Knickerbocker Blog

Can't afford New York From a letter in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:

Taxpayers are paying too much in New York state. I am thinking of moving to Pennsylvania. Between the gasoline prices and taxes, I can't afford New York.

I hope we get a governor who will do something. Taxes are so high that the factory jobs are moving out. You can't blame them. I hope we can afford to heat our homes this winter.

Visit to a region still recovering From a Newsday story by Errol Cockfield:

Before the floodwaters rolled through in June and left the imprints of devastation, this stretch of Route 7 was home to quaint rows of businesses whose decorative lights punctuated the darkness at nightfall.

Now many are gone, victims of the swollen Susquehanna River. Yesterday, gubernatorial front-runner Eliot Spitzer visited Jane's Diner, one of the establishments that has come back after water rose to five feet and moved tables, chairs and heavy equipment around like toys.

. . . .

Spitzer, a Democrat, and his running mate, state Sen. David Paterson (D-Harlem) toured the area as part of a campaign swing that centered on assessing the economic plight of upstate communities that have seen the departure of corporations and people. The flooding earlier this summer heaped a new burden on a community that was already dispirited.

Faso accuses Spitzer of conflict of interest over donor From an Associated Press story by Mike Gormley:

Republican candidate for governor John Faso accused Democrat Eliot Spitzer Thursday of a conflict of interest for taking campaign contributions from a lobbyist whose client is in court against the state.

The Wisconsin Oneida tribe is represented by lobbyist Richard Fields, who is a contributor to Spitzer's campaign for governor. Spitzer, as state attorney general, is representing the state against the tribe in its effort to secure ancestral land in New York state. The tribe also hopes to build a casino and hired Fields, who is also a casino developer, to lobby Albany for approval.

Spitzer Sprints Upstate, Courting Votes for the Primary (New York Times) Spitzer addresses flood recovery in visit to Conklin (Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin) Black-owned newspaper in Harlem endorses Suozzi From a New York Sun story by Jacob Gershman:

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Thomas Suozzi collected one of his first newspaper endorsements yesterday, winning the backing of the New York Amsterdam News, a black-owned weekly newspaper in Harlem.

In a front-page endorsement, the publisher emeritus of the tabloid, Wilbert Tatum, called Mr. Suozzi the "perfect candidate for Governor of New York State," writing that the Nassau County executive has "the competence, experience, and perseverance that one needs to fill the spot in government."

Turning to Mr. Suozzi's primary challenger, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Mr. Tatum credited Mr. Spitzer for bringing "many white collar criminals to justice," but suggested that he was overly driven by political ambition. "There is not much more to be said of him except his ambition is real," he wrote." r. Spitzer will sacrifice anything for his ambition."

Food, beer, speech earn Spitzer cheers From the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Hundreds of people munched sausages and sipped beer at state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's campaign barbecue at the state fair Thursday.

Spitzer delivered a speech that brought cheers from the crowd. He talked of reforming Albany and addressing issues facing Central New Yorkers, especially property taxes.

"Property taxes are killing the people of Upstate New York," he said. "Things are going to change the day I take office."

Bankruptcy court approves Oneida Ltd. reorganization plan From the Associated Press:

Oneida Ltd., once the world's pre-eminent maker of stainless steel flatware, will emerge from bankruptcy court protection next month as a privately held company following approval of its reorganization plan by a federal judge on Thursday.

Under the plan, a lending group led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. will become the new owners of the 126-year-old company, which also arranged a $170 million borrowing package with Credit Suisse to refinance certain debt and fund future operations, according to a company statement. Common and preferred stockholders will not receive any distributions under the plan, Oneida said.

Sale of company keeps jobs in Southern Tier From the Associated Press:

A private equity firm has purchased Universal Instruments Corp. and says it will keep the company's three Binghamton-area plants open.

Francisco Partners, with offices in California and London, agreed Wednesday to acquire Universal for an undisclosed amount.

The company makes automation equipment used in the electronics industry. It employs 600 people in plants in Conklin, Kirkwood and Binghamton. It also operates a manufacturing facility in Shekou, China.

"We were attracted to Universal due to the strength of their products and talented work force," said Francisco managing partner Dipanjan Deb.

Crystal IS expects to double staff to 40 Influx of $10.6M in seed money permits growth From the Daily Gazette of Schenectady story by Michael Mullaney:

An influx of $10.6 million in seed money will help Green Island firm Crystal Innovative Semiconductors double its staff to 40 employees by the end of 2007, company officials said Thursday.

Crystal IS will use the cash to ramp up manufacturing capacity of its patented aluminum nitride substrates. The small, ultra-thin crystal wafers are used as bases for tiny computer chips and electric conductors.

$10.6M investment to fund Crystal IS growth; Venture capital from several groups will increase production of substance for electronic devices (Larry Rulison, Albany Times Union) N.Y. part of emissions pact; Some states will trade right to pollute to cut greenhouse gases From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

An ambitious plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Northeast by creating a market in which the right to pollute can be bought and sold has moved one step closer to realization.

This month, the seven states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) agreed upon a model rule--the rules of the game, so to speak--in anticipation of the start of emissions trading in 2009.

Power plants in New York would have to limit their emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas, to 64 million tons annually.

If they could not meet the new cap, they would be forced to buy pollution credits from competitors or to fund other greenhouse gas reduction projects known as "offsets."

The story, which is just sort of 1,200 words long, quotes environmentalists at length but makes no mention of industry's concerns about the undisputed effects RGGI will have on electricity costs in New York State and its minimal effects on global warming. Charging taxes on Indian cigs is fair From an oped in Newsday:

There is a continuing controversy over New York's American Indian reservations' selling unlicensed, untaxed tobacco products. And last month Gov. George Pataki vetoed legislation aimed at stopping manufacturers from providing tobacco to distributors who supply unstamped cigarettes to Indian tribes.

The passive acceptance of these questionable tobacco sales--combined with a multitude of Internet sites that engage in tax-free cigarette sales--make a mockery of claims by politicians that they discourage smoking under the guise of improving public health.

For several years, government officials have made it much more difficult for many businesses to offer tobacco products. Licensing harassment and zoning restrictions have practically prevented tobacco products from being sold in vending machines by licensed, legitimate, taxpaying enterprises. The smoking ban in New York State now makes it punitive for smokers to be in indoor commercial establishments and eliminates any motivation for consumers to buy tobacco products at these places.

Four view to rebuild office campus From the Albany Times Union:

Four development groups are vying to rebuild the W.A. Harriman State Office Campus as a university research and technology park.

The winner is expected to transform the 300-acre complex into a mix of office buildings, shops, a 120-room hotel and about 850 homes, apartments and town houses. Work would likely start on 35 to 45 acres near the northwest corner of the site.

Located just east of the University at Albany between Washington and Western avenues and state Route 85, the Harriman campus was built from 1958 to 1970. At twice the size of Crossgates Mall, it could be one of the largest rebuilding projects in the city since the Empire State Plaza.

Faso slams Spitzer travel; Attorney general traveled to fundraisers on jet owned by gambling lobbyist From an Albany Times Union story by Jim Odato:

GOP gubernatorial candidate John Faso hammered Democrat Eliot Spitzer Thursday over a "jet-gate scandal" and demanded the front-runner return hundreds of thousands of dollars Spitzer collected at a fundraiser arranged by a gambling lobbyist.

"The state's attorney should not be traveling on a luxury jet owned by the Wisconsin Oneida's lobbyist while he is defending the state against an active lawsuit by the Wisconsin Oneida," said Faso. "It is a clear conflict of interest that, at the very least, creates the appearance of impropriety."

Spitzer's campaign, which says it abided by all laws, disclosed $200,000 in campaign donations from companies controlled by Richard Fields, a tribal casino developer working with the Wisconsin Oneida on a proposed Catskills project.

Local, state teachers lack new contracts; Health-care costs major sticking point From the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

Six local school districts won't have contracts with their teachers' unions as school begins next week--including Herkimer County BOCES, where contract talks have moved into a third year.

Statewide, continued double-digit increases in health-insurance costs is one of the main reasons contract impasses between school districts and teachers' unions are 33 percent higher than last year, the state Public Employment Relations Board reported.

. . . .

The number of districts with disputes being mediated by the state board is 61, and 20 of those are in Central New York. Contracts in 37 districts expired before the 2005-06 school year began, and 13 of those were up in 2004 or earlier. The rest expired this year.

This is the third consecutive year impasses have been on the rise, although the total is lower than historic average and the all-time high of 132, the board said. Two of the 61 have tentative agreements that have not been ratified.

A Buffalo News editorial says problems at the state's Liquor Authority were only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to "the state's freewheeling public authorities," and the next governor should tackle authority reform.

That is a huge task, and among the two or three most crucial reforms the new governor - whoever he is - must undertake if he hopes to create a state that is affordable for its residents and its shrinking supply of employers. Spitzer's pursuit of the liquor industry, whose infractions are linked to the indifference or collusion of the State Liquor Authority, suggests that he gets the mission. But as intolerable as the SLA's malfeasance was, its ramifications pale in comparison with the financial consequences of policies at many of the state's public authorities.

. . . .

But the problems with the state's authorities go far beyond misconduct, though there has been enough of that to warrant reform. For one thing, there are too many of them - 643, according to the state comptroller, including 169 major authorities and their subsidiaries.

Authorities pursue public business, often important, but without sufficient oversight. Perhaps worst of all, they have become the alternative of first resort to state legislators who want to borrow money at public expense, but don't want to bother with the constitutional requirement of a public vote.

While all debt is supposed to be approved by voters, authorities in 2004 accounted for $35 billion in state debt, or about nine times the amount of debt actually ratified by referendum. And that excluded an additional $80 billion of authority debt designated as "non state-supported." Only Californians carry more debt per capita than New Yorkers.

It's a fundamentally devious process. Legislators, with a governor's consent, order authorities to borrow money for some defined purpose, with taxpayers picking up the bill. Lawmakers did it again this year, loading another $11.7 billion in non-voter approved borrowing into the budget they approved in the spring.

As we noted earlier this week, a bus accident in which many people died has reinvigorated debate about whether the state should enhance cell-phone service in the Adirondacks over the objections of especially zealous environmentalists who oppose new cell towers. Yes, it should, an editorial in the Glens Falls Post-Star argues.

The "Frankenpine" cell phone tower has risen from the deep forest of Washington County. Few people seem to be bothered by its appearance after years of protest by a resourceful environmental group. Many are happy that the disguised tower will mean better cell phone reception for part of our area.

. . . .

These days, there is an expectation of clear cell phone service in all but the most remote areas.

No doubt, spotty coverage will continue to exist for a while, even in places where logic argues otherwise. An interstate highway, even remote areas of an interstate, should not be on the "spotty" list.

In Essex County on Monday, a Greyhound bus flipped over between Ticonderoga and Plattsburgh. Five people died and dozens were hurt after a tire on the bus blew out. After the crash, some bus passengers reported difficulty getting a strong-enough signal on their cell phones, apparently due to the lack of cell phone towers in the area. Such delays in summoning help can have deadly consequences.

The Northway is a vital north-south link between Canada and the United States. But it also has sections where it's just trees and asphalt for miles. In the long stretches between exits 29 and 34, where the next exit is sometimes 20 miles away, the options are few if a driver breaks down and can't find a working call box or can't use a cell phone.

The burden of providing these improvements, the piece agues, should fall on cell-phone companies.

That best course of action is for a cell phone company, or companies, to step up and provide the technology needed to ensure coverage up and down the Northway.

In the village of Lake George, portable cell phone antennas are rolled in to get the job done when tourists start jamming the streets and the airwaves in the summer. The ability to provide a clear signal in Lake George translates into minutes and money for cell phone companies. With that in mind, maybe it's time for state and local governments to work together to insist that obvious cell phone coverage gaps be filled across the state, starting with large dead spots on major highways.

When a developer proposes a condominium project, it is often approved with the condition that park space or other public benefits be created for the community. Similarly, local governments can (but often don't) negotiate for public access channels and equipment when cable TV contracts are up for renewal. It's time for government to play hardball with cell phone companies to have them pay down on improving coverage in rural areas. These are the same companies that come before municipal boards seeking permission to install antennas in state forests and on village water towers to support user demand in growth areas.

Buffalo's public employee union is now picketing homes of members of the city's control board, saying the wage freeze is unfair. From the Buffalo News:

The elegant brick building at 800 W. Ferry St., home to Robert G. Wilmers, made the "perfect backdrop" Thursday afternoon for city unions to point out the chasm between "haves and have-nots," according to Joseph E. Foley, president of the Buffalo firefighters union.

Several hundred pickets marched in a circle on the sidewalk outside the structure, protesting the city control board's wage freeze on city employees. Wilmers, chairman of M&T Bank and a control board member who lives in the penthouse at the address, was not home.

It was the second such protest at a control board member's home in as many weeks. And union leaders promised it will not be the last. Last week, union members picketed the Irving Place home of Dorothy A. Johnson, the control board's executive director.

"What else can we do?" asked Phil Rumore, Buffalo Teacher's Federation president. "Our overall goal is just to let control board members know we're unhappy and we don't like the way they're treating poor people."

. . . .

One minor confrontation occurred when the driver of a silver Mercedes-Benz attempting to enter the driveway was briefly blocked by a picket. When the driver threatened to call 911, the picket responded "911? We're all here, you [expletive]."

Lovely.

"I am not anti-union; I merely believe in the competitive bid process." An employee of an electrical contractor in Syracuse offers this, well-reasoned, thoughtful argument against project-labor agreements in the Post-Standard. PLAs mandate that government jobs are given to unionized labor.

PLA's constrict the American concept of free trade and open competition by discriminating against nonunion trades people.

Owners and employees of non-union businesses, all of whom are consumers in one community or another, should have equal right and freedom to competitively bid, work and spend the well-earned funds from these projects, to support their families and segments of the economy.

Furthermore, there is concern for cost overruns. A mere 10-20 percent increase due to unforeseen problems will not only be a substantial burden for taxpayers but will ensure that the school district is not getting the biggest bang for their buck, a fact that a wise, future political opponent will seize and exploit.

America was built on the concept of free trade and open competition. Rather than regressing as a community, I believe it's prudent to progress toward eliminating, rather than implementing, PLA's.

A new analysis by the Public Policy Institute shows that New York is lagging the nation in keeping and creating jobs, both in the short term and over the past 10 years. The analysis is part of the Institute's Just the Facts series, which is available here. From our release on the analysis:

From 1995 through 2005, overall private-sector employment in New York rose 8.7 percent, according to the Institute's analysis of data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Upstate's private-sector job growth was barely more than half that level, at 4.8 percent. Both figures are far below the national average of 14.1 percent for the period. Just The Facts also shows employment trends for the past three years, and the past year. New York State, and the Upstate region in particular, lag well behind the nation's performance for those periods, as well.

New York ranks near the bottom of the states in manufacturing trends. Over the 10 years ending in 2005, manufacturing employment in the Empire State dropped by 28.4 percent. Nationally, the loss was 17.5 percent. New York's manufacturing job losses were also among the worst in the nation over both the last three years, and the past year.

. . . .

Over the past three years, New York ranked 36th among the states for employment growth in the financial sector, a key player in the state's economy. In 2005, New York produced new financial jobs at a slightly higher rate than the nation as a whole. Over the last 10 years, the state lost jobs in the financial sector, partly because of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Just The Facts shows that employment trends Upstate have been consistently worse than those throughout the state and nation. Excluding health-care and social-services employment, much of which is supported by taxpayers, Upstate's private-sector job growth from 1995 to 2005 was lower than that of all but three states. In the last three years, such "adjusted" private-sector employment figures show Upstate failing to create any net, new jobs at all.

The Daily News reports that

Four mayors who have endorsed Andrew Cuomo for state attorney general blasted his rival Mark Green yesterday for showing "insensitivity" toward upstate New Yorkers.

In a letter to Green, the mayors criticized him for saying "we live in an urban state" at a recent debate and remarking in May, "There are no good restaurants in Albany."

"How could upstate New Yorkers trust that you would be there to fight for us if you simply dismiss the entire region?" they asked.

It was signed by Mayor Shawn Hogan of Hornell, Mayor Daryl Hayden of Fulton, Mayor Dan O'Hara of Baldwinsville and Mayor John Heindorf of North Syracuse.

Green's team said he is well-aware of the splendors of upstate and has frequently talked to upstate voters during the campaign. He is set to go to the Syracuse State Fair this weekend.

Mark Johnson of the Associated Press reports that

School districts across the state want teachers to pay for a greater share of their health care benefits, even as dozens of school districts have reached impasses in new contract negotiations with their teachers, according to a survey released Thursday.

. . . .

Of the 412 school districts that responded to the survey, 70 said they were able to win some concessions on health care premiums while 50 said they had not.

The survey found that the average premium for family coverage rose 11 percent to $12,190 annually from a year earlier. The average new teacher pays 13 percent of those costs while the district pays the rest.

A federal survey released in July covering the year 2004 found that private sector workers pay an average of 20 percent of their costs for family coverage.

"The school districts have a point," said Matthew Maguire of the New York State Business Council. "The average teacher pays less for coverage and generally gets better coverage."

It's also worth noting that the health insurance benefits that teachers' unions members typically pay less for are usual better than the benefits private-sector workers get at work. And: Cara Matthews of the Gannett News Service has a story here.

While giving a talk before a mostly union crowd in West Seneca on Thursday, gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer said that as governor he would send more taxpayer money to Buffalo, the Buffalo News reports.

Of Buffalo's fiscal problems, he said that "New York state is going to show up - we're going to be here to invest - the (Empire State Development Corp.) is finally going to realize where Buffalo is."

. . . .

The remarks came at a campaign stop before a crowd of union leaders and members at the Ironworkers Local 6 hall.

"You are the friends I'm counting on," Spitzer said. "When there's an upside to benefit from, we'll benefit together."

One union worker summed up his thoughts on the candidate by saying:

While Spitzer pledges to cut state spending, "I don't think he's going to cut back against labor," [Teamsters Local 449 President Richard] Zak said.

An editorial in the Albany Times Union criticizes the state Senate and its majority leader, Senator Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer County), for earmarking $1 million in spending to opposed a proposed Upstate-to-Downstate powerline.

Please, Mr. Bruno, level with the public. It's their money, after all.

The truth, best as we can tell, is something much closer to this. Mr. Bruno is dipping into his $85 million booty, rather innocuously known as legislative member items, so he can buy some votes.

There are five of his fellow Republican senators cheering him on in his quest to kill the Utica-to-Orange County power line project. They're John Bonacic and William Larkin of Orange County, Thomas Libous of Binghamton, Ray Meier of Oneida County and James Seward of Otsego County. That means five Senate districts where that $1 million can be spread around, in an election year yet, reminding voters of how those Republicans fight the good fight.

Four of those senators are up for re-election this year, too. (Mr. Meier is giving up his seat to run for Congress.)

Only who's really paying for this campaign blitz?

The taxpayers of New York are--including, of course, the very upstate voters that $1 million is being aimed at. Talk about a captive audience.

Interestingly, the editorial also voices opposition to the proposed powerline.

. . . . The power that would be generated would be sent to the New York City suburbs. Upstate might be left with even higher energy costs, while its landscape sustained damage from the construction of a power line along a railroad bed.

Mr. Bruno and the rest can fight the power line project from their positions as elected officials. The use of public money ought to be off limits.

Mr. Bruno has a tendency to forget that last part. He acts as if the money he spreads around is his own. Nor does he want the public to be able to know where all of that money goes.

An editorial in the Utica Observer-Dispatch urges Albany to enact workers' compensation reform to reduce employer costs and improve injured workers' maximum weekly benefits. The editorial is based on a new analysis of costs by Fred Buse, who knows as much about workers' compensation in New York State as anyone we know.

A new report on New York's workers' compensation system tells the same old story: New York pays injured workers low benefits, but the program is among the most expensive in the country for employers.

The report, compiled by Frederick Buse, an Albany-area insurance consultant, says what we have said many times before: The workers' compensation system is broken, and it's long past time for state lawmakers to address this situation.

This state certainly cannot afford to drive businesses away. The high cost of workers' comp--$4 billion a year--does nothing to attract new jobs, and is one more factor driving existing employers to other states or overseas. And the irony is that despite the high cost, New York's injured workers get the lowest maximum benefit in the country, $400 a week.

Does that make sense?

Of course not, and viable solutions are out there. It's time for Albany to adopt some significant reforms.

Here's an idea: Perhaps Albany can enact this reform and gives its many economic-policy critics something positive to accentuate.

Mike Gormley of the Associated Press reports on an outburst of frustration from Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno about depictions of the Upstate economy that he says focus too much on the problem and not enough on solutions. From a political perspective, what's interesting here is that Senator Bruno was directing his criticism at the Republican candidate for Governor John Faso.

In a televised forum Wednesday, Faso said upstate cities are in a "fiscal death throe." Faso has previously said upstate cities were "withering on the vine" and in a "death spiral."

"I don't agree at all that it's withering on the vine," Bruno told WROW-AM. He was asked his reaction to the "withering" and "death spiral" quotes without being told who said them.

"What I do agree with is they do need support," Bruno said of upstate residents.

Bruno said the upstate economic problems are clear and the candidates for governor and U.S. Senate, including Faso, are focusing too much on the problem and too little on solving it.

. . . .

"I want to hear positives," Bruno said. "I don't want to hear negatives. I don't want to hear what's wrong. I want to hear how we're going to fix it. I'm sick and tired of everybody throwing stones (about) what's wrong. We know what's wrong. It's apparent what's wrong."

Well, Senator Bruno's frustration is understandable. For one thing, the negative news about Upstate's economic record just keeps coming. As we noted earlier this week, New York's jobs total for July was up 86,000 above the year before--paced by strong growth in New York City--but Upstate added jobs at only one-fifth of the statewide pace in the past year. And the state as a whole, largely because of Upstate's economic travails, has been behind the nation in economic growth to an extent that, frankly, is embarrassing to anyone who still likes to call our home the Empire State. In the 15-year period between 1990 and 2005, for example, the nation's job growth rate was just under 22 percent and Upstate's job-growth rate was just over 4 percent. But we must respectfully disagree with the Senate Majority Leader when he says not enough attention has been paid to the solutions. Virtually every editorial page in the state has been saying for months that New York State must reduce its taxes and trim job-creation costs such as costs of workers' compensation, electricity, and health insurance. These pleas have also come from countless think tanks, policy wonks, economic-policy advocacy groups, and, yes, blogs. (The Senate, of course, has at least proposed many of these policy changes. See, for just one example, this.) But it's simply not realistic to expect New Yorkers to accentuate the positive if Albany does nothing to eliminate the negative--and plenty to worsen it. Did Albany enact cost-cutting workers' compensation reform this year? serious tax reduction? health-insurance mandate-relief? Not nearly. Did it renew the state's long-expired plant-siting law, which all experts recognize as an essential step in increasing electricity supply and, thus, reducing prices? No. In fact, the state Legislature--yes, including the Senate--focused much of its energy this year on passing a stream of giveaway bills designed to make lavish public-sector pensions even better and, in the process, curry political favor with the powerful public-employee unions. The push was so dramatic that an unusual coalition of public-sector employer groups and business advocates sent the gubernatorial candidates a letter this week asking them to use their sway to get the Legislature to cut it out. Public relations, an early practitioner once noted, is doing the right thing and getting caught at it. Well, Albany's PR on the economic-policy front is not going to improve until it starts doing more of the right things and fewer of the wrong things. And legislators' frustration with the state's bad PR on economic policy, although understandable, will not change that. And: Fred Dicker of the New York Post, who elicited the comments from Senator Bruno in a radio interview, has a story here.

Psst, Want to Buy a Party? From an editorial in the New York Times:

New York's campaign finance laws are notoriously loose--a farce, as the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University noted last month. But even within that disturbing universe, some areas are worse than others. Take the "housekeeping" accounts for state political parties, a gaping loophole that allows donors to give unlimited amounts of money for party housekeeping. You want to write a $500,000 check to the state Democratic Party? Write away. Mayor Michael Bloomberg sent a $705,750 donation to the state Republicans 2001 before he was elected mayor.

The money is supposed to go for party building. But despite laws forbidding use of the money for "promoting the candidacy of specific candidates," most donors know their housekeeping dollars are not going for floor wax.

. . . .

Rest assured that . . . all those businesses and unions giving housekeeping money are not in it for the civic joy of getting out the vote. They want tax breaks, pension bonuses, and all the things that taxpayer money can buy in return for a small down payment in the name of party housekeeping.

Improve state bottle returns From an editorial in the Poughkeepsie Journal

For three years the "Bigger Better Bottle Bill" has floundered in Albany, as mundane concerns and lobbying interests have taken precedence over common sense.

The bill passed the state Assembly in 2005 and this year, but has yet to make it through the Senate. There is no good reason for further delays.

The bill would update New York's successful but antiquated bottle deposit law. Enacted in 1982, the Returnable Container Act put a 5-cent deposit on all plastic, glass and metal bottles and cans for carbonated drinks, such as soda and beer.

. . . .

Attempts to update the container deposit law, however, have met with resistance from beverage manufacturers. They object on the grounds the deposits are an imposition on consumers, and that collection is an imposition on retailers. But their real incentive to oppose the change to the law is a new stipulation that would require the bottlers to hand over unclaimed deposits to the state. That is the practice in several other states. Since 1982, bottlers have kept these deposits in New York, to the tune of more than a billion dollars. Those nickels add up. They could be applied toward state recycling and environmental programs. State lawmakers should consider splitting the unclaimed deposits with manufacturers, thereby keeping their costs and aiding New York's coffers as well.

State Senate candidates for debate From the Utica Observer-Dispatch:

State Senate candidates Oneida County Executive Joseph A. Griffo, a Republican, and Leon Koziol, a Democrat, will participate in the 11th annual Meet the Candidates Forum on the "Common Cents Radio Show."

The show will be broadcast at 9 a.m. Sunday on radio stations, WXIT (1230 AM), WRNY (1350 AM), WADR (1480 AM) and WUTQ (1550 AM).

Wegmans rated best market in magazine From a Gannett News Service story by Joy Davia:

The [Wegmans] grocery chain on Thursday nabbed the top spot in a Consumer Reports survey of 24,000 readers.

Wegmans also topped the list for best produce and meat and received high marks for products sold under the store's label.

The overall ranking was based on service (helpfulness of staff and checkout speed), perishables (quality of meat, produce and fresh-baked goods), price and cleanliness.

"Our employees take our motto very seriously: Every day you get our best," chief executive Danny Wegman said in a statement.

At 80, Amo keeps busy From the Elmira Star-Gazette:

Nearly two years after leaving office, former U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton remains engaged in political, economic and religious issues--regionally, nationally and globally.

Houghton, who celebrated his 80th birthday Aug. 7, spends much of his time at home in Boston with his wife, Priscilla. She has undergone three operations for lung cancer.

. . . .

Houghton, who represented the Southern Tier in Congress for 18 years before stepping down Dec. 31, 2004, remains committed to the region's economy. He helped organize the Committee for the Future, which brings together top thinkers from universities and business to analyze how the region can grow.

"We're trying to get a venture capital group to create a pool of money to bring people into the area to start businesses," Houghton said.

States look to new ways to fight old problem From an Associated Press story by Mark Johnson:

Investigators across the country are trying new tactics to crack down on the old problem of auto insurance fraud. The tools to combat the crime, from health insurance fraud mills in New York to "swoop and squat" schemes in California, include wiretaps, undercover agents and prosecutors who view auto fraud as organized crime.

In 2001, New York Gov. George Pataki appointed state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer as special counsel to investigate the fraud that has helped drive up New Yorkers' auto insurance premiums to second highest in the nation, second only to New Jersey.

New York Deputy Attorney General Peter Pope, who oversees 100 lawyers and 100 investigators statewide as the head of the office's criminal division, said simply going after street-level perpetrators isn't enough.

Instead, he's taken an organized crime approach, using wiretaps, undercover agents and investigative grand juries to nab doctors, lawyers and the "silent owners" of medical fraud mills that bilk the insurance industry out of $25 billion to $30 billion a year. In many cases, syndicates running fraud operations have been charged under New York's Organized Crime Control Act, a state statute used to go after larger criminal enterprises. Perpetrators are often charged with enterprise corruption, a major felony calling for longer and mandatory prison time. A conviction can carry a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

Making businesses grow From a story by Rick Moriarty in the Syracuse Post-Standard:

The second annual Fuse conference, scheduled Sept. 19 and 20 in Syracuse, will spotlight technology initiatives that are creating business opportunities in Upstate New York.

Fuse 2006 is expected to attract 500 entrepreneurs, business executives, college presidents, venture capitalists, public officials and economic development specialists. Last year's conference drew 400 people.

Optics training program has room for job-seekers From a story in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle by David Tyler:

A program to train workers for jobs in the regional optics industry is having trouble drawing enough students.

Monroe Community College is seeking to train workers in optical fabrication, a mix of the optics and precision machining expertise for which the school is known.

The program, a partnership among MCC, Monroe County and optics and photonics manufacturers, was introduced in December and patterned after a similar program in precision manufacturing. At the time, officials said area optics companies anticipated needing 100 trained employees per year for the next five years.

"I think that might end up being conservative," said John Hart, president of the Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster, an industry group that is a sponsor of the MCC program. "The need is there. We had a board meeting recently, and our members are looking to hire."

Cornell to forge closer state ties; New university president looks for political, economic, social leadership roles From an Albany Times Union story by Rick Karlin:

Fresh from 26 years at the University of Iowa, including three years as president, [Cornell University's new president David Skorton] wants Cornell to assert itself as a player in New York's political, economic and social life of New York.

In an interview last week, Skorton outlined his vision for the 20,440-student university. Like the 64-campus SUNY system, Cornell, Skorton says, should play an important role in a variety of initiatives, including efforts to improve K-12 education and attempts to reverse the economic slide that has afflicted much of upstate.

Two Erie County firms have been named to Inc. 500 magazine's list of the fastest-growing companies, the Buffalo News reports.

Wendel Energy Services of Amherst and SLR Contracting and Service of Buffalo are in different lines of work, but they have something in common: Their sales have boomed in the past three years.

. . . .

Wendel was ranked No. 38 in the 2006 edition, with a sales growth rate of 1,452 percent from 2002 through 2005. SLR was No. 195, with a 610 percent growth rate over that period.

Inc. relies on nominations to compile the annual list. Companies needed minimum sales of $600,000 in 2002 to be eligible, and had to be based in the United States, privately owned, and independent.

Watchdogs awaken; City Council is right to beef up its oversight efforts From an editorial in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

News that former Mayor William A. Johnson had, for example, spent more than $200,000 in city funds on fuel pumps at the ferry terminal left the public surprised. Incredibly, so was Rochester's City Council.

An embarrassing state comptroller audit recently revealed that City Council was in the dark about several questionable and expensive mayoral actions concerning the ferry. City Council must become a more effective watchdog.

Over the past year, council has taken worthwhile steps to strengthen its powers of oversight. In response to the comptroller's audit, City Council will now request an independent audit of all the city's professional service contracts from last year.

. . . .

Maintaining a strong system of checks and balances is especially important in a government such as Rochester's, which is controlled by one party.

With more information, and by simply staying alert, council can make better decisions for the city it serves.

Taxes, spending, economy at top of voters' list From the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Taxes and spending are what potential voters want to talk about in the Oswego County Legislature's 9th District, according to incumbent Fred Beardsley, R-Hastings, and challenger James McMahon.

"People have had it," Beardsley said.

"People are upset with taxes," McMahon said.

Beardsley said people also are concerned about the economy. "We could use more jobs in Oswego County," he said.

Vital issue: Can our water, sewage facilities handle growth? From an editorial in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:

Rick Miller, Endicott's director of public works, waved an important red flag the other day--one that former Town of Union Supervisor Jack Cheevers and others have waved over the years. It's a warning flag that the entire Greater Binghamton community should heed.

Miller reminded village trustees that there are several development projects on the drawing board for the Town of Union, and all of them seem to assume the village's water treatment system can handle the additional load. He's not so sure. "We're looking long term," he said. "Do we have enough (capacity) today? Yes, we do. But we need to look down the road--10 to 20 years."

Indeed. If the community is going to grow--new or expanded business; increased population--it is going to need new or improved water treatment and sewage treatment facilities. And as Cheevers often pointed out, this shouldn't be simply a matter for the individual villages and towns, or the Binghamton/ Johnson City Wastewater Treatment Plant officials, but for the entire county.

. . . .

Clean water is a communitywide concern, and it ought to addressed by a comprehensive countywide system. That's common sense, too, and the sooner we come to our senses the better.

Ferry flap prompts review of city deals; Council seeks outside analysis of 85 contracts From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

In response to a harsh state audit of Rochester's oversight of the ferry project, City Council is proposing a special review of dozens of city contracts.

Council President Lois Giess said Friday the review would seek to ensure that contract work complied with council ordinances. The review is a response to a state audit that found that the former Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. administration modified a city ferry-related agreement without informing City Council.

The review, which will examine 85 city contracts from 2005 and 2006, is an extra measure of comfort that likely will demonstrate that the rules are being followed, Giess said. "My expectation is we will not find variances."

Orange isn't the only county with tax breaks From the Middletown Times Herald-Record:

Those who pushed for a generous tax abatement to lure employers to Orange County were right about one thing: Other counties already bait their hooks with even bigger breaks.

Sullivan County, for example, will ease in property taxes on a new or expanded business over as many as 20 years, twice as long as Orange's new offer.

Farther north, the tax abatement in parts of rural Greene County lasts just as long as Sullivan's but is even juicier: For the first 10 years, the company pays nothing.

It was this sense of competition that led Orange County's Industrial Development Agency and its allies in the business community to wheel out a similar policy this year. Cut the taxes, supporters said, or big business will settle elsewhere.

Proposed Ulster town budget up, would cut taxes From the Kingston Freeman:

Supervisor Nick Woerner's combined $8.29 million general and highway budget proposal for 2007 would reduce the average homeowner's tax bill by $11 a year.

But while the actual tax rate shows a decrease, spending proposed by the Democratic supervisor would increase--including a hike in Woerner's salary, from $37,900 to $40,000. The spending increases would be offset by revenues, which the supervisor is projecting upward.

Under the proposal, town taxpayers [in the town of Ulster in Ulster County] would pay $5.68 per $1,000 of assessed value in 2007, down from $5.79 per $1,000, in general and highway taxes.

County GOP drives again for later budget deadline From a story in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle by Joe Spector:

Each year, the local nonprofit group The Children's Agenda spends about three weeks reviewing the roughly 720-page Monroe County budget to determine the impact on children's programs.

Soon, they may need to speed up their review.

Republicans in the Monroe County Legislature have resurrected a plan defeated two years ago that would push back the annual submission date of the county budget. The result would be about a month less time than officials and the public now have to review the budget.

Critics say the change would limit debate and scrutiny of how the county expects to spend almost $1 billion a year of the public's money. The budget is the most important part of the County Legislature's business and lays out how revenue will be raised to pay for social services, parks, police services, transportation and the environment.

Supporters of the idea say the change would give the administration more preparation time and avoid political wrangling because the budget submission would be after Election Day in early November. And, they say, the public would still have ample time to review the budget before it's approved.

Surveys guide initial Gates budget; Leader's plan will cut Saturday library hours, town celebration From the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:

Funding for Saturday library hours and the annual town summer celebration will be gone when Supervisor Ralph Esposito gives his initial budget to the Town Board later this month, with a savings of $58,000.

The cuts were the result of recommendations made by residents in surveys sent out by the town.

Esposito looked through 2,039 surveys in which residents suggested which town services should be kept, expanded, reduced or eliminated.

A majority of residents said they would rather see services cut than have to pay an extra $60 a year in taxes to maintain all town services.

With a tax rate of $6.37 per $1,000 assessed value, residents pay an average of $552 per year in town taxes.

County, union reach 5-year deal From the Poughkeepsie Journal:

Dutchess County has reached a five-year agreement with its largest employee union, County Executive William Steinhaus' office announced.

The pact with the CSEA spans from Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2009, and was approved by the union's 1,400 members in a landslide, according to a news release.

The agreement will be presented to the county Legislature at its Sept. 11 meeting.

. . . .

The agreement includes wage increases of 3.5 percent in 2005, 3.6 percent in 2006, 3.8 percent in 2007, 3.85 percent in 2008 and 4 percent in 2009.

Reductions in services likely in 2007 From the Ithaca Journal:

Tompkins County will get its first peek at the full 2007 budget today, opening what officials are predicting will be another tough budget season with the strong possibility of reductions in services.

County Administrator Stephen Whicher said on Friday that he will release a budget that meets the goals the Legislature set out earlier this year--a budget that includes no increase in the 2006 tax rate--but it will not be a budget he recommends legislators pass in November.

"We can't maintain services if we are going to achieve the goal the Legislature set," Whicher said.

The 2006 budget set local share spending--the amount the Legislature controls plus state mandates--at $65 million. The total budget was about $114.5 million. The 2006 tax rate was $6.59 per $1,000 of taxable assessed property value.

Whicher said the county was hit with $1.2 million in increased state mandates, specifically in the Department of Social Services and the Health Department. While Medicaid spending was capped by the state last year, spending for juvenile delinquency programs has increased at DSS, and the cost for an early intervention program at the Health Department has also risen.

"The mandates increase the tax levy about 3.5 percent," Whicher said. "We were expecting about a $450,000 increase in mandates and got $1.2 million."

One Erie County taxpayer, in a letter to the Buffalo News commenting on a plan that would shift some Erie County costs, points out that whether the money comes from the state or the county, taxpayers are still footing the bill.

All of us who live in Erie County also live in New York State. As such, we pay taxes to both. Giambra's scheme simply changes the source of money. Rather than that $24 million coming from Erie County tax dollars it will come from New York State tax dollars. Either way we are still paying it!

While it might be spread out over the whole state, the goal should be to reduce spending, not shift the cost burdens to others in the state. The plan may be "a neat trick," but it is just a variant of an old classic: rob George to pay Joel.

Cara Matthews of the Gannett News Service reports that

The Senate is expected to approve legislation Sept. 15 that would require insurance coverage for mental illness to be on a par with other health problems.

The Democrat-led Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate reached an agreement on the controversial topic in the waning hours of the legislative session two months ago, but there was not enough time to vote on it. Leaders agreed to take up the issue the next time they convened.

. . . .

Proponents of the bill say it is long overdue and, if it is passed, will bring New York in line with dozens of other states. The business industry is concerned about the measure's cost, which has not been determined, but financial assistance to small businesses is built into the legislation.

Employers would still prefer that Albany stay out of the business of deciding what health insurance employers and individuals can or must buy. But the bill we've heard described has been changed to lessen its impact on employers, especially smaller businesses.

We were struck by a national story by Associated Press on an analysis of the competitiveness of different high-tech boom towns around the country. The survey found that the top-ranked region benefited not just from its high-tech assets, but also from relatively low taxes and costs of job creation.

San Francisco Silicon Valley placed last in an annual ranking of 12 U.S. technology hubs because of the region's notoriously high housing costs, traffic congestion, unemployment rate and other quality-of-life problems.

According to a survey by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, the nation's top-ranked tech hub is North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham area, which enjoys relatively affordable housing and a thriving job market. The region wins points for local kids' performance on eighth-grade math tests and for comparatively low sales taxes and affordable utility bills.

This is something that some of the business and civic and political leaders in the Capital Region would do well to keep in mind. As we noted in this post in late June, there is an alarming tendency in the Capital Region to cite its recent nanotech successes in suggesting that the Capital Region doesn't have to worry about things like taxes and high job-creation costs. As this survey suggests, nanotech can't be enough. As impressive as the region's nanotech gains have been, it would be hard to argue that the Capital Region's high-tech assets are the equal of Silicon Valley's or even close to it. And yet this survey shows that Silicon Valley is not deemed competitive with the Research Triangle Park part of North Carolina for reasons that have nothing to do with technology and everything to do with economic-policy issues. We remain convinced that our friends and colleagues in the Capital Region ignore statewide issues with taxes and high job-creation costs at their peril. This survey supports that view.

Mixed Signal Sent as Spitzer Dodges a Teachers Event From the New York Sun:

The Democratic Party's designated candidate for governor, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, will be marking the first day of school by sending his running mate, state Senator David Paterson, to a United Federation of Teachers press conference calling on Mayor Bloomberg to shrink class sizes by hiring more teachers.

Mr. Paterson, who is running for lieutenant governor, will be lending his support to a high-profile campaign waged by the teachers union to pressure the city to set aside a chunk of its education budget for increasing the teacher workforce.

Mr. Paterson's involvement in the union event, where he will be standing beside the president of the UFT, Randi Weingarten, represents a signal by the Spitzer campaign on a key education issue that is emerging as a major flash point between Mr. Bloomberg and the teachers union, a powerful force in Albany.

Mr. Bloomberg and his schools chancellor, Joel Klein, are opposed to mandated class-size reductions and have blocked an effort by the union to amend the city charter by requiring the city to spend more than $1 billion a year on more teachers.

Notably absent from today's press conference will be Mr. Spitzer himself. Department of education officials said the UFT had indicated to them as late as Friday that Mr. Spitzer would be attending. A union representative said Mr. Spitzer was welcome to come but not formally invited.

"I've been saying very clearly we're going to reduce class size," Mr. Spitzer told The New York Sun yesterday. "It's one of the critical ways to improve the educational quality that our kids receive."

There's more Spitzer's straddle From an editorial in the New York Sun:

Give the Democratic candidate for governor, Attorney General Spitzer, some credit for skipping this morning's event calling for "smaller class sizes"--i.e., more dues-paying members for Randi Weingarten's United Federation of Teachers. But don't give him too much credit; his running mate, Senator Paterson, will be there, marking the first day of school by pledging fealty to the union's agenda.

This conveniently lets Mr. Spitzer have it both ways. He can signal to the taxpayers by his absence that he isn't the union's pawn on education policy, but he can signal to the union by the presence of his would-be lieutenant governor that he is the union's pawn on education policy.

NCCS estimates costs for facilities improvements; Centralizing elementary may not be most economical, estimate shows From the Plattsburgh Press-Republican:

Early estimates show Northeastern Clinton Central School taxpayers' pockets would be harder hit by construction of a completely new consolidated elementary facility than if the existing buildings were expanded and renovated.

That's because state aid for the former would come in at about 82 percent versus an estimated 58 percent for a stand-alone building. Aid of about 57 percent would be given were the district to adopt its plan to close the elementary buildings in Rouses Point and Mooers then add on to the Middle/High.

The jury is still out, however, on whether consolidation in Champlain would produce enough savings to offset that lower aid figure.

SV district faces tough rebuilding; Conklin, Kirkwood were hit hard From the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:

The buildings of the Susquehanna Valley Central School District escaped largely unscathed from June's flooding. No water reached the district's four schools, and none suffered major physical damage.

But the lack of physical damage doesn't begin to tell the story of the flood's serious long-term impact on the 2,100-student Broome County district.

The flood devastated lives in Conklin and Kirkwood, the two main communities served by Susquehanna Valley schools. Conklin had 760 homes and businesses damaged, 102 residences destroyed, and residential losses between $40 million and $50 million. Kirkwood had about $2 million to $3 million in damages.

Since local property taxes pay roughly 41 percent of the district's budget, this property loss will have financial implications in terms of programs and staffing, budget preparation and approval of budgets, Superintendent Carol S. Boyce said.

The district is in for some tough times, she said. "It could play out in staff and program cuts," not this year, but next spring when the district puts together its 2007-08 budget.

Walton displays resiliency; District finishes most major fixes From the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:

When she looked at the damage in June at the Townsend Elementary School, Sylvia Morgan doubted the school would be ready for the start of the year.

"I didn't feel they could pull it off," the president of the Walton Teachers Association said. "I thought they would have to delay the opening."

Water covered 80,000 square feet of the school, which is part of the Walton Central School District. The first floor was flooded from one end of the building to the other. In the kindergarten wing, the water was nearly 2 feet deep. The bus garage and the softball field at the Stockton Avenue campus also suffered damage.

The total cost district-wide is estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million. District officials expect flood insurance, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state Emergency Management Office to pay most of the recovery costs. The state also has approved a 90 percent reimbursement by the state Education Department for any costs not covered by other sources, Superintendent Jonathan W. Buhner said.

"State education department officials ... felt we took the worst hit of any school district in the area," Buhner said. But the Delaware County district had a goal, he said. "We didn't want our kids to go to school in trailers."

That goal will be met.

Schools feel pinch at the pump; Districts rethink routes; hybrid buses offer an expensive option From the Albany Times Union:

As school starts this week, local districts are looking at a range of tactics to help save on the high cost of fuel--from using hybrid buses and special engine heaters to tweaking routes and doubling-up sports teams for travel.

Districts that buy diesel through a state contract are now paying $2.31 a gallon. That's up from about $1.84 at this time last year, to a level that one local transportation director called "a killer."

"They're all looking at how many runs do they really need," said Peter Mannella, executive director of the New York Association for Pupil Transportation. "They're trying to maximize the miles that they ride out there."

An editorial in the Daily News criticizes the state Senate's plans to spend $1 million in taxpayer dollars to opposed a proposed Upstate-to-Downstate powerline.

Not only is Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno fighting a power line that would deliver much-needed electricity to New York City, but he expects city taxpayers to help him block it. What gall.

Bruno is putting up $1 million in state funds to cover the legal bills of upstate counties battling the New York Regional Interconnect, a $1.6 billion, 200-mile transmission line that would allow Con Edison customers to tap into cheap power.

The project--pending before state and federal regulators--is stirring a battle between upstaters who don't want high-tension wires in their backyards and downstaters thirsty for juice. If the NIMBY forces go to court, which seems inevitable, New Yorkers could wind up paying to sue themselves.

If Bruno and his fellow Republicans in the Senate want to join the anti-N.Y.C. team, that's their right. But they have no business playing favorites with state funds.

Legislators never approved this spending. Bruno is dipping into one of the seemingly bottomless slush funds that he, Gov. Pataki and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver build into the state budget.

. . . .

Alas, the deep thinkers of the Senate GOP have no interest in a debate on the merits. They and the Assembly have already voted to ban the use of eminent domain for the project--a bill that Pataki should not hesitate to veto.

And: The Middletown Times Herald-Record reports that

The federal regulatory official who drew upstate ire by calling the New York Regional Interconnect power line a "no-brainer" won't participate in any future proceedings on the project.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member Marc Spitzer sent a letter to the commission's chairman Tuesday saying that standing down from possible hearings on NYRI was the only way to preserve the agency's integrity.

"It is critical that the affected parties, including the people of the State of New York, have the highest respect for the FERC's adjudicative process," said Spitzer, a former Arizona energy regulator. Before assuming his new federal job, he appeared to laud the 190-mile power line proposal in an interview with the Tucson-based Daily Star.

"There is a proposal to bring clean, cheap energy to New York City from Niagara Falls," he told the paper. "It's a no-brainer, but there is opposition to the transmission line. New York City is on the cusp of blackouts as we speak."

And: The Oneonta Daily Star has a good, long story on the debate over the proposed powerline.

The war over New York Regional Interconnect Inc.'s plan to construct a 200-mile-long power line from Oneida County to Orange County continues, although not as openly as earlier this year.

Last month, the firm's application to the state's Public Service Commission was deemed deficient by the PSC. No public hearings on the controversial proposal will be held until the application is complete.

According to PSC spokeswoman Anne Dalton, there is no deadline for submitting the additional information.

"That's up to the company," she said.

NYRI spokesman Jon Pierce said Wednesday that company employees are striving to fill in the gaps and will submit more information to the state's regulators.

"That's coming along well," Pierce said.

NYRI already has signed an agreement to run its $1.6 million, 400-kilovolt line along the tracks of the New York Susquehanna & Western Railway from Marcy to Norwich. Along NYRI's preferred route, the line would continue from Norwich in Chenango County to Deposit in Delaware County on a right-of-way owned by the New York State Electric & Gas Corp.

Pierce said NYRI has been negotiating with the local utility, which is a subsidiary of the large holding company, Energy East.

"We're right where we thought we would be with NYSEG at this stage of the process," he said.

NYRI argues that its proposed electrical transmission line is needed to provide more power downstate, although the firm acknowledges its project will raise the price of electricity about 5 percent upstate.

At meetings earlier this year, hundreds of upstate residents questioned the need for the project and warned of adverse consequences for people's health, the environment, and real estate values along the power line route.

Politicians have responded to people's worries and anger by forming a regional group, Communities Against Regional Interconnect, whose stated purpose is to stop the project.

Republican state senators announced Wednesday they will provide as much as $1 million for this group in the next year.

There's much more.

As we noted a week or so ago, there are questions about the value to charter-schools skeptics of recent federal research that at first was widely spun to show that charter schools aren't necessarily outperforming government-run schools by academic measurements. Here's an excerpt from the Daily Gazette of Schenectady editorial we cited:

The two sides in the charter school debate did their best to spin that new report comparing the performance of charter schools vs. traditional public schools in reading and math tests. Such comparisons are inevitable but not terribly useful, especially at this stage of the charter school experiment.

The study, of 6,500 fourth graders from charter schools and 376,000 from traditional public schools, found charter school kids underperforming their counterparts by 5.2 points in reading and 5.8 points in math. That's statistically significant, but there were a lot of factors making it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions. For one thing, the tests dated back to 2003, when charter schools were still in their relative infancy. (Indeed, charters' fourth-grade reading performance had caught up to the public schools' in the 2005 national assessment, though it still lagged in math.)

It hardly seems fair to compare a program that's only been in operation a year or two, to a school district with decades or more of experience. The kids in the charter programs may have only been away from their old school for a year (or less) when the tests were administered, so it's hard to know who to credit (for a good performance) or blame (for a bad one).

A new editorial in the Albany Times Union pays little heed to all that nuance and uses the government-schools spin to raise its familiar objections to increasing the number of charter schools in New York State.

Anew federal study on charter schools should be must reading for New York state lawmakers. The bottom line is that charter schools are not the panacea some supporters have claimed them to be. Indeed, the study for the U.S. Department of Education found that charter schools trailed other public schools in academic performance--the exact opposite of what supporters had been predicting ever since charter schools became a trend in one state after another.

The study, which tracked students in 2003, found that fourth-graders in charter schools scored below their peers in traditional public schools. That's sobering.

One study of one set of tests shouldn't be enough to doom the charter school experiment, of course. And not all charter schools are alike, as even this study found. Consider the results in Albany, where New Covenant Charter School continues to flounder, while Brighter Choice charter schools seem seems to have found the formula for classroom success. Or consider Troy's Ark school, which has been struggling, while the International Charter School of Schenectady appears to be flourishing.

. . . .

Regrettably, some state lawmakers want to lift the cap on charter schools, which are publicly funded but largely free of the bureaucracy in public schools, on the grounds that they offer low-income parents a choice for their children's education. But what kind of choice is it if the local charter school isn't keeping pace with the public schools?

Ben Rand of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle documents the fact that New Yorkers tend to pay much more for gasoline than residents of other states, shows that high taxes are to blame.

Going for a long drive outside the borders of New York state requires some strategic thinking these days for the budget-conscious among us.

On a recent Friday, for instance, had you stopped to fill up your tank at Wade's Keystone Mini Mart in Westfield, Chautauqua County, you would have paid $3.04 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

But just 14 miles farther down the road, at the North East Truck Plaza in North East, Pa., you'd have paid just $2.76 a gallon--28 cents, or 9 percent, less. The story is the same elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Ohio and many other states.

New Yorkers on average pay more for a gallon of gas than their counterparts in every state except four: Hawaii, California, Montana and Connecticut, according to AAA.

New York's higher prices aren't a new phenomenon but have been highlighted for drivers this summer as the price of crude oil and other factors drove gas above $3 a gallon.

. . . .

The biggest factor in New York, analysts say, is likely taxes. Drivers here pay 62.3 cents a gallon in combined federal and state taxes, according to the American Petroleum Institute. That's more than every state except California and Connecticut. New York also levies a petroleum business tax and a spill tax.

The state earlier this year took steps to limit the impact of taxes on motorists. Gov. George Pataki signed legislation that puts a cap on the state's 4 percent sales tax at $2 a gallon. In other words, drivers will pay no more than 8 cents a gallon in state tax even when the price at the pump exceeds $2.

The goal of the legislation was to give households some relief from the rising price of fuel, rather than making New York competitive with other states, said John Sweeney, a spokesman for the state's budget division. New York collected more than $1 billion in petroleum-related taxes in 2005.

The relative tax burden is very much on the minds of local service station owners. New York's 62.3 cents a gallon exceeds Pennsylvania (50.7 cents), Ohio (46.4 cents), Massachusetts (41.9 cents), Vermont (38.4 cents) and New Jersey (32.9 cents). Of surrounding states, only Connecticut (63.4 cents) levies more.

The story also notes that gasoline stations on New York's borders generally do much less business than gasoline states just across the state line. Big plans for tax rebate: Fill 'er up and let's go From a letter in the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Well, our short Central New York summer is almost gone, but the good news is that the great State of New York is going to be sending us all a huge tax rebate. Now, what will I do with it? Pay off the mortgage? Buy a new car? Pay my school taxes? What? It's not that much? Well, maybe I can invest in a tankful of gas. And this is free money, folks, like the refund the IRS gives us in April, so we can enjoy it. I heard some people were complaining that it would cost $3 million to mail out all those checks, but, hey, the state is paying for that, not me, right?

. . . .

What a great state! I wonder how far south I can get on my tax rebate? Virginia, maybe?

Nonetheless: Taking aim at cap on gas sales tax; Albany County comptroller will urge lawmakers to take back reduction in levy From an Albany Times Union story by Carol DeMare:

County Comptroller Michael Conners, a vocal opponent of Albany County's cap on gasoline sales tax, intends to ask lawmakers next week to remove the cap because it has not proved to be savings to consumers.

"I'm going to the County Legislature on Sept. 11 and suggest rescinding" the measure that took effect July 1 and was designed to cut 3 cents of county taxes off the price per gallon.

"Instead, I will recommend a series of steps that I believe will have a greater impact at the pumps as an alternative," Conners said.

Jay Gallagher of the Gannett News Service reports that

Job growth in New York has lagged far behind the national average for the past decade, with the upstate region generating jobs at barely a third the norm, according to a new report.

From 1995 until last year, jobs in New York grew 8.7 percent, compared with the national figure of 14.1 percent, according to a report from the research arm of the state Business Council.

Upstate, jobs grew by only 4.8 percent in that decade, according to the report.

The state ranked 40th or 41st among states for adding jobs during the past year, three years and 10 years.

The reason is that it is expensive to create jobs in New York, said the report's author, Robert Ward of the Public Policy Institute.

"Working people are suffering because the state government makes it hard to keep jobs here," he said. "To turn it around, we need to reduce costs and act like we want businesses to grow jobs here."

The report points out that in 2004, New Yorkers paid more in state and local taxes, $5,260 per person, than any other Americans. That figure was 53 percent above the national norm of $3,447.

Ward said other costs, including energy, health insurance, workers' compensation and liability insurance, are also among the highest in the country. He said they, too, needed to be reduced for the state's job picture to improve.

Commentary: From an editorial in the Elmira Star-Gazette:

Ask the average voter in the Twin Tiers to list issues that concern him or her the most in the upcoming election and that answer is likely to be either jobs or taxes--or both.

And when it comes to those issues, New York, particularly upstate areas such as the Southern Tier, have struggled to keep up with the rest of the nation. As the fall campaign season kicks into higher gear, state and local candidates need to talk about what's on constituents' minds--jobs and taxes.

The latest report from The Public Policy Institute of New York State suggests that those talks need to offer some relief for New Yorkers who have seen their tax burden climb to No. 1 in the nation while job growth wallows in the bottom half of national rankings.

S