Legislative Update

2008 Chapters and Vetoes

Almost all of the remaining bills that have passed both the Assembly and Senate have been transmitted to the Governor for final action.  Several issues of interest to the University have been recently acted upon by the Governor as indicated by our 2008 Chapter & Veto Summary.

Veto Requests

Two bills are currently before Governor Paterson for final action which the University is strongly urging he veto:

S.6780-B (Robach) - Establishes a procedure for posting and notice of position vacancies for the titles of staff assistant, staff  associate, professional staff assistant and professional staff associate for both state operated and community colleges within SUNY. 

S.4249 (Maltese) - Prohibits the State University of New York, the City University of New York and community colleges from licensing their trademarks for use on unlawfully manufactured apparel and requires such educational institutions to disclose certain information  regarding licensees of their trademarks.

If your campus has not already done so, it is not too late to convey your opposition to these bills to the Governor by September 26th:

 Terryl Brown Clemons 
 Acting Counsel to the Governor
 State Capitol
 Albany, NY 12224

2009 Legislative Agenda

It is anticipated that the 2009 Legislative Agenda will be considered at the November Board of Trustees meeting.  If there are any particular issues, ideas or amendments that SUNY should consider, we are requesting that you submit them to our office by October 1st.  We expect that the 2009 agenda will advance a comprehensive de-regulation/flexibility proposal in addition to some of the 2008 carry-overs that were not successful this past session.  So if there are other issues of note or specific campus needs, please let us know.

Primary Results & Open Seats

The September 4th primaries resulted in the defeat of four incumbent Legislators:

SD 25 (Kings) Sen. Martin Connor (D) defeated by Daniel Squadron
SD 33 (Bronx) Sen. Efrain Gonzelez (D) defeated by Pedro Espada
AD 22 (Queens) Assemblywoman Ellen Young (D) defeated by Grace Meng
AD 142 (Erie) Assemblyman Michael Cole (R) defeated by Jane Corwin

In addition the following incumbents will not be returning to Albany for the 2009 session, thus creating an “open seat” for the general election:

SD 61 (Erie)  Senator Mary Lou Rath (R) - retirement
SD 43 (Rensselaer) Senator Joe Bruno (R) - retirement
SD 13 (Queens) Senator John Sabini (D) - resigned
AD 40 (Kings) Assemblywoman Gorden (D) - convicted/jailed
AD 86 (Bronx) Assemblyman Luis Diaz (D) - resigned

Regional Meetings

As previously announced, the Office of Government Relations will be conducting three regional meetings to discuss our advocacy strategy for the 2009 legislative session.  Mike Dean from Tipping Point Strategies has been working with SUNY System Administration in developing a strategic grassroots advocacy campaign and assisting us in redeveloping the look and mission of the SupportSUNY.org website.  Mike will be presenting at each of the regional meetings.

October 14th
Rochester Regional Meeting
Monroe Community College
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM

October 15th
Albany Regional Meeting
System Administration
11:00 AM - 2:30 PM

October 16th
New York City Regional Meeting
College of Optometry
10:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Voter Registration Activities

October 10th 2008 is the last day a person can register to vote in the November 4th general election.  Section 5-211 of the NYS Election Law requires all colleges to provide an application for registration for each student at the beginning of the Fall semester.  In addition, Section 3-212 of the NYS Election Law requires each local board of elections to develop a “voter registration action plan” which provides for a registration activities coordinator to work with a college campus liaison to “plan, prepare and implement voter education and registration programs to enhance electoral participation.

Jim Campbell
Director of Legislative Relations
Office of University Relations
518-443-5148