Brief bipartisanship and brews

Daily Point

A brief bit of bipartisan accord

A special twist emerged Tuesday in the great court debate over redistricting: Republicans defended district lines drawn by Democrats — but only in the state Assembly.

Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club, and Gary Greenberg, a maverick Democrat from Greene County, were pushing to intervene and void those legislatively-drawn Assembly districts.

The state Court of Appeals last month struck down the state Senate and U.S. House lines. But the high court didn’t rule on the Assembly maps because the Republican plaintiffs never objected to them.

A key proponent for this declaration of egregious gerrymandering by Democrats has been former GOP State Sen. George Winner from Elmira. He stood in court in Steuben County to refute the intervenors’ contention that the parties cut a deal to turn a blind eye to flaws in the Assembly map.

Winner called that allegation “not only silly but absolutely outrageous.” The Assembly lines were not challenged, he said, because “we did not believe we could meet the constitutional burden” that those lines abrogated the state’s constitutional language against gerrymandering.

But the intervenors argued the Assembly maps were also tainted because the state legislature did not follow the prescribed redistricting process. They denied arguments that it is too late for them to piggyback onto the redistricting case. At times, it descended into an almost-personal clash over party power and good government. Greenberg’s lawyer, Jim Walden, even took a slight detour in his remarks to blast the Republican-tilted New York Post for quoting an anonymous Democrat suggesting Greenberg was a “crackpot” ally of ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

Democrats joined with mainstream Republicans in this debate. Craig Bucki from Buffalo, representing Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, essentially called the intervention effort a bit of late grandstanding. In asserting a “backroom deal,” he said, “you better have some evidence and Mr. Walden doesn’t offer any.” Bucki called this “irresponsible and unbecoming of an officer of the court.”

In the argument before state Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister, lawyers for plaintiffs and respondents agreed explicitly that the major party players were in accord.

The basic reason is simple: Democrats in the lower house hadn’t tried to fiddle with GOP districts, as they did on the other maps.

— Dan Janison @Danjanison

Talking Point

Suffolk PBA jumps into school board races

Long Island’s school board elections are hotly politicized right now, a reflection of the national mood. The trend that germinated last spring as parents and residents in many districts were mobilized to speak out at board meetings over COVID-19 policies, and then on how children are taught about race and gender and sexuality and even history, has grown dramatically.

One sign of that energy is the school board endorsements coming from the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association.

Last year, both the Suffolk and Nassau PBAs endorsed two candidates in the Smithtown school district election, both of whom won. It is considered the first time any Long Island police unions had actively joined school board battles. 

This year, however, Nassau PBA President Tommy Shevlin, who was not in office 12 months ago, said his organization is making no endorsements.

But the Suffolk PBA is again staking out positions. The candidates it backs on its website include some in Connetquot, Smithtown, Kings Park, Island Trees (Nassau), Eastport-South Manor, Mount Sinai, Miller Place, and Sachem.

The PBA’s play comes as the Nassau and Suffolk chapters of the Facebook group Moms For Liberty are making a big push for their own candidates, some of whom the Suffolk PBA also supports. In addition, Long Island Loud Majority has been pushing school board candidates and promoting workshops on how to run for the seats for some time.

LILM co-founder Kevin Smith told The Point Tuesday the group expected to have the list of candidates the group is supporting in the May 17 elections completed Tuesday night.

And why is the Suffolk County PBA looking to influence the composition of local school boards?

School officials say the PBA thinks that conservative school activists opposing the teaching of Critical Race Theory and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion can also be trusted to push back against Black Lives Matter, which is seen as part of the same movement and anti-cop.

In a statement to The Point, Suffolk PBA 2nd Vice-President Lou Civello wrote, “Systemic anti-police bias in our education system as exemplified by a NY State University welcoming a cop-killer does damage to all students of all ages and our communities. The Suffolk PBA has endorsed a handful of candidates that will challenge the false anti-police narrative and increase safety by keeping cops in schools.”

 — Lane Filler @lanefiller

Pencil Point

Who's to blame?

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Data Point

New York State of brews

According to data from the Brewer's Association, New York State's craft brewery scene is a formidable one: With 485 breweries producing 1.3 million barrels of craft beer annually, New York ranks third in the number of craft breweries, behind California and Pennsylvania, and fourth in annual craft beer production.

The growth in that industry is reflected on Long Island as well, now home to 30 breweries. In 2012, Suffolk County had two registered breweries and Nassau County none, but by 2020 Suffolk had 22 and Nassau was home to eight.

Under a current law, beer made with local hops and ingredients meeting a certain threshold can be described as "New York state labelled beer." Currently, such beer has to be made with at least 60% of hops grown in New York, and 60% of its remaining ingredients by weight, excluding water, have to be grown in New York.

It's a fairly specific definition that means not all beer made in New York can be labeled as such, and starting in 2024 the thresholds are set to increase from 60% to 90%.

Some of the popular hops used for brewing, such as Mosaic, Citra or Simcoe, are owned by companies that license and control which farms can grow them; New York farmers are not licensed to grow them. The higher threshold could prove challenging for breweries to source the required supply of local hops and could limit the variety of beers that they can produce.

However, bills introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly would keep the threshold as is until 2028, providing local brewers more time to prepare for the change. The delay would also provide valuable time for more hops research in New York, at places like Cornell University's hops breeding program. 

— Kai Teoh @jkteoh