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Legal Opinions
Staff
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March 2002 Vol. XVI, No. 3
STATE BUDGET UPDATE
Last week there was a flurry of activity at the
state capital which some took as a sign that significant progress had been made
toward reaching a three-way agreement on the 2002-03 state budget. First, the
public hearing on available state revenues in the coming year (“avails”)
revealed that the Senate and Assembly were less than $200 million apart in
their estimates, or much closer than in the past several years. The Assembly
figure was reported to be $599 million over executive budget estimates and the
Senate $400 + million over. Even the
Governor who had been pessimistic about state revenues in his executive budget
gave signals that modest increases in his projections were expected and these
higher estimates were buoyed by favorable economic news coming out of
Washington and Wall Street. Agreement on “avails” is usually the earliest
indication that the leaders are serious about putting the budget to bed and can
mean that final approval could be as little as three to four weeks away. With
the two Houses close on their estimates, it would not be unreasonable to
surmise that closing the gap could happen quickly. However, more than two weeks
have elapsed without further progress, and it may well be that some larger
non-budget issues such as NYC governance have slowed the process. Second, each House has begun work on their
respective so-called one-house budget bills. These bills have in recent budgets
served to stake out negotiating positions and to refine the focus of
negotiations on those issues of greatest concern or controversy. Currently, it
appears that both Houses have rejected the Governor’s proposals to fold BOCES
aid and public/private excess cost aid into flex aid. The Governor’s flex aid
proposal would cap those aids at last year’s levels. There are also strong
indications that the executive’s proposals on teacher support aids will be
rejected. Beyond that, however, little additional detail is available, and
estimates for the date on which a state budget will be approved range from late
April to early June. All Legislators consistently express their desire to avoid
the debacle of last year and pledge to work for an earlier conclusion to the
budgetary debates. ASSOCIATION LOBBYING AND POSTCARD CAMPAIGN
The Association scheduled lobbying days in Albany on
February 26th, March 8tth and March 11th,
2002. Association board members
including superintendents and board members from Rome CSD, Albany CSD, Newburgh
CSD, Niagara Falls CSD and Binghamton CSD attended 18 meetings with Legislators
and staff over the three days. They delivered a three pronged message for small
city districts 1) that there must be greater equity in state aid reflecting
district wealth and student need, 2) Hurd aid needs to begin increasing, and 3)
that the 5% constitutional debt ceiling must be addressed. Also discussed was
the need to restore BOCES aid and to end the inequity for the five small city
districts that receive no BOCES aid for their OCCED programs. Next week each district will be asked to assist the
Association lobbying by participating in a POST CARD CAMPAIGN. Twenty thousand
post cards addressed to the three leaders and to your Senator and Assembly
member will be printed this week for use by districts. Each district will be
given approximately 500 cards for distribution to parents, teachers and
supporting organizations. The Association’s board believes that in this crucial
year a massive out pouring of support for our issues is necessary to prevent
the needs of our city districts from being lost in the confusion of an election
year budget. This campaign will be an important part of our overall effort
which includes direct lobbying in Albany, lobbying by each district locally
with its Legislators, contact by the Association with the media statewide and
testimony on the executive budget submitted by Association president Kevin
Barrett to the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing in February. Cards will be available on Tuesday, March 26th,
2002 at the Legislative Breakfast for those districts attending. For districts
that cannot attend, the cards will be delivered directly to the district. LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST MARCH 26th, 2002 The Legislative Breakfast will be
held this year on March 26th, 2002 at the Fort Orange Club in Albany
from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm. There is still time to sign up, although seating is
already tight. The breakfast will feature Senator Kuhl and Assemblyman Sanders
who will be commenting on the Governor’s budget and on their own respective
House’s concerns and issues. At 9:30 am Commissioner Mills will address us and
thereafter two presentations will follow, one on the small city experience with
Academic Intervention Services and the other on recent changes to building aid
(chapter 383 of 2001), which requires the refinancing of existing debt and
permits access to dormitory authority financing, among other things. The
program is obviously a full one and we look forward to seeing you there. DATES TO REMEMBER March 26, 2002 8:00-1:30 May
31, 2002 12:00 August
18 & 19, 2002 |
Albany
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