NEW YORK STATE GOVERNMENT Second Edition Robert B. Ward The Rockefeller Institute Press Albany, New York Cover photo by Michael F. Joyce, NYS Office of General Services Photographer Dustjacket Author Photo by Tim Raab/Northern Photo Rockefeller Institute Press, Albany, New York 12203-1003 © 2006 by the Rockefeller Institute Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America The Rockefeller Institute Press The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government 411 State Street Albany, New York 12203-1003 For Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data please contact the publisher ISBN: 1-930912-16-1 (softcover) 1-930912-15-3 (hardcover) To Deborah Hormell Ward With gratitude from her fortunate husband. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ................................. xv Acknowledgments ...........................xvii Chapter One — A Broad Impact ....................1 An Increasingly Important Role .................4 Why This Book? .........................5 A Key Question: What Does State Government Do? ......6 Government Responds ......................8 Chapter Two — Reform: Is This the Time? ..............11 Rising Calls for Reform .....................13 Four Categories of Reform ...................16 The Budget Process .....................16 Legislative Process ......................20 The Role of Money in Lobbying ..............22 The Role of Money in Campaigns..............25 Redistricting .........................26 Policy Reforms ........................27 The State Constitution ......................28 The Political and Governmental Culture of Albany ....31 The Road Ahead .........................33 Chapter Three — The Upstate Challenge ...............35 A Dramatic Reversal of Economic Fortunes ..........38 A Rising Tide, Then an Ebb, of Manufacturing Jobs .....41 Sharp Decline in Upstate Cities .................43 The Upstate Economy Becomes a Political Issue .......45 What Explains Upstate’s Long Decline? ............46 Still Some Key Advantages ...................50 Looking Ahead ..........................51 Chapter Four — The Governor and Other Statewide Elected Leaders ..........................55 A Powerful Executive ......................56 VI NEW YORK STATE GOVERNMENT Who Becomes Governor of New York? ............62 What Does the Governor Do?..................63 Enacting Laws: Constitutional Powers, Political Influence ......................64 The Agreement to Create Charter Schools...........66 Persuading Legislators on an Ethics Law ...........67 The Power of the Spotlight ...................68 The Administrator-in-Chief ...................70 Limits to Executive Authority..................73 The Governor’s Staff: The “Second Floor” ..........74 Governor’s Legislation .....................76 Assessing Governors .......................77 The Lieutenant Governor ....................81 Beyond the Governor ......................83 The Comptroller .........................85 The $128 Billion Job .......................87 The Attorney General ......................90 Chapter Five — The Legislature ....................95 The Basics ............................97 From Royal Control to the Will of the People .........99 “One Man, One Vote” .....................102 The Powers of the Legislature .................106 Limits on Power ........................109 How Do The Houses Work? ..................111 How a Bill Becomes a Law: The Basics ............113 The Role of the Leadership ..................114 The Committee System.....................118 Conference Committees: What Was Old in New Again . 121 The Minority: An Important Voice ..............122 A “Professional” Legislature..................123 Who Are They? Members of the Legislature Today .....125 Representative Democracy = Politics .............129 Getting Elected .........................131 Chapter Six — The Judiciary .....................133 State Courts: The Mainstream of the U.S. Judiciary.....135 Structure of the Courts.....................136 The Constitution on the Courts ................137 An “Absurdly Complex” System ...............140 The Trial Courts ........................142 Structural Reform?.......................144 Appellate Courts ........................146 The Court of Appeals .....................148 Powers of the Courts ......................151 TABLE OF CONTENTS VII Checks on the Courts’ Powers .................154 The Judges ...........................155 The People’s Courts: The Juror’s Role ............157 Chapter Seven — The Constitution..................161 Changes Over Time ......................162 The National Context......................164 New York’s First Constitution .................165 The 1821 Constitutional Convention: Historic Changes . 166 More Power to the People: The 1846 Convention ......167 Development of the Modern Constitution: 1894-1938 ....169 The Constitution at the Turn of the 21st Century: A Bill of Rights — Right at the Start ...........170 Structure of State Government: The Legislature.......175 Structure of State Government: The Governor .......177 The Comptroller and the Attorney General .........179 Structure of State Government: The Judiciary........182 What Government Must, May, and Cannot Do .......183 Driving Constitutional Change: Politics, Society, and Ideas ..........................188 The 1997 Vote Against a Convention .............189 Constitutional Reform Without a Convention ........192 Chapter Eight — Appointed Officials, Administrative Law, and the Bureaucracy .......................193 Policy, Powers, and People ...................194 The Power of Appointed Officials ...............195 Patronage, or Performance? .................197 State Agency Powers: Regulation ...............200 Regulating Business Relationships ..............201 Public Service Commission ..................202 Banking and Insurance Regulation ..............204 The Banking Department ...................207 The Insurance Department ..................208 The Department of State ....................211 Administrative Law: Authority Under the Statutes .....212 Regulating the Regulators: SAPA ...............215 Rulemaking ...........................216 Executive Chamber Oversight of Regulations ........219 Adjudication ..........................221 Licensing ............................222 Beyond SAPA ..........................222 From SAPA to GORR .....................223 Regulatory Agencies and the Courts .............225 VIII NEW YORK STATE GOVERNMENT Chapter Nine — The Workforce ...................227 Who Are the State’s Workers? ................228 The Legal Environment: Yesterday and Today........230 The Taylor Law .........................232 Resolving Disputes Under the Taylor Law ..........235 Bargaining Units and Unions .................236 Repairing a “Calcified” Civil-Service System ........237 Employee Relations in the 21st Century ...........239 Chapter Ten — State Government’s Biggest Job: The Budget ............................241 Who Are the Players? .....................242 How to Measure the Budget? .................244 More Than Meets the Eye ...................245 What’s in the Budget: The Spending Side ..........246 Priorities Change ........................248 Where Does the Money Come From? .............249 Cutting Taxes ..........................251 The Growing Role of State-Sponsored Gambling ......253 The Executive Budget Process .................257 How the Process Unfolds ....................259 The Legislature’s Role .....................262 A Contentious Process .....................264 The Continuing Struggle Over Budget Powers ........265 The Battle Over Proposal One.................268 Who Decides, and How? ....................269 The Balance of Power .....................271 How New York Compares ...................272 Why Is Government in New York More Expensive?.....273 More Transparency Under New Accounting Rules .....275 Budget Watchdogs .......................276 Chapter Eleven — State Debt and Public Authorities ........279 The Limits on State Debt....................281 The Rise of Public Authorities .................282 Public Authorities Today....................285 State Debt Profile ........................289 Criticisms of State Debt and Public Authorities .......293 Reform Efforts: Recent and Proposed ............298 Chapter Twelve — Health and Mental Hygiene ...........301 A Multi-Tiered System .....................303 Where It Began: Public Health ................304 State Government’s Growing Involvement ..........305 A Broad Range of Powers ...................307 TABLE OF CONTENTS IX Regulating and Providing Health Care ............309 Medicaid ............................310 Expanding Services, and Growing Costs ...........311 Political Support ........................315 Hospital Funding and Long-Term Care ...........316 Major Changes Coming for Hospitals and Nursing Homes .......................317 Medicaid Managed Care ....................318 Expanding Health Coverage ..................320 Recent Developments: Addressing Local Costs and Fraud ..........................321 Regulating Health Care ....................322 Health Department Institutions ................323 Vital Statistics and Other Responsibilities ..........324 Mental Hygiene .........................326 Mental Health..........................330 Mental Retardation.......................331 Alcoholism and Substance Abuse ...............332 Overseeing Quality of Care ..................333 Chapter Thirteen — Education ....................335 Overview of Education Policymaking ............336