Dean Skelos Watch

Dean Skelos says "I'll Show You Mine, If You Show me Yours First"

2008-09-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

In the wake of more Albany scandals, there is a push to have Legislators disclose their outside income. A Skelos told the NYTimes "Senator Skelos is on record as saying that the Senate will act on legislation to strengthen the state’s ethics laws to include greater disclosure of the outside income of legislators.”

But over at the NY Sun, "Mr. Skelos, in an interview with the Sun last month, said he would have "no problem" sharing a full version of his forms. A spokesman for the Senate leader later clarified that Mr. Skelos was unaware that the income details were redacted. He said Mr. Skelos would make that information available as long as the rest of the Legislature followed suit."
He will do it if everybody does it as well," the spokesman, John McArdle, said. "He did not realize it was redacted."

What a great ethical standard Skelos has. If he believes in more disclosure why does he have to wait for legislation or "everybody" else to do it too.

So far only a 29 year old Assemblyman is not afraid of disclosure "...Assemblyman Micah Kellner stands apart.
Unlike most of his Albany colleagues, the 29-year-old Democrat of the Upper East Side has no problem providing an unredacted review of his financial disclosure forms. Not that his forms disclose terribly much: The only income Mr. Kellner earns comes from his $79,500-a-year salary as a legislator."

Before election day, Skelos and his colleagues should volunteer their outside income information. Anything less just proves how bad the corrupt culture in Albany is.

Skelos Gets Slapped Around

2008-09-16T16:12:00.001-07:00

In his do-nothing response to Sen. Malcolm Smiths call for a special session, Skelos lies about the Democrats' intention.
Sen. Smith hits Skelos back hard (via Capitol Confidential)
"Maybe Dean Skelos thinks raising taxes is the answer to the financial crisis which was caused in part by the Republicans failure to address the housing crisis, but Democrats don’t. We need to focus on rebuilding New York’s economy by cutting property taxes, creating jobs and reducing wasteful spending."

Why Does Dean Skelos Lie?

2008-09-16T11:36:00.001-07:00

Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith called on Skelos to convene an emergency session. Smith wants the State Senate to "protect the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been put at risk by the extraordinary challenges facing New York’s financial markets.
"The collapse of Lehman Brothers, sale of Merrill Lynch and the extreme financial distress of AIG demand immediate action by the Legislature. Lehman Brothers alone has over 8,000 New York State employees who contribute more than $250 million in State taxes. New York State faces a potential loss of 35,000 jobs in the financial sector for calendar year 2008 and a potential $18 billion decrease in wages and bonuses, which would represent a decrease of approximately $1 billion of Personal Income Tax revenues to New York State this year.

The possible loss of jobs and revenue pose unprecedented challenges for our State. While the $20 billion that Governor Paterson made available to AIG is significant, the Legislature must get back to work to determine what can be done to provide further relief for policy holders and AIG employees.

Coupled with the rapid rise in home heating costs, it is absolutely essential that the Legislature convene an emergency session to protect working families.

The Legislature, together with Governor Paterson and the Executive Staff, should immediately convene a meeting of the state’s leading financial experts to provide advice and counsel, and assist us in designing and implementing the steps needed to mitigate the impact of these challenges, and take every action necessary to protect New York’s future.”

That's what Smith said.
So why does Skelos in his response say "However, we will not raise taxes as Senate Minority Leader Smith and the Democrats have called on us to do. In a fragile economy, it would be disastrous to support the Democrats’ efforts to raise taxes, as it would only exacerbate the crisis we face."
What????
Smith didn't say anything about "raising taxes."
Why does Skelos have to lie when Smith wants to get to work to figure out how to blunt the impact of the disasters on Wall Street?
Skelos' course of action? "We will continue to monitor the fiscal situation, and if legislative action becomes necessary we will partner with the Governor and the Assembly to address this crisis and its related impact on New York State."
I guess Skelos wants to keep his republican senators out campaigning instead of trying to deal with a very real crisis.

Dean Skelos - Man of Inaction!

GOP Declines in Nassau, Dean Gets Nutty

2008-09-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

From a story in the NYTimes about the voter registration in Nassau County and the Democrats close to over-taking the republicans.

Does Dean believe his own BS?

"Senator Skelos said he remained optimistic for Republicans. “Politics is cyclical,” he said, “and I think that it will turn around,” especially with the right candidates. He noted that even overwhelmingly Democratic New York City elected Republicans as its last two mayors — Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael R. Bloomberg, who is now unaffiliated."

Note to Dean-O: Rudy ran as an anti-gun, pro-choice, liberal republican. He was endorsed by the Liberal Party!

And on top of that, he ran against David Dinkins who made a mess of the city.
And Bloomberg? A Democrat turned republican (to get elected w/o a primary fight) turned independent. Bloomberg is also anti-gun, pro-choice and pretty darned liberal.
Skelos gets an "F" for Current Events.

Does Baby Skelos Need a Hug?

2008-09-09T05:07:00.000-07:00

Somebody call the WHAAAAAA-mbulance for Dean. In a speech the other day Governor Paterson said "I used to sit in my legislative office and think about how difficult it is to travel 150 miles to Albany on a bus ... and how there were legislators, who I used to think practiced their own versions of being Count Dracula."
"In that they [legislators] would be very nice to advocates when they came to Albany and then they [advocates] would get back on the bus around 4 o'clock. By 5 o'clock the sun would go down, and they'd [legislators] go back to who they really are - a bunch of bloodsuckers."

Needless to say, prickly uber-baby Dean Skelos was not amused "The governor's comments were flip and not very amusing - in fact, they were Spitzeresque."

OH NO! Skelos compared Paterson to Spitzer. How dreadful.
The fact is, advocates who come to the state capitol do feel ignored after they leave.

Skelos Putting on a Budget Show; Was Never Serious in First Place So Why Believe Him Now?

2008-07-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

In Skelos' press release about the budget problems, Skelos mentioned that the State Senate approved a constitutional amendment that would cap state spending increases at 4%. He said "the Senate gave first passage to a constitutional amendment to cap the annual growth in State spending at no more than 4 percent. We recognized early on that a cap on state spending... would drive down spending, eliminate deficits and better protect taxpayers."
In Skelos' press conference he brought up the spending cap amendment again and added that the State would have saved a couple of billion dollars if it had been in place.
That is absolutely true.
The thing is though, my mother had always taught me that you can do things without being told to do them because it is the right thing to do. Skelos approved a State Budget that INCREASED spending by nearly 5 percent.

From the New York Times in March "The budget will increase aid to public schools by $1.75 billion over last year, and more than a third of the new money is to go directly to New York City. There is also $6 billion for capital projects at the State University of New York and the City University of New York."
"...Some 2,000 new workers will be added to the state’s work force of 200,000. Each legislative chamber will receive $350 million in funds — derided by critics as pork — to dole out for capital projects across the state. And lawmakers perpetuated their widely criticized practice of handing out state money for various projects in their districts."

“They’re doing their pork, and they’re not doing any significant cutbacks,” said E. J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative research group. “It’s very, very shortsighted. I get the feeling that legislators are knowingly burning the furniture in advance of an election.”

Even on the other side of the political spectrum, experts were questioning the wisdom of not making more cuts now.

“They’re not taking the difficult actions now to make the budget balanced over time,” said Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group."

Skelos also said "However, even in the absence of a constitutional spending cap, the Legislature and the Governor should voluntarily agree to comply with the spending cap in next year’s Budget."
Again, why have to wait until next year?
Why didn't Skelos fight for only a 4% increase this year and stick with it?
You don't need to have a law tell you not to stab yourself in the eye with a fork. You just don't do it.

New York State Budget Deficit Grows - Will Skelos Cut His Own Staff?

2008-07-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

While Skelos was taking his Victory Lap.. err "Listening Tour" around the state after becoming Majority Leader of the Senate, the budget DEFICIT increased $1.4billion in the past few weeks.
Governor Paterson is calling the Legislature back to Albany to clean up the mess.
Skelos said in his news conference that he would "not support" layoffs. He does support "consolidation." Now how can you consolidate without cutting something?
When it comes to State employees, the Majority Leaders office leads the country in the number of employees. I posted before about a New York Sun article showing that the Majority Leaders office has a staff of 530. The New York State legislature employs 45% MORE people than the legislatures of California and Texas. Skelos needs to take a look at how the legislature is run. Until then, he is NOT serious about solving the problems of the State.

Skelos' Magical Mystery Tour Update: Can a Deaf Man Go on a Listening Tour?

2008-07-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

Our Dean is at it again. What an embarassment.
From The Albany Project:
"Does Skelos Even Know Where He Is? (+)
by: phillip anderson
That's a serious question. Check out what he had to say while visiting Chemung County yesterday:

"New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says Chemung County is only slightly different from his native Nassau County."

Um, what? Let's look at the numbers, shall we?

.............Chemung County................Nassau County

Population: 91070..............................1,334,544
Towns: 11...................................................3
Villages: 5 ...............................................64
School Districts: 3...................................56
Largest Town by pop: Horseheads, 19,561........Hempstead, 755,924
Median HH Income: $36,415................$72,030
Unemployment rate: 5.4%......................4.3%

I mean, I could go on. Chemung county government is largely controlled by republicans, including their county leg, County Exec, Treasurer, District Attorney while Nassau County is largely controlled by Democrats including their county leg, County Exec, District Attorney, etc.

It would appear, on paper at least, that Chemung County isn't exactly "only slightly different" than Nassau County.

I think Dean may need more than few more of these "listening tours" upstate. It's obvious he knows next to nothing about the region."

Donno Camapign Cash Numbers; The Empty Pant-Suit Candidate

2008-07-16T08:37:00.001-07:00

The mark of a top-tier serious candidate is being able to raise money. Barbara Donno is Skelos' girl to beat Democrat Craig Johnson. And she REALLY is Skelos' girl.
Donno "raised" $400,000 according to her new filing.
Well, actually the Republican Campaign Committee gave Donno $355,000.
That means she only raised $45,000 on her own.
From that, $9500 is from Skelos' campaign fund!!!
And $500 came from the NRA.
That doesn't show any local support for her at all.
Of the $400,000 she HAD, she now has $45,000 cash on hand.
Donno or whoever is running her campaign blew $300,000 on those two really ineffective ads.

The funny thing about the $355,000 from the Republican Committee is that the money came after Skelos became Majority Leader.

Now hasn't the undeclared-republican republican Donno been saying in her ads that she isn't a "typical politician" and says Albany has alot of problems?
The cash Donno got is FROM ALBANY.
She IS a typical politician.

New Swag

2008-07-15T02:00:00.001-07:00

From the Skelos Watch Store....

Is Barbara Donno Running Against Dean?

2008-07-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Maureen O'Connell did it back in the February Special Election and Donno is doing it now. Visit Donno's website and you'd be hard pressed to know she is the REPUBLICAN candidate. The word "REPUBLICAN" doesn't appear anywhere on her site.
Is that because she is "not your typical politician" as she claims?
Nah, she knows running as a republican this year is bad news.
Her main page intro sounds like she is an insurgent Democrat taking on a Majority republican... like Dean Skelos.
Babs says "We pay the highest taxes in the state and get little in return. I'm running for State Senate because we deserve better. It's time to take a stand and fight for the changes we need and deserve."
So Dean Skelos and his Long Island 9 ...8...7.... have pretty much done nothing and we do certainly deserve better. And that's according to Donno the REPUBLICAN candidate.

Donna also says "More than anything, you deserve to know who I am and what I will do if you elect me to the State Senate."
Yes, yes you do. Please visit Here and Here to know more about Donno.
That is her record. It's something voters should know about.

On her bio page, Donno writes "Today, too many of our schools are in crisis and taxpayers are simply overburdened. We need fundamental change and that's what I'll fight for in the State Senate."
So again she is saying that the leadership of Dean Skelos is found wanting. Got it.

More on Donno's website coming up...

Skelos Creates Magic on His Magical Mystery Tour; Announces Grant that was Announced Last Year

2008-07-08T22:03:00.001-07:00

Jeffersondemocrat.org finds Dean coming to Sackets Harbor and bringing with him $500,000. Dean gets up in typical Nassau Republican fashion and tries to fool the good people of Sackets Harbor "With this grant announcement today, Senate Republicans are saying that we are following through on a commitment for state funding to address this issue and protect the waters of historic Sackets Harbor and Lake Ontario.”

You see, there are two little problems with what Skelos is saying.
The first of course is that this announcement is nothing new. As Jefferson Democrat points out, then-Sen. Jim Wright made the announcement back in November 2007. "I am pleased to help provide this funding for the Village. The upgrades will not only mitigate ongoing run-off issues for existing village residents, but will create the infrastructure support necessary for future development in Sackets Harbor."
The second is that after Wright left the Senate and Democrat Darrel Aubertine won the seat, that grant money didn't materialize. The money was held up for almost a year and now Dean shows up to make nice with Upstaters and suddenly the money is MAGICALLY!!! available.
Yup, it's just a coincidence.
Dean is lucky is all.
That re-announcement is a political cheap-shot and the people in Sackets Harbor should see that Skelos wants to buy them off. He does that here in Nassau all the time.
Dean is an over-sized check pro. He and his cohorts want you the taxpayer believe in the beneficence of Albany by giving YOUR tax money back to you.
Edmund J. McMahon, executive director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy calls this "personal philanthropy with other people’s money."

Magical Mystery Tour Update: You Would Think Skelos Just Became a Senator

2008-07-08T21:47:00.001-07:00

But no, he's been there over two decades. On his magical Mystery Tour of Upstate Counties, Skelos is talking about property taxes as if he just discovered the problem and has a solution that for some reason never presented while he was Deputy Majority Leader.
To hear Skelos, he is the cavalry charging in to save the day. Where was all this years ago?
Skelos tells a Oneida County audience his priority is property taxes "The reason for that is people cannot afford to stay in their homes. Whether it's in Buffalo, Oneida County, or Nassau County where I live. So that's an issue that really does unite the entire state,"
And yet years of NOTHING from Skelos before he became majority Leader.
Actually, it was years of something and that something was ever-increasing spending from Albany.
Skelos says "And I'm hopeful that within the next month that we will be putting out an upstate economic development package that will help create jobs,"
Upstate has been in an economic decline for years. What took Skelos so long to figure out that they need help?

Skelos' Tax Cap Acrobatics Continued

2008-07-08T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a letter the Republican Senate Delegation from Long Island sent to Newsday. They oppose a Property Tax Cap "Take the school tax cap proposal. Our constituents are telling us that a 4% cap is too high and that they want cuts in spending, not guaranteed perpetual tax increases. A cap might slow their rate of drowning, but they are still drowning."

And here is Dean Skelos less than one month later "If a cap is part of the solution, then I will be supportive of a cap."

Dean Skelos Upstate Tour '08

2008-07-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

Dean is going around upstate counties trying to convince people that after all the years of hording money for Long Island (except Democratic Districts) and saying upstate is taking Long Island tax dollars he will be a fair Majority Leader.
Upstaters have a different view.
Back in March, fellow republican Senator John Bonacic sent out a mailing that said "For too long, a disproportionate share of education aid was being driven to Long Island and the City of New York at our expense.”
Yikes!
Dean has alot of convincing to do.
I'll have a round-up of press coverage of Skelos' tour coming up.

Dean gets a 9.5, 9.0, 9.5, 8 and 9.5 for his Property Tax Cap Flip Execution

2008-07-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

Bill Hammond of the NY Daily News writes "Dean Skelos has completely flip-flopped on property taxes since taking over as state Senate majority leader - and that's a rare sign of hope for New York's GOP.
His U-turn suggests that maybe, just maybe, Skelos could pull the state's Republican-in-name-only Party out of a decade-long nosedive and give voters a real choice at the polls in November."
A few weeks ago - before outgoing Majority Leader Joe Bruno handed him the reins - Skelos privately told fellow party members on Long Island that campaigning for a cap on property taxes would be a losing strategy.
The teachers unions hate the idea, and they vote, he argued, according to people who heard his comments. He counseled candidates to focus on trimming gas taxes instead."

And then the flip after a poll showed 75% of NYers supported a cap:

"There's no issue that's more important to the people of this state than relief from property taxes," Skelos said in his acceptance speech on the Senate floor last month. "This is the No. 1 agenda, the No. 2 agenda and the No. 3 agenda."
He quickly introduced a tax-cap bill closely modeled on Paterson's - which would limit yearly hikes in school taxes outside New York City to 4%, or 120% of the inflation rate, whichever is less - and pledged to cooperate with the Democratic governor to make it happen."

Dean is more concerned with retaining power rather than have principles.
Remember the Skelos priorities:
1) Dean Skelos
2) Republican party
3) Dean Skelos

Lipstick on a Pig: 'Fair Share' Edition

2008-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

So in all the fawning coverage of Skelos as he becomes a short-term Majority Leader, the facts don't get in the way of a good quote. John Durso, president of the Long Island Federation of Labor tells Newsday "Dean makes sure Long Island gets its fair share."
Well, not really.
If by that Durso really means "Dean makes sure Republican Districts gets its fair share" then yes, Skelos does that.
Now that the the 7th SD seat is held by Democrat Craig Johnson, "fair share" gets tossed out the window.
First, Skelos cut money that was earmarked for the district when Republican Mike Balboni was State Senator.
Then the school district in Craig Johnsons hometown gets a state aid cut while other districts get increases.
And then the Members Items list shows Skelos and the republicans getting millions for thier districts but Johnson was only given $300,000.
There is nothing "fair share" about Skelos. He is all about the politics.
Ask Westchester Democratic Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins who after defeating republican Nick Spano saw the Majority Republicans CUT school aid o her district.
Skelos' priorities are as follows:
1) Dean Skelos
2) Republican party
3) Dean Skelos

A View from Rochester re: Dean Skelos

2008-07-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Senate candidate Rick Dollinger issued a statement:

Dean Skelos, the newly elected majority leader of the Senate, is a product of the GOP machine that nearly bankrupted Nassau County, and as Senator he has voted for billions of dollars in increased spending, unfunded mandates which drive up our property taxes, and, with his Republican colleagues, has failed to help the upstate economy. We don't need his Nassau-style politics here; what we need is a new Senate majority that will actually do something about our out-of-control property taxes and the sky rocketing cost of doing business in New York.

The Republican Party from Washington to Albany has simply failed to do their job and continuing the status quo is unacceptable. This November, voters will tell Dean Skelos and George Bush that they've had enough of their failed policies, electing a Democratic President and a new Democratic majority in the State Senate. This is the change that people want and need, and this is the change we will provide.

Skelos Wants "FAIR SHARE" of School Aid Unless of Course You are a Democratic District

2008-07-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

I knew that the whole "fair share" rally held by Skelos and the Dysfunctional Long Island 8 was a crock and now it's been proven. First of all, Skelos, Marcellino, Hannon and Fuschillo have been celebrating mediocrity for years as the accept a lower average for school aid as a victory. It wasn't until school budgets started failing and parents and educators applied pressure that the Skelos 8 started to make education funding a priority.

Now we are seeing that the process for getting more funding for Long Island schools largely depends on what party your state senator belongs to. Skelos is playing politics with our childrens education and that simply cannot stand.

According to the New York Times, "If you look at the amount of property taxes that Long Island homeowners pay, or their wealth as compared to their property tax burden, the aid is relatively low,” said Tom Dunham, a spokesman for Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Nassau County Republican. Mr. Dunham pointed out that while overall aid for Long Island increased, some wealthy districts, like Great Neck, faced decreases in state operating aid.
(Great Neck, as it happens, lies in the district of Long Island’s only Democratic state senator, Craig M. Johnson. Thanks to a separate pot of money controlled and disbursed by Assembly Democrats, even Great Neck and other districts like it had a net increase in state funds.)"

Interesting isn't it.

I have always advocated fully funding schools and codifying an aid formula that works. The system is broken and needs to be fixed before next years budget deadline. That takes political courage which is sorely lacking from the Skelos 8. All districts deserve to be funded, not just some. That is what "fair share" means.
Let's look at the numbers Dunham talks about when it comes to "wealthy districts."

According to Money magazine, the Median Family Income in Great Neck is $108,934 and the average property tax bill is $12,153. Great Neck took a cut of -2.08% from last year.

In Skelos' hometown of Rockville Centre has a Median Family Income of $118,796 and a property tax bill of $7,093. State Aid increased 11.31%

In Hannons hometown of Garden City the median family income is $140,584 and a average property tax bill of $6,938. State Aid increased 1.73%

In Marcellino's hometown of Syosset the median family income is $115,034 and average property tax of $9,618. State Aid increased 8.26%

In Fuschillo's town of Merrick the median family income is $114,484 and average property tax of $7,613. State Aid increased 6.55%

In Democratic Senator Craig Johnson's hometown of Port Washington, average family income is $122,136 and average property tax is $13,515. State Aid was CUT by .72%

See any funny numbers there?

So what does Senator Johnson need to do to stop the cuts since Skelos is playing politics with school funding? He turns to his colleages Assemblyman Chuck Lavine and Assemblywoman Schimel to fill the gap. The Democrats in the Assembly came up with more money so that Great Neck actually received a 0.42 percent increase in overall state funding thanks to $200,000 in Assembly bullet aid and the restoration of $452,843 in high tax aid (Sen. Johnson fought very hard for that, because, as you know there was no way that the republicans were looking out for the 7th)
Port Washington was restored too . With an overall .6 percent thanks to a $50,000 infusion. proposed budget.

From a Johnson press release "This education budget repaired what would have been a disastrous plan for our schools, our children and ultimately all taxpayers," Senator Johnson said. "With this current economic climate, there was a fight for every last dollar. Despite these hardships, we were able to come up with a budget that places an emphasis on education and spares our children from bearing the brunt of this looming financial crisis. I thank Assemblywoman Schimel and Assemblyman Levine for being my partners in this process."

The republicans did the same thing last year after Westchester republican Senator Nick Spano was defeated by Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Skelos and the republicans went out of their way to screw Westchester on school aid. "This would never have happened if Senator Nick Spano was still there,” said Senator Dean G. Skelos, the deputy majority leader from Long Island, during a radio interview in New York City last week.

In a later interview, he insisted that Republicans had not sought retribution but that Westchester’s new senator, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and her Democratic colleagues “fell asleep at the switch.”

Ms. Stewart-Cousins replied that the deal was made behind closed doors. “When you have Dean Skelos even pretending that somehow I sat in the chamber and said nothing — as if this were some discussion that was open and aboveboard — it is absolutely ridiculous,” she said.

Simply put, Dean Skelos does NOT CARE about your children.

Our Staff is Bigger Than Yours - More Albany Dysfunction

2008-07-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this when it first came out.
The NY Sun did a comparison of State Legislature staffing and found that while other states do More with Less, NY does Less with More!
"The Empire State's Legislature employs more people than any other state legislature in the nation.
The state Assembly and Senate totaled 3,428 staff members during its busiest period in 2003, the most recent year for which the National Conference of State Legislatures has employment data. That number is nearly 500 more than the second highest state, Pennsylvania, and it's more than 45% more than either California or Texas, the two most populous states in the union."

The State Senate controlled by Skelos has a staff of 530. In California, the Senate leadership has 50 staffers.

New York State has been called the most dysfunctional in the nation. And all the extra staff haven't helped the culture of dysfunction in Albany.

Democratic Senator Craig Johnson Slaps Skelos Around

2008-07-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

Cry-baby Skelos wants a full roster for his gang. Too bad the voters have a different idea. Here is Craig Johnson in Newsday putting Skelos in his place...

"We've always been known as 'The Long Island Nine,' " he said of the area's GOP senators who now number eight. "We're going to be back as The Long Island Nine and Craig Johnson is not going to be a senator after November."

Johnson shot back, "My response to Dean is what I tell my 3-year-old and my 6-year-old when they are having a temper tantrum, 'Take a timeout.' "

Hey Dean, it may be the "Long Island Six or Less" after November.

Skelos Speaks with Forked Tongue

2008-07-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Say one thing to Albany paper, say another to Newsday and hope no one pays attention.
Skelos in the Albany-Times Union about his boss Joe Bruno after his majority on the state senate got one more seat smaller "It’s not about any one individual. It’s about making sure every part of the state is treated fairly,” and in Newsday "The bottom line is we feel a responsibility ... to Joe as our leader"

Skelos Ascending and Descending

2008-06-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is stepping down from his post and not seeking re-election in November. Skelos who is the Deputy Majority Leader is going to be replacing Bruno. That is of course until the elections when Dean will most likely be the Minority Leader.
Bruno is smart to get out now before the coming storm in November. Skelos will be the leader of the Senate Republicans as they most likely lose their majority.
After a loss of the majority, expect the long knives to come out and Skelos gets replaced by Sen. Thomas Libous, of Binghamton who really wanted the top spot.
Skelos was crowing earlier this year that he will defeat Sen Craig Johnson. That ain't happening and now Bruno's seat is an open election where the Democrat Brian Premo is working hard to win.
Skelos is left in a bad place for someone who helped engineer the ouster of fellow Long Island republican Senate majority Leader Ralph Marino 14 years ago.

Democrat Roy Simon, Skelos' Challenger

2008-06-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

Skelos faces another challenge in November from Democrat Roy Simon a professor at Hofstra Law School. His range of expertise fits perfectly into what is missing in the State Senate - Ethics.

Here is his bio from the Hofstra website:
" Roy Simon is the Howard Lichtenstein Distinguished Professor of legal ethics at Hofstra University School of Law and is the director of Hofstra's Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics. He graduated from Williams College (B.A., 1973) and N.Y.U. School of Law (J.D., 1977), where he was editor-in-chief of the N.Y.U. Law Review. He clerked for United States District Judge Robert Merhige (pronounced "marriage") in Richmond, Virginia, then practiced law at Jenner & Block in Chicago. He began his teaching career at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis in 1983, and has taught legal ethics since 1985. He joined the Hofstra faculty in 1992.

Professor Simon annually writes Simon's New York Code of Professional Responsibility Annotated, annually co-authors Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Standards (with Professor Stephen Gillers of N.Y.U.), and co-authors Lawyers and the Legal Profession. He also writes a monthly article for the New York Professional Responsibility Report, a monthly newsletter covering professional responsibility items of interest to New York lawyers.

Professor Simon is a member of the professional ethics committees of the New York State Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the Bar Association of Nassau County, and is vice chair and reporter for the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Standards of Attorney Conduct ("COSAC"), which is comprehensively reviewing the New York Code of Professional Responsibility. In March of 2005, he was appointed to the New York City Bar's Task Force on the Role of the Lawyer in a Corporate Governance."

Skelos Should Be Embarassed

2008-06-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Newsday reports on the hearing about the double-dipping that is draining our school budgets "Two state senators who fight for Long Island school funding, Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Kenneth LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), indicated at the hearing that double-dipping stories had embarrassed them. They've been answering pointed questions from constituents and upstate colleagues, too, who wonder why Long Island needs so much state aid."

Where were you while this was happening for YEARS, Dean?
Skelos has been on the State Senate since 1984 - that's 24 YEARS.
If Skelos showed half the concern over the years about education on Long Island as he has since budgets started failing a few short years ago maybe something could have been done sooner.
Why does it take a Newsday article to inform Skelos on what is going on in his own backyard?
Heck, his own former aide and now Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello was caught with his hand in the Pension cookie jar.

Somebody Get Dean Skelos a WHAAAAAAAAmulance; or a Fact Checker

2008-05-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

Newsday's Spincycle catches Skelos getting it all wrong. Skelos whines "There’s no question that Newsday dominates... To get a story out, you need to get it in Newsday,” and that has become harder with the newspaper’s cutbacks, he said."

Spincycle goes on to point out that "Actually, Skelos' name has appeared 182 times in Newsday in the past year -- and in a neighboring district, Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) has appeared 71 times."

Whoops!

So that's an average of 3 times a week for Skelos and one for Hannon.
Must be real tough on them.
Of course Skelos is an expert photo-op guy so his face is in the weekly locals all the time multiple times.
Who is Skelos trying to kid?

The Skelos 8 Runs and Hides on Equal Pay for Women

2008-04-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

When Senator Craig Johnson brought his gender pay equity bill to the floor for a Motion to Petition, Skelos, Fuschillo, Marcellino and Hannon got the heck out of there. A Motion to Petition is a means to get a bill out of committee and all it needs is a simple vote.
Why doesn't Fuschillo want to vote on and discuss equal pay for women?
Does Skelos have a problem with women making as much as men for the same job?
Does Marcellino want women to be paid less than men in New York State?
Why won't Hannon stand up for women workers??

The Albany Times-Union was there....
" Here’s the final chapter in Irene’s video odyssey that started Monday when she was attempting to video the Senate but was asked to leave when she shouldn’t have been.
We straightened that out and I came and taped what is a time-honored tactic used by Senators who don’t want to go on record as voting against something: leaving the chamber when another lawmaker calls for a motion to petition, which if approved, would move a bill out of committee to the floor for a vote.

The catch is, it takes a simple majority of the 62 senators in what is essentially a non-role call vote to move to petition. So if lawmakers don’t like the measure being petitioned, but fear it may look bad to oppose it, they can simply leave the chamber when the motion comes for a vote.
Thus Tuesday’s near-empty chamber.
The voice you hear is Long Island Democrat Craig Johnson calling for a motion to petition on a gender pay equity bill. Joe Robach, a Republican from the Rochester area, was on the spot yesterday, as he had earlier said he’d support such a bill but instead voted with the rest of the senate to study the measure (which is controversial among business supporters) for a year."

Skelos Doesn't Want You to See What He Does in the Senate

2008-04-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Albany-Times Union reporter Irene jay Liu was video taping procedings of the Senate and was told to turn off her camera. Even though it is perfectly legal for her to be taping.

The debate got heated and increasingly tense. I was recording the goings-on throughout the debate. In the beginning (before things got heated), I was told by one security fellow that I needed to turn off the camera. Then he came back and told me that he forgot that I was press, and said that I could turn it back on.I switched to the balcony on the other side of the chamber for a better angle to video the Republicans (shooting the back of someone’s head is not interesting). Sen. Craig Johnson is in the middle of the chamber, so I could shoot him easily from both sides.I showed my press ID, went in, and shot video. The debate grew increasingly tense, and some Republican Senators became visibly upset at the proceedings.

Sen. Dean Skelos accused a Senate Democrat staffer of shooting video from the floor of the chamber - which a Democratic staffer denied.
Sen. George Maziarz even took a shot at Johnson, saying “We crossed a line when we make cheap political shots…it is very hard to go back…don’t make this into a county legislature…” Johnson served as a Nassau County legislator before winning a seat in the Senate."

"Now, in case this is the first time you are hearing my voice, I am usually a pretty nice person and don’t sound nearly so tense or rude. But censorship gets my goat and I was pretty sure that I was allowed to tape up on the balcony, mostly because I had done so many other times before.

For example, when the Senate Democrats decided not to go into the chamber to vote on budget bills a week ago, in protest of what they called a non-transparent process, no one had a problem with my taking photos of the half-empty chamber or shooting the Republican senators’ speeches criticizing their Democratic colleagues.

We checked in with the Senate Republicans about whether we can shoot video from the balconies and they confirmed that in fact, it was allowed. Spokesman Mark Hansen explained, “It was a miscommunication.”

I’ve asked for a tape of the proceedings, and Hansen said he’d get back to me. Haven’t heard anything yet"

Here's the video:

Not So Fast With that Victory Lap

2008-04-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

Undoubtedly Skelos and the 'Long Island 8' will be shouting from the rooftops that Long Island is getting alot more money for the schools.
And that is true.
BUT once again there is no formula for school aid that will codify the amount Long Island will get. Year after year it will be a "fight" to make sure that schools are funded properly. And truth be told, the schools are still not being funded "fairly" or "fully." It's time to stop celebrating mediocrity and actually get real education funding reform done.
The problem we are facing with the George "Herbert Hoover" Bush economy is that the revenue the state is counting on to fund the spending bills might not be there. And next year could even be worse. Comptroller DiNapoli warns "The economy is in rough shape, and the worst may still be around the corner... The Division of the Budget is going to have to track spending and revenues very carefully. And Albany should keep an eraser handy.”

This is an eyes wide open comment that needs to be heard. There is no guarantee the money allocated will be available. And school districts and taxpayers should be prepared for that.