Silver: Master of the political chess game

ALBANY -- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been called a lot of names over the years.

The Sphinx. An enigma. A master of the political chess game played in Albany.

Last year, some politicians called him down and out because the new governor, Andrew M. Cuomo, riding a wave a popular support, would get what he wanted.

Cuomo did. But along the way, Silver (D-Manhattan) got a lot of what he wanted, too: rent control, a "millionaires' tax," a promise to raise school funding 4 percent in 2012.

"The governor found out," Silver said in an interview in his office, adjacent to the Assembly chamber on the State Capitol's third floor, "that befriending the legislature was not a bad way to do things."

Silver, 67, is the second-longest serving speaker in New York history. Since 1994, he has been one of the so-called three men in a room, who along with the governor and Senate leader hold a grip on the flow of legislation and money.

He rose to power during the last year of Mario Cuomo's gubernatorial tenure and was still in office when the former governor's son took over. He's on his fifth governor and fifth Senate leader.

Politicians and analysts say he is exceedingly patient, he never reveals his hand too soon, and he is loyal to his downstate-dominated liberal members, willing to push their priorities and publicly take any heat.

Those familiar with the ways of the Capitol know the drill. Silver lays low in a governor's first year in office, trying to accommodate the new chief executive, or staying in strategic retreat.

He went along with Republican Gov. George Pataki's 30 percent income-tax cut in 1995. He gave Democrat Eliot Spitzer a victory on workers' compensation days after his inauguration. He backed Andrew M. Cuomo's call for the state's first property-tax cap.

"He really does try to have a honeymoon period with governors," said former Gov. David A. Paterson, a Democrat who served 2008-10. "In my first year, I felt that if he thought I really wanted something, he would cooperate. But as time goes on, he does have a constituency -- his members -- and he is very, very loyal to his members. . . . That's why he's been speaker 17 years and probably could be for another 17."

Invoking Silver's favorite sports team, Paterson joked: "The only time I got the better of him was betting on [New York] Rangers hockey games. The key to his success? He never worries about time. . . . If you are willing to negotiate like someone who's got all the time, you can probably wear down your adversary."

Making his mark

Scott Reif, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), said in an email Skelos "believes that the Speaker is a passionate advocate for his conference, and that he fights very hard for what be believes in. Over the last year, Senator Skelos, the Speaker and Governor Cuomo have worked in a bipartisan manner to accomplish many things for Long Island families, and we're confident that it will continue this session."

In 2011, Silver appeared to be the odd man out as the governor and Skelos attacked a $10 billion state deficit with a budget that included big spending cuts.

Nonetheless, Silver made his mark.

He agreed to the property-tax cap, but got Cuomo and Skelos to renew New York City's rent regulations -- a top priority. After Cuomo and Skelos went months saying they wouldn't back a higher tax rate on the wealthy, the troubled economy wore them down and Silver got them to agree to a millionaires' tax.

Asked for a comment about Silver, Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said: "The Assembly wants to show that they were not the cause of the legendary dysfunction all those years, and by getting something done now it allows them to say they weren't the problem."

This month, Silver inserted a bit of discord into Cuomo's State of the State address by calling for an increase in the minimum wage, a tax cut for low earners and a spending hike for community colleges.

Some Albany watchers called it "classic Shelly."

"Silver knows how to play this game," said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant. "You give the governor as much as you can in a non-election year, so you can give your members as much as you can in an election year, even if you have to fight."

All 212 seats in the Senate and Assembly are up for election this fall and "not the governor," said Assemb. James Conte (R-Huntington Station), who has been in the Assembly since 1988.

"In election years, leaders have to look out for their members and Shelly has shown he can do that very well," Conte said. "This year, I think he's going to push extra hard on his priorities."

'A master negotiator'

Conte and others said Silver excels at not revealing what he wants at the bargaining table -- that's how he got the "Sphinx" moniker. During Pataki's 12 years in office, Silver often waited out the governor and Senate Republicans to get what he wanted in the state budget -- infuriating them. The budget was more than 100 days late three times.

"He's a master negotiator as I think anyone who has sat opposite him at a table around here would acknowledge," said Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), a longtime ally.

Take the so-called millionaires' tax.

Enacted after the 2008 national financial meltdown, it raised taxes for families making more than $300,000 annually. But it was authorized to expire at the end of 2011 and Cuomo and Skelos killed Silver's attempts to renew it through the state budget. Skelos declared it "dead, dead, dead."

As late as November, with the economy struggling, the Occupy Wall Street movement gaining steam and polls showing support for reviving the tax, Cuomo said: "The fact that everybody wants it, that doesn't mean all that much."

Like water dripping on rock, Silver kept calling for a "true millionaires' tax" on people who rake in seven figures or more per year. And one month later, with state revenue falling below projections, Cuomo and Silver agreed to a tax package that gave the middle class a tax cut and raised rates for families earning more than $2 million annually.

"We made the millionaires' tax a central theme and we stuck to it," Silver said, "even after the budget, even when everyone kept saying it was impossible. The Senate said no. The governor said no."

Pausing a beat, he continued: "And lo and behold, before the end of the year that tax, with some modifications, was renewed."

Focus on education

The son of Russian immigrants, Silver, an observant Jew, has always lived in Manhattan's Lower East Side. His father ran a hardware store; his mother was a housewife. He graduated from Brooklyn Law School and went into personal injury law before politics.

Silver beat back a coup attempt for control of the Assembly in 2000 by Syracuse lawmaker Michael Bragman. Since then, his position has become even stronger, lawmakers said.

In Albany's power troika, Silver has always pushed for the most spending, especially on schools and social programs. His signature program of the late 1990s was the launch of statewide prekindergarten. This year, he wants to make raising New York's minimum wage, $7.25, a cause. He is expected to roll out a plan to raise the wage Monday.

"The way we see it, basically anyone who works full-time in this country shouldn't be poor," Silver said. "Right now, if you work full-time at minimum wage, you're pretty poor."

Cuomo, after only one year, is "unequivocally" the most successful governor he's worked with, Silver said, but it's not because the governor has a mandate and the legislature stepped aside.

"We are Democrats and he is a Democrat and, you know, he is ours," Silver said. "But we look at ourselves as partners in the operation of government."

Asked how Year Two of the Cuomo administration might play out, Silver said: "The willingness to negotiate and recognize there are partners in government who may have slightly different views, and to accommodate that, is going to tell the story about a governor and a legislature, and what successes he'll achieve."