1500 (at) aol.com

New York State’s Largest Grocery Workers Union Commends Governor Paterson on Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative; Urges Additional Funding and Strict Guidelines


United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, New York State's and New York City’s largest Labor Union representing supermarket workers, applauded Governor David Patterson today for his announcement in the State of State of a Healthy Food/Healthy Communities Initiative. Such an initiative includes $10 million dollars for revolving loans to food markets interested in locating in “underserved” communities.

“Today Governor David Patterson showed that New York State is prepared to get serious about the health and economic consequences of our disappearing Supermarkets,” stated Bruce W. Both, President of United Food Commercial Workers Union Local 1500. President Both also serves as a member of the Governor’s Council on Food Policy and the New York City Supermarket Commission.

“The Governor has taken a bold first step down what we hope will be the road to communities once again being built on three key blocks: good food, good jobs and good health. On behalf of our 23,000 members, I again applaud the Governor for this initiative and look forward to working with the administration and legislature as we sort out the always important details of such a plan,” said President Both.

UFCW Local 1500 has spent the last 2 years working with State, County and City officials on the growing problem of disappearing supermarkets and its affect on the health and economies of communities. New York City’s own Department of City Planning conducted a report that concluded that New York City alone is need of over 100 full service Supermarkets.

“When responsible supermarkets owners/operators open in communities, they bring excellent wages, healthcare and an improved standard of living. The community also gets access to healthy food, a greater number of products available, as well as the type of competition that forces reasonable pricing and improved product quality," said President Both.

“Those factors lead to lower rates of serious health problems in communities, such as obesity and diabetes. As people find themselves reducing their need for doctors, prescriptions and hospitalizations to solve health problems, then our economy benefits as well,” President Both pointed out. “Local 1500's Building Blocks Project established these facts over the last two years and today we are excited to see Governments response,” Both concluded.

For more information on UFCW Local 1500 and the Building Blocks Project, please visit their websites:

www.ufcw1500.org www.buildingblocksproject.org

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LEGAL ACTION CENTER APPLAUDS GOVERNOR PATERSON’S CALL FOR ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAW REFORM AND EXPANSION OF TREATMENT SERVICES

The Legal Action Center strongly supports Governor Paterson’s call in his State of the State speech for reform of New York’s Rockefeller Drug Laws and the expansion of chemical dependence treatment services. Paul Samuels, Director and President of the Legal Action Center states, “Governor Paterson has shown strong leadership in recognizing that addiction should be separated from criminality, judges should have the discretion to send addicted individuals to treatment instead of prison, and chemical dependence treatment should be expanded. New York’s drug laws deprive children of their parents, waste enormous human and financial resources, and fail to address effectively the addiction that underlies most drug offenses. Studies have shown that treatment is more effective at reducing serious crimes committed against people and property by drug addicted individuals than mandatory minimum sentences.”

A study just released by the Legal Action Center shows that drug law reform will also save New York over a quarter billion dollars a year. According to the study, when drug law reform is fully operational, New York will save $267,660,000 a year. Over 3,600 individuals a year could be diverted. Anita Marton, Vice President with the Legal Action Center and principal author of the study, stated, “Reform of the Rockefeller-era drug laws is a win-win situation for justice system, for the people of the State of New York and for individuals whose criminality is driven at least in part by their addiction. New York State cannot afford not to reform the drug laws.”

The Legal Action Center urges that the Executive, Senate and Assembly come together and pass legislation that:

Gives judges the authority to divert addicted individuals charged with Class B and below drug and other non-violent offenses from prison to treatment, and

Adds ten of millions of dollars to expands chemical dependence treatment capacity to serve the individuals diverted from prison by drug law reform

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Statement for Citizen Action:

I just watched the Governor's first State of the State address. He talked eloquently about the burden that many New Yorkers are feeling in the face of our economic problems, but he is missing the simplest solution to putting our state's economy back on track: increasing taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers.

In recent years, tax cuts for New York's richest have led to the state losing over $17 billion a year in revenue.

With our state facing a $15 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year, it's critical that we bring some common sense back to the tax code: let's pass Fair Share Tax Reform.

Fair Share Tax Reform is simple. If you earn more than $250,000 a year, then you'll pay a little more in taxes. This could earn the state over $5 billion in additional revenue!

Click here to send the Governor and the State Legislature a message. Tell them that they must share the sacrifice among all New Yorkers - not balance the budget on the backs of working families.

We have a real financial problem in New York. No one is disputing the gravity of the situation or the importance of fixing our economy. But cutting critical services - those services that New Yorkers depend on the most - is not the answer.

Cutting state aid for our kids' education, financially strapped cities, public libraries, and community colleges can only make our economic problems worse and grow the burden that the poor, the middle class, and communities of color are already bearing.

Speak out against the regressive tax policies of the past few years. Send a message to the Governor and your legislators telling them that we need to protect critical government services. Click here to send your message now!

Thanks!

Karen Scharff
Executive Director
Citizen Action of New York

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Campaign for Fiscal Equity and Alliance for Quality Education
Respond to the 2009 State of the State




Statement of Geri D. Palast, Executive Director, Campaign for Fiscal Equity:

"Governor Paterson has been dealt a challenging hand, but he must address the economic crisis using the same principles of fairness and equity that he has supported throughout his career. The schoolchildren of New York State have operated at a deficit for more than 15 years. The 2007 resolution of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity litigation was designed to make them whole by prioritizing new funding for the neediest schools and students to provide for their constitutional right to a quality education. Yet the Governor is proposing a $2.5 billion cut in this commitment this year. Before asking the poorest children in our state to sacrifice their futures, he must take every possible action to make good on this commitment by raising taxes on our wealthiest citizens and working for federal stimulus funds to fill the budget gap. The State will bounce back, but this is the only opportunity for these kids," said Geri D. Palast, Executive Director, Campaign for Fiscal Equity.



Statement of Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education:



“Governor Paterson hit the right message when he said that we must protect our school children, unfortunately there is a total disconnect between this speech and his budget that takes $2.5 billion out of our schools,” said Billy Easton, Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Education. “The Governor reiterated the call for shared sacrifice, but he is not listening to New Yorkers who overwhelmingly want those earning over $250,000 to share in the sacrifice by paying a little more in taxes. While the Governor says he is concerned about rising property taxes, his policy of dramatic school aid cuts will result in higher property tax increase. It was a great speech, but on education the words do not meet the actions.”

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Statement of Hunger Action Network of NYS in response to Governor Paterson's State of the State

January 7, 2009
For More Information: Mark Dunlea 518 434-7371 xt 1#

"While the Governor spoke to the challenges many New Yorkers will face from the recession, he ignored the epidemic of poverty that far too many New Yorkers are already experiencing, especially in our upstate cities. We were disappointed not to hear any proposals on how to improve the state's efforts to move welfare participants into living wage jobs or of the need to raise the state minimum wage or unemployment benefits. While it is important to take steps to provide health care to young adults, the real solution needs to be a comprehensive universal health care system that eliminates the costly waste and bureaucracy of private for profit health insurance. We were glad to see the Governor highlight the need for stronger efforts to combat childhood obesity and look forward to seeing passage of the Healthy Schools Act. We support the initiative to create a fund to bring more food markets with vegetables into low-income neighborhoods and the proposal to create jobs by weatherizing homes. We look forward to a more balanced approach to raising state revenues in the final budget," stated Mark Dunlea, Executive Director of the Hunger Action Network of NYS.

The group said it hoped that the Governor would rescind the cut to blind, disabled and poor elderly SSI recipients in his 30 day budget amendment.

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