Spin Cycle
News, views and commentary on Long Island, state and national politics
Debate mounts over top exec pay for state service providers
Debate over sky-high salaries at state-funded nonprofits entered a new phase last week as the state Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, chaired by Carl Marcellino (R-Syosset), elicited comments on Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s reform proposals.
Several who testified, including representatives from two major law firms, protested that Cuomo’s move against instances of excess...
N.Y.'s Cuomo looks to steer clear of another D.C. melee
As with the national debt crisis last fall, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is trying to steer clear of another Washington issue – whether to mandate that employers provide health insurance coverage for contraception.
“The issues that pose government policy against the church are especially difficult for all of us, especially for those of us who happen to be Catholic,” Cuomo said in a radio interview....
PBA labels Mangano's Nassau-paid robocalls 'scare tactic'
When County Executive Edward Mangano robocalled all Nassau residents last week to say he chose to reorganize the police department rather than raise taxes 19 percent, Democrats said his numbers were wrong while PBA president James Carver said “This is the most offensive scare tactic I have seen.”
Mangano aide Brian Nevin retorted, “Phone calls were the cheapest, most effective way to inform...
Déjà vu: How federal birth-control uproar echoed New York's
Ten years ago, Cardinal Edward Egan, then New York’s archbishop, stormed Albany to protest legislation that would require health insurance to cover birth control prescriptions. “This is humbug,” Egan said, calling the move anti-Catholic – a complaint echoed last week by New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan about the Obama administration rule requiring employers to cover contraception.
Interestingly,...
Half-dozen Suffolk sheriff's aides spared the $$ ax
Ex-Suffolk Executive Steve Levy’s former secretary -- whose new job in the sheriff’s office was cut by county lawmakers from the budget -- has had her post spared just before her layoff was to take place at month’s end.
Dixie Lee Gunter’s $54,000-a-year spot as a neighborhood aide was one of six sheriff's department jobs restored by lawmakers under an emergency resolution put forward by County...
Suffolk: Ex-Leg. blasts election 'outreach' post for Assemb.'s kin
The daughter of Assemb. Philip Ramos (D-Central Islip) has gotten a promotion to a job at the Suffolk board of elections that pays $133,000 a year — more than double her old salary — a move a critic says smacks of a political deal.
Kristina Vasquez, an eight year board employee, has been promoted from a $51,322 a year job as elections clerk to Hispanic outreach coordinator at the board --...
Pol's contributor allowed to testify at hearing
From The Associated Press ALBANY -- A recent state Senate hearing called to investigate an SAT cheating scandal included a security company that was invited to testify a month after it contributed campaign cash to the committee's chairman.
The situation reveals a little-noticed concern about the dozens or perhaps hundreds of Legislature hearings each year, a good-government advocate said....
Suffolk GOP backs Labate against Rep. Israel
Stephen Labate, a retirement counselor and Army reservist, has just won the endorsement of the Suffolk County Republican Committee in his bid to challenge six-term Democratic Rep. Steve Israel of Dix Hills. Labate sought the GOP nomination to run against Israel two years ago, but Suffolk Republicans instead went with businessman John Gomez, a friend of Fox New host Sean Hannity. Israel...
Judge to state: Follow election dates
U.S. District Judge Gary Sharpe judge on Thursday set the federal election calendar in New York to break a partisan logjam. He ordered that the state follow an election calendar earlier proposed by the Democratic members of the state board of elections.
“New York has once again demonstrated its intransigent refusal to comply with a federal mandate protecting the federal voting rights of those...
Biden claims 'we can work out' contraception issues
The spirited debate over a federal policy forcing religious institutions to provide contraceptive coverage for employees has reached a phase where Vice President Joseph Biden says he's "determined to see that this gets worked out."
Here's the AP story....
