Historic legislation in Albany

Above everything else that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the legislature accomplished this year, they extended a civil right, marriage, to human beings denied that option for far too long. The rest of the progress made during the session, while tremendous, was political: Taxes, budgets, rents and ethics reform.

The passage of same-sex marriage late Friday was about equality, and New York once again establishing its leadership role on liberty. The vote was also a defining moment in the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who did the right thing by persuading his conference to bring the measure to the floor even though he would vote no.

Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City), who also voted against the bill, nonetheless played a significant role in crafting language that would protect religious organizations from discrimination lawsuits for refusing to allow same-sex weddings on their property or by their personnel. Without those changes it was unlikely the bill would have made it to the Senate floor for a vote.

That said, the other triumphs, and obstacles overcome, must be tallied too.

Year after year, the state of New York had grappled with the same issues, the worst of them its huge and ever-growing property taxes. Governors railed against the ways of Albany, but never had the recipe for making real progress.

That changed this session, thanks to a new ingredient and a hotter oven. Cuomo, a strong and shrewd-in-the-ways of Albany governor, powered by a populace so enraged and dispirited that legislators feared they could not maintain the status quo without jeopardizing their jobs, made the transformational difference.

Every major item on Cuomo's agenda passed. Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and their conferences, got it done.

Legislation to cap property-tax increases had been kicking around Albany for the better part of a decade, and lawmakers failed to pass it at 4 percent a few years ago. This time it passed at 2 percent. What changed? Homeowners, facing joblessness, falling property values and rising tax bills, are no longer convinced that massive school district hikes are "for the children," or that the only options are spiraling levies or crippled services.

As evidence of how hard it is to create change and control spending in Albany, both houses passed a bill Friday that would have let school districts pay for pension contributions by borrowing rather than using cash, a clear circumvention of the cap. Cuomo has rightly said he will veto it.

Ethics reform languished for years because it doesn't affect taxpayers' pocketbooks in an obvious way, and it's hard to make voters believe Albany can be cleaned up. Most lawmakers fought previous ethics reform efforts harder than voters demanded them.

But again, Cuomo exploited citizen outrage, and legislators approved a decent bill that does much to increase lawmaker disclosure of outside income even if it fails to create a strong mechanism to monitor and punish officials. Still, this is progress.

These changes, and an on-time budget, were the signature triumphs, but many other strong bills passed. The largest state universities, Stony Brook included, got the autonomy and stable tuition increases they need. Property owners can fund "green" upgrades through their power bills. Efficient new power plants can be built with less red tape.

The session was, as always, harried, chaotic and undemocratic. Lawmakers sealed deals behind closed doors and jammed months of work into the final days and hours.

The difference this time was that in the end, on issues both moral and fiscal, the good work got done.