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Legislature Reaches Deal to Extend Mayoral Control of New York’s Schools for a Year Legislature Reaches Deal to Extend Mayoral Control of New York’s Schools for a Year
(about 1 hour later)
ALBANY — State lawmakers on Friday reached a long-awaited deal to conclude the 2016 legislative session that included a modest ethics package, the release of $570 million in state funding for supportive housing for the homeless, required lead testing for public school drinking water and a one-year extension — with major caveats — of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control of New York City schools. ALBANY — State lawmakers on Friday reached a long-awaited deal to conclude the 2016 legislative session that included a modest ethics package, state funding for supportive housing for the homeless, and a one-year extension — with major caveats — of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control of New York City schools.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders had already announced an agreement on ethics reform measures that would, among other things, strip state pensions from public officials convicted of corruption and strengthen prohibitions on political campaigns coordinating with independent expenditure committees. Consensus on the ethics reform seemed to come quickly on Friday, the day after the last official day of the legislative session. The deal would, among other things, strip state pensions from public officials convicted of corruption and strengthen prohibitions on political campaigns’ ability to coordinate with independent expenditure committees.
But consensus kept lurching out of reach on the one Albany issue that mattered most to the mayor: city schools, and what Mr. de Blasio would have to give up to his antagonists in Albany in order to keep controlling them. In the end, he made significant concessions in exchange for a one-year extension, including a requirement for his Education Department to publish city school districts’ budgeting information and a sweeping change to the oversight structure of more than half the city’s charter schools. But a similar consensus kept lurching out of reach on the issue that mattered most to Mr. de Blasio: mayoral control. In the end, he ceded significant concessions to his Albany antagonists in exchange for an extension of a single year, down from the three years he had hoped for.
The trouble this week began when it became clear that Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, and the State Assembly, which is dominated by city Democrats, would have to accept a one-year extension of mayoral control, down from the three years they had hoped for. Bowing to demands from the State Senate majority leader, John J. Flanagan, a Republican who is not disposed to be helpful to a mayor who has openly worked to flip control of the chamber to the Democrats, the mayor and his allies in the Democrat-dominated Assembly agreed to disclose more information about city school districts’ spending and to accept a change to the oversight structure for more than half the city’s charter schools.
It continued on Friday morning, when State Senator John J. Flanagan, a Republican who is the majority leader and who is not disposed to be helpful to a mayor who has openly worked to flip control of the chamber to the Democrats, said he would grant a one-year extension in exchange for more public information about the city’s education spending. A one-year extension, with few or no caveats, had seemed all but cemented when lawmakers went to bed on Thursday evening. But the morning found Mr. Flanagan pushing for the funding transparency requirement, followed by the charter-school provision in the afternoon. It would effectively create a parallel system of charter schools within the city, allowing “high-performing charter schools in good standing” to switch to join the State University of New York umbrella or the Board of Regents of the State Educational Department.
And it culminated with a last-minute hurdle thrown in Friday afternoon by Senate Republicans, who introduced a charter school provision that would effectively create a parallel system of charter schools within the city by exempting those charters, authorized by the State University of New York, from state rules and regulations. City Hall gritted its teeth.
Under the terms of the deal announced Friday, school districts will be required to test for lead in drinking water, with the state paying for some of the testing costs. “This extension is a recognition of the unprecedented progress and achievements mayoral control has delivered for our school system,” Austin Finan, a spokesman for the mayor’s office, said in a statement.
For people outside city education circles, however, there was plenty of meat in the agreement that Mr. Flanagan; Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat; and the Assembly speaker, Carl E. Heastie, a Democrat, announced on Friday evening.
Lawmakers also agreed to require school districts to test for lead in drinking water, with the state paying for some of the testing costs. The adoption of the lead testing bill was a victory for Assemblywoman Catherine T. Nolan, a Queens Democrat, who heads the Education Committee and who had been criticized for blocking a previous bill that she considered too broad.
Under the new bill, schools would be required to periodically test for lead — though some already do — and notify parents in the event the dangerous element is discovered.
The state will also provide an additional $50 million in capital funding for SUNY and the City University of New York.The state will also provide an additional $50 million in capital funding for SUNY and the City University of New York.
The Legislature was still considering a measure to legalize daily fantasy sports, which, though popular, are currently considered illegal online gambling in the state. But the governor’s announcement that the state would release $570 million in state resources to build and operate 1,200 units of supportive housing for the homeless was immediately dissected and dismissed by advocates for the program, who said it fell far short of Mr. Cuomo’s initial commitment to pay for 20,000 units.
A few high-profile bills did win both houses’ backing on Friday afternoon. The hotel industry in New York City cheered the passage of legislation that would keep people from advertising stays shorter than 30 days in unoccupied homes, a measure that the bill’s supporters said would restrict commercial operators of illegal hotels, but that Airbnb — the company most affected by the bill — said would affect regular city residents. It is already illegal in New York to rent out an empty apartment for less than 30 days at a time. “Tonight’s plan would appear to be a betrayal of the most vulnerable New Yorkers and the latest broken promise from a governor who makes sweeping announcements that lead to paltry results,” a spokesman for the Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing, a supportive housing group, said in a statement.
Mr. Cuomo and the legislative leaders had already agreed to funding for 6,000 units over five years as part of the state budget passed in March, but another deal was required to release the first infusion of money for spending. The $570 million figure included only $150 million of new state funding, said Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, the chairman of the Assembly’s Social Services Committee, with the rest coming from existing capital funds and tax credits.
“In January, it was 20,000 units,” he said. “In April, it was 6,000 units. Now it’s 1,200 units and it’s only $150 million in new money. All the rest is smoke and mirrors.”
Lawmakers still had to formally pass most of the legislation announced on Friday. They were also still considering a measure to legalize daily fantasy sports, which, though popular, are currently considered illegal online gambling in the state.
Other high-profile bills won both houses’ backing on Friday.
The Legislature passed a bill that aims to ensure equal access to legal representation for the poor by reimbursing counties for indigent legal services, drawing praise from the New York Civil Liberties Union.
The hotel industry in New York City cheered the passage of legislation that would keep people from advertising stays shorter than 30 days in unoccupied homes, a measure that the bill’s supporters said would restrict commercial operators of illegal hotels, but that Airbnb — the company most affected by the bill — said would affect regular city residents. It is already illegal in New York to rent out an empty apartment for less than 30 days at a time.
The Legislature also passed bills that would increase penalties for using software known as ticket bots to scoop up large numbers of tickets to concerts, games or other events, a practice that the state attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, highlighted in a recent report. Doing so is already illegal, but the bill would make the practice a misdemeanor.The Legislature also passed bills that would increase penalties for using software known as ticket bots to scoop up large numbers of tickets to concerts, games or other events, a practice that the state attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, highlighted in a recent report. Doing so is already illegal, but the bill would make the practice a misdemeanor.
The announcement about the ethics agreement highlighted what it called strong protections against the independent expenditure committees empowered by the Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court’s 2010 campaign finance decision. The governor had already made a push to tighten restrictions on such committees over the past few weeks. The agreement on Friday, which came after a flurry of deals at the March budget deadline, including an increase in the minimum wage and the establishment of a paid family leave program, did not please corporate leaders like Heather Briccetti, the president of the Business Council of New York State, who called it devoid of any “major pro-growth or cost reduction measures.”
Of all the ethics reforms measures lawmakers had discussed this session — the first after the corruption trials of Sheldon Silver, the former Assembly speaker, and Dean G. Skelos, the former Senate majority leader — pension forfeiture, a relatively straightforward and popular measure, was the only one to survive. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, had proposed, but ultimately abandoned, more ambitious proposals that included closing a campaign-finance loophole that allows limited liability companies to donate to political candidates as individuals, rather than as businesses. Nor did it mollify government watchdogs and other advocates of ethics reforms who had had high hopes that the convictions last year of Sheldon Silver, the former Assembly speaker, and Dean G. Skelos, the former Senate majority leader, would finally shame the Legislature into acting to prevent corruption.
In order for pension forfeiture to become a constitutional amendment, two consecutively elected Legislatures must approve it before voters consider the measure on the ballot. But of all the measures on ethics that lawmakers did discuss this session, pension forfeiture, a straightforward and broadly popular measure, was the only one to survive. Mr. Cuomo had proposed but failed to win support for more ambitious proposals that included eight different bills for closing a campaign-finance loophole that allows limited liability companies to donate to political candidates up to the limit for individual contributors, rather than for businesses.
The ethics package will also require political consultants who simultaneously advise elected officials or candidates and work with companies with business before the state to register with the state and disclose their clients. It strengthens disclosure requirements for lobbyists and for tax-exempt nonprofits that lobby the state to disclose financial support from other nonprofits that are not supposed to engage in political activity. In order for pension forfeiture to become a constitutional amendment, two consecutively elected legislatures must approve it before voters consider the measure on the ballot.
Blair Horner, executive director for the New York Public Research Group, said the deal was a “smorgasbord of elections, ethics and lobbying reforms” that nonetheless was “not focused at the heart of what’s wrong with Albany,” including the nearly unchecked flow of money through multiple limited liability companies. The announcement about the ethics agreement highlighted what were called strong protections against the independent expenditure committees empowered by the Citizens United ruling, the Supreme Court’s 2010 campaign finance decision. The governor had made a push to tighten restrictions on such committees over the past few weeks.
That said, Mr. Horner said that the move to define coordination between independent expenditure committees and candidates was an improvement. “No one has defined what that means,” he said. “And this does.” The ethics package will also require political consultants who simultaneously advise elected officials or candidates and work with companies that have business before the state to register with the state and disclose their clients. It strengthens disclosure requirements for lobbyists and for tax-exempt nonprofits that lobby the state to disclose financial support from other nonprofits that are not supposed to engage in political activity.
Blair Horner, the executive director for the New York Public Research Group, said the deal was a “smorgasbord of elections, ethics and lobbying reforms” that nonetheless was “not focused at the heart of what’s wrong with Albany,” including the nearly unchecked flow of money through multiple limited liability companies. That said, Mr. Horner said the move to define coordination between independent expenditure committees and candidates was an improvement. “No one has defined what that means,” he said. “And this does.”
The greatest source of friction on Friday appeared to be the mayoral control issue.The greatest source of friction on Friday appeared to be the mayoral control issue.
City officials were warning that the charter school provision of the mayoral-control agreement would significantly change how such schools in the city are run. City officials were warning that the charter school provision would significantly change how such schools in the city are run.
These schools can be authorized by three agencies — the State Education Department, the city’s Education Department and SUNY — but all operate according to the same state law. Although the announcement of the agreement did not offer details, under the Senate proposal, the SUNY schools would be exempt from those laws and regulations and free to set their own rules, two officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations said. These schools can be authorized by three agencies — the State Education Department, the city’s Education Department and SUNY — but all operate according to the same state law. Although the announcement of the agreement did not offer details, the Senate’s proposal would exempt SUNY schools from the usual state standards and free to set their own rules, two officials with direct knowledge of the negotiations said.
There are 111 charters authorized by SUNY in the city. Another 55 are authorized by the city’s Education Department, and 39 by the state department.There are 111 charters authorized by SUNY in the city. Another 55 are authorized by the city’s Education Department, and 39 by the state department.
The proposal would affect SUNY charters statewide, the city officials said.