Home Page > Editorial and Op-Ed
No Excuses
Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:43:00
Long before Barack Obama bounded up steps to announce his presidential candidacy in front of the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield in February 2007, New Yorkers were already intensely familiar with another sloganeer promising a fast and comprehensive revolution right here at home. Even by then, though, “Day One, Everything Changes” was more of a laugh line than an inspiration, used by rueful Eliot Spitzer supporters or mocking detractors, and really by nobody else.
Some things changed since Spitzer’s landslide election. The comptroller did. The governor did. The state’s economic condition did. The majority leader did—twice, the second time along with a historic shift in power.
That last change is the one to precipitate real change, according to all those who worked to achieve it and stand in support. For the first time in 34 years, state government is fully in the hands of one party, with all the promises of removed roadblocks and stopped stonewalling that brings. Albany, for so long the land of inertia, is to become a place of great activity, free-flowing with transformative legislation. No longer will problems be left to fester for years without being picked up for debate. One-house bills will become a thing of the past, signed laws as regular as train delays in winter. Whether one agrees with the kind of policies promised to be passed or not, the idea of movement itself was to be a refreshing change.
There is reason for pessimism, perhaps no better exemplified than by the Senate Democrats’ decision to postpone movement on their own rules reforms until after most of the session is done. Most disturbing, though, is how obvious it is that some people will try to use the rationale they put forward—that the budget crisis must be resolved before anything else—as an excuse for just about everything this year.
A $15 billion hole is nothing to take lightly. The legislative leaders would be wise to follow the intelligence and wisdom demonstrated by Governor Paterson in presenting his executive budget early by acting ahead of schedule as well. Negotiating the necessary cuts and recalculations will not be easy, nor can the many questions involved be resolved quickly.
But to use the budget crisis as the new reason for not getting anything done in Albany is nothing short of government malpractice. As giant as the deficit is, one would hope that the state government will be capable of walking and chewing gum, slashing the budget and handling other legislation simultaneously. There is far too much to be done to leave things to another day, especially when that day could come years from now, since only the most naïve could believe that our budget problems will evaporate after 2009. Everything in some way depends on available funding, but that should not prevent the many able legislators in both chambers of the Capitol from at least beginning to put together real, practical frameworks for laws to improve the state’s approach to energy, health care, agriculture, job creation, innovative technology, criminal justice reform, housing, labor, transportation and financial services—to name a few.
Granted, Shelly Silver and Malcolm Smith will be busy in the months ahead, as will those of their members leading the budget negotiations. That leaves the burden on other members of the Assembly and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to act as the leaders they were elected to be. Nothing but their own daring stops them from stepping up to propose new ideas.
That the structures of both chambers realistically limit committees’ powers demonstrates quite clearly the need to strengthen committees and empower their chairs. In Washington, the national and international economic situation will be a weight that hangs on all that is done and can be done in Congress, but with live, active committees holding their own hearings and sending bills to the floor for votes, the government will manage to do more than simply haggle over the much larger federal budget. Albany needs to follow this example. There is no shortage of reforms that would benefit the state capitol, but creating a real committee system, coupled with a real ability to bring votes to the floor, would be the most significant and productive of all.
Government is an incremental process, and Albany, especially with a slim two-seat margin in the State Senate, is destined to remain a naturally incremental place. Few really expected everything to change on New Year’s Day two years ago, and no one expects everything to change now. But some things can. Change has come to America. It can also come to Albany.
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ABOVE: Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, Photo By: Andrew Schwartz
Some things changed since Spitzer’s landslide election. The comptroller did. The governor did. The state’s economic condition did. The majority leader did—twice, the second time along with a historic shift in power.
That last change is the one to precipitate real change, according to all those who worked to achieve it and stand in support. For the first time in 34 years, state government is fully in the hands of one party, with all the promises of removed roadblocks and stopped stonewalling that brings. Albany, for so long the land of inertia, is to become a place of great activity, free-flowing with transformative legislation. No longer will problems be left to fester for years without being picked up for debate. One-house bills will become a thing of the past, signed laws as regular as train delays in winter. Whether one agrees with the kind of policies promised to be passed or not, the idea of movement itself was to be a refreshing change.
There is reason for pessimism, perhaps no better exemplified than by the Senate Democrats’ decision to postpone movement on their own rules reforms until after most of the session is done. Most disturbing, though, is how obvious it is that some people will try to use the rationale they put forward—that the budget crisis must be resolved before anything else—as an excuse for just about everything this year.
A $15 billion hole is nothing to take lightly. The legislative leaders would be wise to follow the intelligence and wisdom demonstrated by Governor Paterson in presenting his executive budget early by acting ahead of schedule as well. Negotiating the necessary cuts and recalculations will not be easy, nor can the many questions involved be resolved quickly.
But to use the budget crisis as the new reason for not getting anything done in Albany is nothing short of government malpractice. As giant as the deficit is, one would hope that the state government will be capable of walking and chewing gum, slashing the budget and handling other legislation simultaneously. There is far too much to be done to leave things to another day, especially when that day could come years from now, since only the most naïve could believe that our budget problems will evaporate after 2009. Everything in some way depends on available funding, but that should not prevent the many able legislators in both chambers of the Capitol from at least beginning to put together real, practical frameworks for laws to improve the state’s approach to energy, health care, agriculture, job creation, innovative technology, criminal justice reform, housing, labor, transportation and financial services—to name a few.
Granted, Shelly Silver and Malcolm Smith will be busy in the months ahead, as will those of their members leading the budget negotiations. That leaves the burden on other members of the Assembly and Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to act as the leaders they were elected to be. Nothing but their own daring stops them from stepping up to propose new ideas.
That the structures of both chambers realistically limit committees’ powers demonstrates quite clearly the need to strengthen committees and empower their chairs. In Washington, the national and international economic situation will be a weight that hangs on all that is done and can be done in Congress, but with live, active committees holding their own hearings and sending bills to the floor for votes, the government will manage to do more than simply haggle over the much larger federal budget. Albany needs to follow this example. There is no shortage of reforms that would benefit the state capitol, but creating a real committee system, coupled with a real ability to bring votes to the floor, would be the most significant and productive of all.
Government is an incremental process, and Albany, especially with a slim two-seat margin in the State Senate, is destined to remain a naturally incremental place. Few really expected everything to change on New Year’s Day two years ago, and no one expects everything to change now. But some things can. Change has come to America. It can also come to Albany.
--
ABOVE: Sheldon Silver and Malcolm Smith, Photo By: Andrew Schwartz
