The Games Senators Play
By Jeffrey Page
The little section of New York known as the State Senate has taken on the trappings of a zoo with all the noise and stink that the inhabitants of zoos generate. Specifically, as the Senate’s Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals go at one another, they are, by extension, going at the people they’re supposed to represent. That would be you, me and the guy who lives just down the street.
And so, while the Senate boys and girls do battle over the political matter of which party will set the agenda and pound the gavel, the business of the people is dead in the water. At risk, as I write this, are the future of county sales taxes, the New York City Board of Education, and numerous other matters that must be extended by Tuesday the 30th if they are to survive. These are no small deals. If a county, such as Orange, loses its authority to collect sales tax, guess whose property tax could rise to make up for lost revenues.
The senators even gave a (figurative) middle finger to Governor Paterson several times last week when he ordered them to convene and behave like the mature public servants they pretend to be. The Democrats met and adjourned a minute later – after courageously voting to officially mourn the death of Michael Jackson. The Republicans’ session lasted about as long.
Paterson, outraged, ordered a stop to the senators’ per diem payments and travel reimbursements, and asked the comptroller to withhold their paychecks. The test of the governor’s anger will come when all this is over and the senators ask for their back pay. Won’t it be instructive if Paterson stands his ground and tells them that they forfeited their pay when they decided to play partisan games on the people’s time?
The situation in Albany has gotten so bizarre that Friday’s Times-Union took note of a Democratic senator’s unhappiness with Paterson’s actions. Translation: Paterson’s standing with the public, which has been in the tank for months, may be improving, but senators of his own party still could make life difficult for him because he insisted that the Senate meet and actually do a little work.
If you’re sickened by the action, or inaction, in Albany, just think. In another 17 months these distinguished gentlemen and ladies will be asking you to return them to office for another term. They may be waiting for 2010 to tell you what a great job they do for the people, but the people can tell them right now that the 19,004,911 New Yorkers who happen not to be members of the Senate are outraged.
Surely your state senator is concerned about your thoughts on this matter and would love to hear from you. Here are some handy phone numbers for the three senators who represent Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties:
John J. Bonacic, 42nd District: Middletown office, 344-3311. Bonacic represents the Orange County towns of Deer Park, Greenville, Minisink, Mount Hope, and Wawayanda; all of Sullivan County, and the Ulster County towns of Denning Gardiner, Hardenburgh, Hurley, Kingston, Marbletown, New Paltz, Olive, Rochester, Rosendale, Saugerties, Shandaken, Shawangunk, Ulster, Wawarsing, and Woodstock.
William J. Larkin, 39th District: New Windsor office, 567-1270. Larkin represents the Orange County towns of Blooming Grove, Chester, Cornwall, Crawford Goshen Hamptonburgh, Highlands, Monroe, Montgomery, New Windsor, Newburgh, Wallkill, Woodbury; city of Newburgh, and the Ulster County towns of Esopus, Lloyd, Marlborough, Plattekill, and the city of Kingston.
Thomas P. Morahan, 38th District: Nanuet office, 425-1818. Morahan represents the Orange County towns of Tuxedo and Warwick, and all of Rockland County.
The State Senate may not mean business these days, but its 62 members need to be told that the people mean nothing less than business.
Jeffrey can be reached at jeffrey@zestoforange.com
Tags: Jeffrey Page
July 1st, 2009 at 4:32 pm
So the ship of state has officially become the ship of fools!
I so do not miss my years being a reporter covering the capitol.
I must admit the gamesmanship of 2009 surpaasses anything we could have conceived of in an earlier era.
It makes me proud to no longer be a New Yorker!
July 1st, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I want to start a movement across the Empire State to vote ’em all out of office.
Term limits are desperately needed more than ever before!!
July 1st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Dear HackFlak, I know what you mean about the state of things in the capital. But I have to say this might be a terrific time to be on the job in Albany. Stories this absurd, bizarre, and stupid just don’t come along all that often.
I hope you’re enjoying Zest of Orange.
JP
July 1st, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Dear girlontheedge, A statewide vote-the-rascals-out campaign would be the ticket. But a serious question: Do you think enough people in New York are sufficiently angry to actually participate?
I appreciate your frustration and your call for term limits. But I dislike the idea of term limits because it’s the ultimate anti-democratic (lower case D) move by a party newly in power.
I hope you’re enjoying the Zest of Orange.
JP