There’s a greater chance than ever that the New York State Senate could be dominated by Democrats after the November 8th election. Many issues stalled in the Republican-led Senate for years would now have a possibility of passing.
Campaign finance reform, the Dream Act - which offers college tuition support to the children of undocumented immigrants - and more money for underperforming schools are just a few of the topics that might be approved under a Senate controlled by Democrats.
Governor Andrew Cuomo is betting on that happening, and he’s been more active this election cycle in bolstering Democratic candidates. He spoke at a rally for incumbent Senator George Latimer in Westchester on October 30th.
Cuomo says at the top of his agenda will be ethics changes to respond to a string of corruption scandals. They have so far been resisted by the Republicans who lead the Senate.
“We have one more big piece that we have to do,” Cuomo said. “And that is ethics reform in Albany.”
The governor most recently has been pushing for limits to lawmakers’ outside income. Both former leaders of the Legislature are facing jail time for illegally monetizing their positions as legislators for personal gain.
Groups that have long supported ethics reforms say Senate Democrats would likely be better on the issue.
Jessica Wisneski is with the group Citizen Action, which is pushing for campaign finance reforms. They include closing a loophole that allows donors to form limited liability companies and bypass rules that set caps on donations to candidates.
“There’s never a guarantee that you can get anything in Albany,” Wisneski said. “But the likelihood that things will move forward on campaign finance reform is much greater under the Democrats. Many of them have sponsored bills. They've shown their support."
Cuomo has said in the past that he backs public financing of campaigns, but has not pushed as actively for it as he has for other issues, like raising the minimum wage. Wisneski, whose group supports public campaign financing, says with Democrats in charge of the Senate, it’s more likely that they will respond to what she says is increasing voter demands to get big money out of politics. She says the popularity of the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, who said his average campaign donation was $27, is evidence of that.
“The public at large is very ready for a deep change of course where they get to be in charge of their elections again and their small donations matter not the big-time corporate donations," she said.
Wisneski says long stalled criminal justice reforms could also move under a Democratic Senate. She says New York is one of the only states to still sentence 16 and 17-year-olds convicted of felonies to adult prisons.
“Raise the age has bipartisan support from DA’s and local law enforcement, but it’s been blocked for years by Senate Republicans,” Wisneski said.
Governor Cuomo, while pushing progressive social issues, has also been a fiscal conservative during his tenure in office. And he’s relied on Republicans in the Senate to back a property tax cap and a voluntary limit on state spending growth to 2 percent per year.
Democrats traditionally have a reputation of being more open to raising taxes and increasing spending than do Republicans. Cuomo has been warning gatherings of Democratic candidates and their supporters that they too, should be careful about spending increases or raising taxes.
