VOTERS’ GUIDE 2012 the only environmental scorecard for the New York State Legislature TABLE OF CONTENTS EPL/Environmental Advocates is one of the first organizations in the nation formed to advocate for the future of a state’s environment and the health of its citizens. Through 1 A quick look at the scores & lobbying, advocacy, coalition building, citizen education, and policy Find your legislators development, EPL/Environmental Advocates has been New York’s environmental conscience for more than 40 years. We work to ensure 2 2012 Legislative wrap-up environmental laws are enforced, tough new measures are enacted, and the public is informed of—and participates in—important policy 3 Oil slick award & debates. EPL/Environmental Advocates is a nonprofit corporation Tip o’ the hat tax exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. 4 Bill summaries EPL/Environmental Advocates 8 Assembly scores by region 353 Hamilton Street Albany, NY 12210 16 Senate scores by region (518) 462-5526 www.eplvotersguide.org 20 How scores are calculated & Visit us online Printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper. 21 What you can do & Front cover: The Great Western Staircase, New York State Capitol, Support us Matt Johnson/Flickr Back cover: New York State Capitol, Wally Gobetz/Flickr How to read the scorecard Super Bills See pages 4–7 for bill descriptions Governor’s action Party & ? – Awaiting action District at time of print Region 2012 Score 2011 Score Child Safe ProductsGlobal Warming ActClosing Pollution theSolar Hazardous ControlIndustryRegulating WasteAct Development LoopholeEnvironmental InvasiveFund & Jobs Enhancement SpeciesSewage Act Protection PollutionTax Exemptions RightSolar to Know forSales GreenEnergy Tax BuildingsExemption Attribute Tracking 1 2 3 4 11 13 14 18 21 23 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo (D) S?SSSS UUUUUU John J. Flanagan (R-2/Smithtown) 31 55 ---- Governor’s action Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (R-8/Massapequa) 31 59 ---- UUUUUU Kemp Hannon (R-6/Garden City) 31 59 ---- UUUUUU S – Signed into law Owen H. Johnson (R-4/Babylon) 29 55 ---- UUUU N U Long Kenneth P. LaValle (R-1/Mt. Sinai) 62 71 ---- UUUUUU Island Carl L. Marcellino (R-5/Oyster Bay) 44 60 ---- UUUUUU Jack Martins (R-7/Garden City Park) 32 59 -- l - UUUUU Y Correct environmental vote Incorrect Not a Super Super Bill environmental vote Bill sponsor sponsor Not in office/excused See page 20 for information on how scores are calculated. absence – not scored A quick look at lawmakers’ scores New York State Assembly 23 36 49 75 88 89 97 Lowest score Highest score Speaker Silver & Assembly average Republican average Minority Leader Kolb Democratic average Majority Leader Canestrari New York State Senate 18 3331 45 49 61 81 Lowest score Highest score Senate average Republican average Democratic average Majority Leader Skelos Minority Leader Sampson Find your legislators 4 The scorecard organizes lawmakers by region: 1 – Western New York 2 – Southern Tier 3 3 – Central New York 5 1 4 – North Country 5 – Capital Region 6 – Mid-Hudson 2 7 – New York City 8 – Long Island 6 8 7 Find out who represents you. Visit www.assembly.state.ny.us and www.nysenate.gov or call the New York State Assembly at (518) 455-4100 and the New York State Senate at (518) 455-2800. | 1 2012 legislative WRAP-UP Much Ado About Not Much A Frac-as in the Making If you ask the politicians, the 2012 New York State At the time of this writing, Governor Cuomo still has not Legislative Session was historic. It was monumental. made a decision on how, or even if, high-volume hydraulic Governor Andrew Cuomo called the 2012 session one of fracturing, or “fracking,” will move forward in New York. the “most successful in modern political history.” Majority But it looks like fracking has a future in the Empire State. Leader Dean Skelos called it “one of the most productive The Governor floated a plan limiting drilling to five and orderly legislative sessions [he’s] been a part of.” counties near the Pennsylvania border, for which he was Speaker Sheldon Silver said it featured “achievement[s] rightly criticized on many fronts. unparalleled in recent memory.” Based on what we’ve seen, New York isn’t ready to green- And if you believe that, we’re auctioning off our rights to light fracking. State regulators still haven’t answered many the Brooklyn Bridge. Any takers? of the important environmental questions about the process, including what to do with fracking’s toxic wastes. The 2012 session could have been a big year for big issues. From fair redistricting to limits on campaign Governor Cuomo’s environmental legacy now hangs in the contributions, we were supposed to see important changes balance. The decisions he makes will have lasting impacts in the way business is conducted in the Capitol. But these on New York State’s environment and his own political good government reforms came up short—much like the future. In the end, it may be hard to run for president with environmental agenda. a legacy of toxic contamination dragging along behind you. According to the New York Public Interest Research Green Hope & Disappointment Group, both houses of the Legislature passed fewer bills In good news (and there is some!), a measure to increase this year than in any year since at least 1914. Among the monies for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), bills stopped in their tracks were all of the Super Bills, the the state’s “green” piggy bank, leapfrogged through the environmental community’s highest legislative priorities. legislative process and landed at the Governor’s feet at the end of session. At the time of this writing, this good bill And that’s just the beginning of the long list of missed awaits the Governor’s signature. It should be an easy bill for opportunities of 2012. him to sign. The Green Drought A bill that would prohibit the sale and distribution of For the first time since 2006, the Senate failed to pass invasive species has already been signed, as has a bill a single Super Bill. If you’re keeping count, that means requiring sewage treatment plants to notify the public of none of these important pieces of legislation reached the any accidental releases of untreated waste. Governor’s desk. Due to the Senate’s failure to act on the Super Bills, their 2012 scores plummeted—the Senate But inexplicably, the Assembly Majority failed to take Majority’s average score dropped from last year’s ugly 57 to action on a climate proposal when the rubber hit the this year’s abysmal 33. This year’s “green gap” between the road—Assembly Democrats did not act on the Governor’s average scores of the Senate Republicans and Democrats clean energy plan at the end of session. This proposal is a sizeable 28 points, drawing a stark political contrast would have created a long-term commitment to solar between the rival political parties. energy, lowered the regional greenhouse gas emissions cap, and helped hasten the demise of several coal-fired power In other bad news, three bills that would be detrimental to plants in New York State. our environment passed both houses, a 10-year high. And this year, the Republican-led Senate passed nine bad bills Because of the state’s inaction on fracking, climate change, worth a total of 15 smokestacks. clean energy, and the other important environmental issues of the year, the 2012 Voters’ Guide does not name a From offering state subsidies for dirty coal-fired power Legislator of the Year. Instead, the Guide recognizes two plants to an extension of the billion-dollar brownfield Assembly members that continued to fight for New York’s boondoggle tax credits, the Republican Senate Majority environment in 2012. distinguished itself for its poor environmental record. 2 | OIL SLICK award Sean T. Hanna (R – Henrietta) New Yorkers should expect more from a former leader of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Two-year incumbent Sean Hanna, ranking minority member on the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, earns this dubious honor for a host of reasons. In floor debates during the past two sessions, Assembly member Hanna urged his colleagues to vote “no” on legislation to curb the pollution that is changing our climate. Despite voluminous evidence from the scientific community that climate change is happening at a rate faster than previously predicted, the Assembly member insists on spouting worn-out rhetoric from the climate denier blogosphere. He opposes all state-based measures to cut greenhouse gas pollution in New York, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a effort spearheaded by then-Governor George Pataki when Assembly member Hanna was a regional administrator at the DEC. The Assembly member also sponsored legislation to repeal the state’s pesticide laws, which provide the public with many safeguards from these dangerous chemicals. Thankfully, this really bad idea died in the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. With a lifetime failing score of 45, and an abysmal 2012 score of 38, Assembly member Hanna has some explaining to do on his environmental record. tip o’ the HAT Because of the state’s inaction on fracking, climate change, clean energy, and the other important environmental issues of the year, the 2012 Voters’ Guide does not name a Legislator of the Year. Instead, the Guide tips its hat to two Assembly members that stood out this legislative session. Robert K. Sweeney (D – Lindenhurst) Assembly member Robert Sweeney, Chair of the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee, continues to build upon his record championing for New York’s environment. Under his leadership, the Assembly passed four of the five 2012 Super Bills and advanced a solid response to the Governor’s budget proposal.