New Speaker’s Challenges: Budget, Ethics Overhaul

Legislative ethics reform. A higher minimum wage. The Dream Act. A $142 billion state budget. Carl Heastie faces no small list of challenges as he takes over as speaker of the New York State Assembly from longtime leader Sheldon Silver.

The 47-year-old Bronx Democrat will have to quickly grow into his new position if he is to successfully steer his 150-member chamber and contend with experienced powerbrokers like Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Leader Dean Skelos, a Republican.

Heastie said he intends to lead through collaboration with colleagues.

“I’ve always been a consensus builder. I like to hear other, different opinions,” he said.

A few of the big issues Heastie will have to deal with almost immediately:

Ethics Overhaul

Heastie has outlined a series of reforms including a new Office of Ethics and Compliance led by a non-legislator, new limits on how much outside income lawmakers can earn and greater reporting of outside income and legislative stipends.

Heastie’s own records have raised questions. He received the third-highest amount of travel and per diem stipends in the Assembly last year, and his campaign finance reports contain tens of thousands of credit card payments for unspecified expenses.

State Budget

The crafting of a state budget in Albany has long come down to what’s known in Albany as “the three men in a room”: Detailed negotiations between the speaker, the Senate leader and the governor. Cuomo and Skelos have years of experience at the bargaining table, but Heastie is a novice.

Still, Heastie is a self-professed numbers guy who is a former budget analyst in the New York City comptroller’s office. He dismissed concerns that he’ll be overmatched by Cuomo and Skelos and said he’ll have the Assembly’s 106-member Democratic conference behind him.

“I think the ‘three men in a room’ is a little overstated,” he said. “This conference has always given its leader the ability to go with the message the conference gives him. … The process is really up to 106 members.”

New York City vs. Upstate

Heastie is the latest in a long line of Democratic speakers from New York City — a tradition that rankles many lawmakers from upstate. Heastie has vowed to take an upstate tour early in his speakership and to meet with lawmakers from all corners of the state.

Transportation funding will be a major fault line. Downstate lawmakers want to see big investments in New York City’s transit systems and airports. Upstate leaders want to spend money on bridge maintenance and the state Thruway to avoid toll increases.

Minimum Wage, Dream Act

This year is likely to see another debate over progressive proposals backed by Democrats like Heastie, including a higher minimum wage and the Dream Act, which would extend financial aid to students in the country illegally.

Cuomo supports both measures — though he’s calling for a much more modest minimum wage increase than New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. But Skelos and other Senate Republicans have shown no willingness to compromise on either issue.

The ongoing standoff over the so-called women’s equality agenda will be another challenge for Heastie. The agenda contains provisions to combat domestic violence, human trafficking and discrimination against women, along with a measure to codify Roe v. Wade. The Senate supports every provision except the last measure, but the Assembly has so far refused to split up the package to allow for separate votes.

This article appeared in print on page 12 of the February 11th, 2015 edition of Hamodia.