By Committee: Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs
Fewer Veterans Than in Years Past, and Few Legislative Battles
Mon, 12 May 2008 16:40:00
Albany has always been a place where some conversations, most famously budget negotiations, are carried out in private, away from the prying eyes of voters and reporters.
But there is a state Senate committee that holds occasional meetings in secret, too.
The Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee holds confidential meetings several times a year to discuss security matters considered too sensitive, according to committee chair Sen. Vincent Leibell (R-Westchester/Putnam).
Leibell, who was appointed chairman in January 2007, said that there were numerous but not dozens of closed meetings over the past 12 months. They were held with a variety of officials, including those from the New York Police Department, Consolidated Edison, ports and other governmental and private entities.
According to committee member Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens), Leibell “decides what the rest of us hear. There is no need for us to get involved.”
The confidential meetings struck at least one former ranking member of the committee, George Onorato (D-Queens), as strange.
“I haven’t heard of that,” the 24-year Senate veteran said. “There are no other committees I have heard of that meet in secret.”
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) expanded the committee’s portfolio to include oversight of homeland security following the September 11 attacks. Leibell said the top issues for the committee remain improving the lives of veterans and improving security for the state’s residents.
Health issues and educational opportunities for veterans is of particular concern, Leibell said, noting that this year the committee held hearings on legislation ultimately included in this year’s budget that provides state education assistance to returning veterans.
Leibell said homeland security was understood broadly by his committee to include issues as varied as terrorist attacks, the threat of pandemics, cataclysmic hurricanes and snowstorms.
Many of the bills before the committee would increase property tax exemptions for veterans, while some of the security-focused legislation would address disaster preparedness and more tightly regulate certain businesses, like truck rentals.
The committee held a public hearing in Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton in August following arrests of suspects charged with the 2007 plot to blow up fuel pipelines leading to John F. Kennedy Airport.
Despite the rising numbers of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of veterans in the state and nationwide has been declining steadily. There were 1.3 million veterans in New York in 2000, but that figure had fallen to just over a million by late 2007, according to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.
Those low numbers guarantee that bills supporting returning veterans would not be of too great an expense to the state, Maltese explained.
The top Democrat on the committee, Darrel Aubertine (D-Jefferson/Oswego/St. Lawrence), represents the district in the state with the longest international border, along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, as well as Fort Drum, home to the frequently deployed 10th Mountain Division.
He said immigration, security and agriculture were top issues for the committee, as well as post traumatic stress disorder and its effect on veterans and their families.
Aubertine won a special election in February, and has only attended one committee meeting so far.
He expects to draft legislation next year that would focus on coordinating federal, state, local and Canadian first responders to facilitate interagency communication.
That would build on legislation that committee member Frank Padavan (R-Queens) supported in this session, aimed at coordinating the Coast Guard, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, New Jersey agencies and others.
“We got through the bills we wanted to get through,” Padavan said. “So everybody would work together.”
Aubertine said Leibell told him there would be confidential meetings.
Politics did not play a big role in the committee, most agree, with the issues considered being outside the realm of partisan disputes.
“It is absolutely apolitical,” Leibell said. “If you can’t work well in this committee, you shouldn’t be in this business.”
But there is a state Senate committee that holds occasional meetings in secret, too.
The Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs committee holds confidential meetings several times a year to discuss security matters considered too sensitive, according to committee chair Sen. Vincent Leibell (R-Westchester/Putnam).
Leibell, who was appointed chairman in January 2007, said that there were numerous but not dozens of closed meetings over the past 12 months. They were held with a variety of officials, including those from the New York Police Department, Consolidated Edison, ports and other governmental and private entities.
According to committee member Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens), Leibell “decides what the rest of us hear. There is no need for us to get involved.”
The confidential meetings struck at least one former ranking member of the committee, George Onorato (D-Queens), as strange.
“I haven’t heard of that,” the 24-year Senate veteran said. “There are no other committees I have heard of that meet in secret.”
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) expanded the committee’s portfolio to include oversight of homeland security following the September 11 attacks. Leibell said the top issues for the committee remain improving the lives of veterans and improving security for the state’s residents.
Health issues and educational opportunities for veterans is of particular concern, Leibell said, noting that this year the committee held hearings on legislation ultimately included in this year’s budget that provides state education assistance to returning veterans.
Leibell said homeland security was understood broadly by his committee to include issues as varied as terrorist attacks, the threat of pandemics, cataclysmic hurricanes and snowstorms.
Many of the bills before the committee would increase property tax exemptions for veterans, while some of the security-focused legislation would address disaster preparedness and more tightly regulate certain businesses, like truck rentals.
The committee held a public hearing in Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton in August following arrests of suspects charged with the 2007 plot to blow up fuel pipelines leading to John F. Kennedy Airport.
Despite the rising numbers of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of veterans in the state and nationwide has been declining steadily. There were 1.3 million veterans in New York in 2000, but that figure had fallen to just over a million by late 2007, according to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.
Those low numbers guarantee that bills supporting returning veterans would not be of too great an expense to the state, Maltese explained.
The top Democrat on the committee, Darrel Aubertine (D-Jefferson/Oswego/St. Lawrence), represents the district in the state with the longest international border, along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, as well as Fort Drum, home to the frequently deployed 10th Mountain Division.
He said immigration, security and agriculture were top issues for the committee, as well as post traumatic stress disorder and its effect on veterans and their families.
Aubertine won a special election in February, and has only attended one committee meeting so far.
He expects to draft legislation next year that would focus on coordinating federal, state, local and Canadian first responders to facilitate interagency communication.
That would build on legislation that committee member Frank Padavan (R-Queens) supported in this session, aimed at coordinating the Coast Guard, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, New Jersey agencies and others.
“We got through the bills we wanted to get through,” Padavan said. “So everybody would work together.”
Aubertine said Leibell told him there would be confidential meetings.
Politics did not play a big role in the committee, most agree, with the issues considered being outside the realm of partisan disputes.
“It is absolutely apolitical,” Leibell said. “If you can’t work well in this committee, you shouldn’t be in this business.”
