Comptroller Stringer at a recent rally (photo: @scottmstringer)

New Yorkers work a lot. It's no secret, but just to make it crystal clear and have the data for the bragging - or weeping - rights, a new report shows the reality in stark detail.

A "first-of-its-kind" analysis of workplace trends by City Comptroller Scott Stringer shows that New Yorkers work longer hours than people in 29 other cities across the U.S. when factoring in time spent commuting. An analysis of data from the 1990 and 2000 census and the 2013 American Community Survey shows that the New York workweek averages out to a combined 49.1 hours of work and travel. Not only do people in the city spend more time at work than those in most other cities, but they spend more time commuting than people anywhere else, with an average of 6 hours and 18 minutes each week.

New York City's combined work-commute total puts it first, just ahead of San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Houston. Stringer's report says that while New Yorkers might "take some pride in our dedication, ambition, and toughness" from this standing, there are also clear disadvantages to such a reality.

Making the most time sacrifice, people in New York's finance sector have the longest workweeks, averaging 53 hours according to the comptroller's report.

Meanwhile, a long commute creates "a one-two punch" for those employed in lower-wage jobs, said Stringer in the press release announcing his office's findings. Low-wage laborers work longer hours for less pay and have to spend more of their time traveling to work and back home. On average, a security guard in the city spends more than eight hours per week commuting, the report says.

Meanwhile, those with higher-paying jobs can afford to live in areas better served by transit infrastructure and closer to the epicenter of New York City employment, Manhattan. "If New York City is going to symbolize the American dream, we can't be a nightmare when it comes to long work hours and commuting," Stringer stated.

Despite a significant wage advantage -- full-time workers in New York earn 16 percent more than their counterparts in other cities -- longer commutes mean that certain job groups actually earn less than they would in other cities. For instance, the effective wages for home health care professionals and nurses is 11 percent less than in other cities.

The report also looked at how commuting affected women with children and found that the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for this subgroup is 3 percentage lower in New York than the average of the 29 other cities included in the study.

"These findings are not just troubling – they should be a call to action," said Stringer in a statement emailed to Gotham Gazette. "We need flex time policies that allow women to stay in the workforce and give parents the opportunity to spend time with their families. We need to make targeted investments in our mass transit system-upgrading our signal system and repairing tracks-to get commuters to work on time."

Without making specific recommendations, the findings of the report touch on different policy areas from minimum wage to workplace rules, economic development to transportation infrastructure.

The crumbling state of New York's $1 trillion transportation infrastructure has been of concern to city officials and was the subject of multiple hearings in 2014. Stringer's report estimates that some of the pressure on the transit system could also be relieved by implementing flexible work arrangements, an issue that he also advocated for in June last year.

***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

Gov. Cuomo discussing his agenda (photo: @NYGovCuomo)

In further indication of the growing hunger in New York and across the nation for paid family leave, the State Assembly again passed the Paid Family Leave Act on Tuesday in Albany.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans introduced their one-house budget resolution last week and also put the spotlight on the issue that Governor Andrew Cuomo is quickly having to figure out a plan on - though the Senate's version is different from the Assembly's in terms of funding mechanisms. The governor recently said that the "appetite" did not exist in the Legislature for paid family leave, but in the face of a paid family leave proposal making its way into each house's budget, his office has since said Cuomo supports the policy and his administration is studying the issue.

Upon passing the legislation, which the Democratically-controlled Assembly has passed several times, Speaker Carl Heastie said, "New Yorkers should not have to choose between keeping their jobs and taking care of a sick family member or spending time with a new one."

As budget negotiations heat up before the April 1 deadline, paid family leave has taken many by surprise as a hot-button issue for these budget and legislative sessions. It now finds itself alongside an increase in the minimum wage, the DREAM Act, education reforms and funding, ethics reforms, and other keys to intense spending and policy talks.

The U.S. falls behind other nations in its lack of a federal paid family leave law. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for 12-weeks of job-protected leave for family and medical emergencies with continued health insurance coverage. It covers childbirth (maternity and paternity leave), caring for an adopted or foster child, caring for loved ones and personal illness. The catch: it does not mandate any pay.

New York has its own infrastructure for off-the-job disability in the form of Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI). All private employers are required to provide TDI. Through TDI, a deduction of 60 cents a week from an employee's paycheck covers between five and seven weeks for recovery from childbirth, and injuries and sickness. Only four other states provide TDI benefits -- California, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Hawaii.

But in recent years, besides Hawaii, the other three have modernized TDI to include a paid family leave plan. Hawaii is considering doing the same. "New York is really the next logical state to do it," said Nancy Rankin from the Community Service Society. "It would be an easy and affordable way to make it possible."

When the New York State Assembly passed the Paid Family Leave Act last year, the bill died in the Republican-controlled Senate. While Cuomo may be scrambling a bit to imagine his own policy specifics - he, like many lawmakers, is likely wary of the effects such a bill could have on businesses - the Senate included its family leave bill at the behest of the Independent Democratic Conference, which it caucuses with.

In an emailed statement, Heastie, who represents part of the Bronx, said, "No one should have to risk financial hardship or fear losing their job because they need to care for a sick family member. Assembly Democrats do not believe in penalizing the hardworking men and women of this state. We believe in giving them the support they need because when we invest in the health and safety of our families we invest in the future of New York. It is time to pass Paid Family Leave here in New York."

The Assembly proposal, according to a Tuesday press release, calls for expansion of TDI to ensure paid family leave, in part through employee contributions: "Under this measure, employers would be required to offer a paid family leave benefit and could have workers contribute up to 45 cents per week to the policy. This employee contribution would ensure up to 12 weeks of paid family leave, cover two-thirds of the worker's salary and guarantee job security during the absence."

The Senate's proposal came through the IDC, led by Senator Jeff Klein, also of the Bronx. The fundamental difference between the two proposals is that while the Assembly is pushing for expansion of the TDI, Klein's proposal calls for state funding of the benefit. It is projected to cost $125 million in the first year, with funding in subsequent years being bolstered by employee contributions. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos' office refused comment citing ongoing budget negotiations. The governor has already rejected the plan for overly relying on state funds.

"It's hard to sustain a private sector benefit if it needs to be renewed each year by the state Legislature," said Donna Dolan, executive director of the New York Paid Family Leave Coalition. "You're calling for funding a private sector benefit from public funding."

The Coalition last week responded to the Governor's 'no appetite' comment with a letter signed by 56 women lawmakers and leaders. The letter stated, in part, "Paid family leave would ensure that no New Yorker has to choose between the health and economic stability of her family. It would mean that the major life moments we all share – the arrival of a new child, or a close relative needing care – do not have to mean debt or bankruptcy."

The expansion of New York's TDI cash benefit has been long in the offing, family leave extension or not. The current benefit level has been frozen since 1989 at $170 a week despite a mandate for it to be at least 50 percent of the average statewide weekly wage. (In 2013, the average weekly wage in New York was $1,200, which would mean a $600 benefit if there was no cap). In comparison, the benefits are $1,104 per week in California, $772 in Rhode Island and $604 in neighboring New Jersey. "To make it meaningful, we need to raise TDI," said CSS's Rankin.

It is unclear where any middle ground for the Senate and Assembly proposals might be. It is hard for anyone to argue with the underlying premise of paid family leave, but the devil is in the funding details - and concerns over impacts on businesses.

"It's good for families and it has been good for business in the states that passed it," said Dolan. She suggests bringing business representatives from New Jersey to give the Senate reports on paid family leave.

But business leaders don't necessarily agree. President and CEO of Partnership for New York City Kathryn Wylde said, "Every time there's a new requirement that takes people out of the workplace, that removes people off a job, that requires even a temporary replacement, you can't say there's no impact." She added, "It's important that the state Legislature and the City Council recognize that there's a cumulative impact of their actions on employers and on New York's attractiveness as a place to build a business."

As New York lawmakers struggle to find a solution to this long-standing demand, the movement for paid family leave is gaining momentum. In its annual survey, the Unheard Third, CSS found 84 percent approval for paid family leave last year, up from 76 percent in 2005. Even President Obama mentioned it in his State of the Union address this year and is attempting to pass the Healthy Families Act which would create a $2 billion fund to help states with paid family leave.

"It goes beyond policy to a basic value," said Rankin. "Why wouldn't we do this and why wouldn't we do it now?"

***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

Assembly Speaker Heastie (photo: Karen DeWitt)

Legislative leaders from both houses appear set to test Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s promise that he will sacrifice an on-time budget to get a set of ethics reforms he laid out in February, not long after the arrest of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on corruption charges.

Last week, the State Senate and State Assembly each passed its one-house budget, marking stark differences from the governor and from each other on a number of aspects of the spending plan for fiscal year 2016, which is set to begin April 1, the deadline for reaching a deal.

With renewed focus on corruption in the Legislature thanks to Silver’s indictment, Cuomo has taken hardline stances on both ethics and education in his budget, weaving major policy proposals into spending bills. Besides his ethics promise Cuomo insists he will only increase state education spending by $327 million if the Legislature does not accept his sweeping education reforms, which include a new teacher evaluation system and an increase of the charter school cap. If the Legislature agrees to the changes Cuomo has promised to up education spending by $1.1 billion. Cuomo's budget comes in at over $140 billion in total.

The Legislature is faced with either approving the bills or risking the late budget. Legislative leaders and some good government groups see the move as a stretch of gubernatorial power. And while there was some discussion that the Legislature might sue Cuomo over including policy in the budget they appear to have written off the idea and moved to negotiations.

Many legislators are skeptical that Cuomo will really push things that far - after all, he has rarely missed an opportunity to tout that he is four for four in passing on-time budgets, something predecessors struggled to accomplish. With negotiations puttering along and the end-of-the-month deadline rapidly approaching, a number of legislators expect Cuomo will do what he is known to do: cut a deal - and with it avoid the public backlash a late budget would bring. Curiously, legislators have begun suggesting they could have a budget deal early, setting March 26 as a goal.

As is the annual tradition, each house countered Cuomo’s budget with its own proposal. Both the Democratically-controlled Assembly and the Republican-controlled Senate put forth one-house budgets that delink policy and spending.

The Democratic Assembly Majority is pushing its favorite items in a different form than the governor has included - a minimum wage increase larger than Cuomo’s, a DREAM act resolution that isn’t tied to an education tax credit, and a seven- rather than three-year extension of mayoral control of schools. Making little mention of ethics reform and offering none of Cuomo’s education reforms, the Assembly budget increases education spending by $1.8 billion.

The Senate budget, meanwhile, backs the education tax credit but leaves out The DREAM Act, and it also omits a minimum wage increase and an extension of mayoral control of schools. The budget plan increases funding for charter schools and ups the cap. It also includes new requirements for disclosure of outside income by legislators and members of the executive branch.

Interestingly, each house has included semblance of paid family leave, which Cuomo recently said the Legislature had “no appetite” for, but the plans are drastically different and could lead nowhere. The plan in the Senate budget is there at the behest of the Independent Democratic Conference, or IDC.

Both houses came together last week to begin the process of reconciling their budget proposals in conference committees. Negotiations with Cuomo continue behind closed doors.

A side-by-side look at key policy differences as outlined in the three different budget proposals: 

Budget Comparison

AG Schneiderman speaking Monday night (photo: Ben Max)

NEW YORK - Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Monday inserted himself squarely in the debate on ethics reforms by proposing a slate of measures that would tackle the culture of corruption in Albany.

"Corruption has been a feature of government in the Empire State for a long time," said Schneiderman at a forum hosted at New York Law School by good government group Citizens Union. Speaking to an auditorium of about 200 people and others watching a livestream, the attorney general criticized the history of ethical lapses in the state Legislature and proposed sweeping changes that go beyond the "marginal reforms" introduced over the last few years - and even beyond the plan recently outlined by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Schneiderman's plan includes a ban on all outside employment for state legislators - a line that drew applause from the crowd upon delivery - and ending per diem payments, but significantly increasing annual salaries and indexing them to cost of living increases.

He also proposes a state constitutional amendment establishing four-year terms for lawmakers, saying that it would end the "non-stop re-election fundraising and campaigning" that he says happens with the current two-year terms. And, Schneiderman put forth a systemic, multi-pronged plan for campaign finance reform, saying generally, "We cannot discuss reform without addressing the stranglehold that political contributions have on our government."

At one point, the attorney general spoke directly to lawmakers, asking them "as colleagues in public service" to join him in reforming the system, reminding them that he and other reformers are going after that system, not them individually.

Among other eyebrow-raising proposals, Schneiderman reiterated his call for the empowerment of the office of Attorney General for enhanced jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute public corruption. Schneiderman pointed out that his previous request for such authority was denied by Governor Cuomo, who supported the step when he was Attorney General himself. This, along with much of Schneiderman's reform agenda, faces an acutely uphill battle toward realization.

Despite this call and his rocky history with the governor, Schneiderman did show support for Cuomo's tactic of attaching ethics reform to budget negotiations. Urging the Governor to hold out for even bolder reforms, he said, "A late budget would be a small price to pay."

Schneiderman recently dealt a serious blow to Cuomo on his controversial email deletion policy, effectively pausing the policy in his office and forcing the governor to consider alternatives. Cuomo has said that in the next couple of weeks he will call a summit to create a uniform email retention/deletion policy across state government entities.

Of Schneiderman's reform ideas, Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey called them "aggressive and full-throated proposals to end the corrosive culture of corruption in Albany that has put too many elected officials behind bars and taints the many good lawmakers who serve well the public interest."

Praising Citizens Union, which recently released its own ethics reform agenda, Schneiderman said that the organization "was a key part of the successful reform movement of the 1930s -- and it will be a critical part of the reform movement of the 21st Century that we must build if we are to enact the real, transformational change that New York needs."

***
by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

Notes: this article has been updated; and, Gotham Gazette is an independent publication of Citizens Union Foundation, sister organization of Citizens Union

New York City Hall

What to watch for this week in New York politics:

This week will again be dominated by budget negotiations - especially in Albany, where a budget is due by the end of the month, which is rapidly approaching. In New York City, City Council hearings will continue on Mayor Bill de Blasio's preliminary fiscal year 2016 budget - once those hearings wrap up at the end of the month, the Council will craft its response to de Blasio, negotiations will continue, and the mayor will present his Executive Budget, leading to another round of council hearings. Key portions of the city budget are, of course, dependent upon the state budget, so much anticipation (and lobbying) surrounds negotiations in Albany, where Governor Andrew Cuomo is attempting to push through his spending plan, with major education and ethics reforms, despite significant disagreement from both Democrats (who control the State Assembly) and Republicans (who control the State Senate). Cuomo is also right in the middle on the minimum wage increase he's pushing and other issues.

While there will be a lot of action in Albany this week, this weekend is the annual Somos el Futuro Conference in Albany, at which there is always plenty of networking, negotiating, and more.

Speaking of budget negotiations, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (a former State Senator) launched a petition on Sunday to put additional pressure on the governor and other legislative leaders to include Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in budget negotiations. "Despite comprising over half of New York State's population, no woman has ever had a seat in statewide budget negotiations," it begins.

As for de Blasio, he made his case in Albany a few weeks ago and continues to lobby behind the scenes, while also praising the Assembly and its new Speaker, Carl Heastie of the Bronx, for its one-house budget outline. A key aspect of state funding for de Blasio is that for his universal pre-kindergarten program. On Sunday de Blasio held an event to kick off enrollment for pre-K for the 2015-2016 school year - enrollment officially opens on Monday. The City is hoping to expand pre-K enrollment from year one's 53,000-plus to all 73,000-or-so four-year-olds in the city. Monday is the start of pre-K enrollment and the end of the application period to be on one of the city's Community Education Councils. CECs are the local representative bodies that help inform education policy decision making and have been highlighted during the "Mayoral Control Forums" held by Public Advocate Letitia James in recent weeks.

James held a rally at City Hall on Sunday to call on the State to fully fund city schools in line with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity and to criticize Gov. Cuomo's education reform policies. She starts her week with one event on her public schedule: a Howard University alumni affair.

Along with James, environmental activists and others, Comptroller Scott Stringer begins his week at a City Hall press conference to voice opposition to the Port Ambrose liquefied natural gas export facility.

The mayor starts his week with a busy Monday: he'll "host a breakfast for City Council Leadership in Manhattan...meet with Congressman Jerry Nadler and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez in City Hall," host an afternoon press conference with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton to make an announcement; and, at 11 p.m. "appear on Tavis Smiley" on PBS, according to his public schedule.

On Thursday evening, the mayor is expected to speak at a fundraiser in Manhattan to support City Council Member Vincent Gentile's congressional campaign. By the way, if you want to register to vote in that special election or the other one (Assembly District 43) happening May 5, you have until April 10 to register.

On Monday evening, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will speak at a Citizens Union event on solving Albany's corruption probably. He is expected to unveil new plans to expand his role in doing so and new proposals pushing state lawmakers further in ethics reforms. Details below.

As always, there's a great deal happening at the City Council and all over the city, with many events to be aware of. See our day-by-day rundown below.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
E-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in detail:

Monday
Monday in Albany, National Organization for Women NYC will rally to end human trafficking: “For the last three years NOW-NYC has been fighting for the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act (TVPJA). Consensus is growing that the problem of trafficking can be tackled by legislators ensuring survivors-especially children-get help not punishment. TVPJA does that and more, and its passage would make New York a national leader in the fight against human trafficking.” [Related: read Manhattan DA Cy Vance's recent op-ed on the need to strengthen New York's sex trafficking laws]

On Monday afternoon, Assembly Speaker Heastie will hold a "news conference announcing comprehensive legislation to combat human trafficking. He will be joined by members of the Assembly Majority and advocates," according to his public schedule.

Both the State Senate and the State Assembly are in session in Albany on Monday afternoon.

Monday’s City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Civil Rights for its preliminary budget hearing and a meeting of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations for its preliminary budget hearing.

On Monday morning, "New York Law School hosts "A Bold Step for New York's Children: A Symposium on Raising the Age of Criminal Responsibility" featuring Jeremy Creelan, Soffiyah Elijah, Jacqueline Greene, Sheriff Allen Riley, Joel Copperman, Richard Aborn, Laurie Parise and others," according to City & State NY. [Related: read our report on Governor Cuomo's much-praised effort to "Raise the Age"]

Also according to City & State NY, on Monday at 11:30 a.m. "State Sen. IDC Leader Jeff Klein, state Sens. Diane Savino and Adriano Espaillat, New York City Councilman Ritchie Torres and others gather for a rally calling for funding in state budget to repair and upgrade NYCHA developments, Million Dollar Staircase, State Capitol, Albany."

The City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is holding a TB Day of Action on Monday, in which Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and others are participating to raise awareness.

Monday at 5:30 p.m., New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Brad Lander will host a “Celebration of Bangladesh Independence,” at the Council Chambers inside City Hall. Other Council Members in attendance will include Rafael Espinal Jr., Rory Lancman, Daniel Dromm, I. Daneek Miller, Annabel Palma, Mark Weprin, Jimmy Van Bramer, among others.

On Monday evening, BP Brewer will attend the opening of the new Hunter College faculty/laboratory research space at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Also Monday evening, NYCHA will host its Manhattan town hall meeting at Johnson Houses CC, in East Harlem.

Monday evening, good government group Citizens Union will host “Can New Yorkers Fix Albany’s Corruption Problem?” - its first Civic Conversation of the year, featuring Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and an esteemed panel. “Join Citizens Union for our first Civic Conversation of the year. This educational forum will bring expert panelists and the public together to discuss why there is a crime wave of corruption in Albany and what can be done to fight back and change the capitol's ethics.” After Schneiderman delivers remarks, panelists will include Richard Briffault, Professor of Legislation at Columbia Law School, Chair of NYC Conflicts of Interest Board and Former Moreland Commissioner; Richard Brodsky, Senior Fellow at Demos, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Policy at NYU Wagner Graduate School, and Former NYS Assemblymember for the 92nd District; Jennifer Rodgers, Executive Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity, Former Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The panel will be moderated by Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union.

Tuesday
Tuesday morning, “Join Crain’s and New York real estate's most impressive players to explore the next stage in the city’s development. Chairman of the NYC Planning Commission Carl Weisbrod will unveil the de Blasio administration’s latest zoning policies and urban-planning initiatives. A panel of experts will assess City Hall’s ambitious efforts to create and maintain 200,000 units of affordable housing. The conference will conclude with the sharpest minds in the business debating how best to reform a broken tax system that must pay for it all.”

Also Tuesday morning, the Young Women’s Christian Association of New York will host a discussion on Leadership and Generosity: A Call to Action: “We will look at ‘Young Women Leaders’ featuring Aissata M.B. Camara, Elizabeth Plank, Carmen Perez, Maria Naggaga, Yuh-Line Niou, and Candace Simpson.”

Tuesday’s City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Juvenile Justice, jointly with the Committee on General Welfare and the Committee on Women’s Issues for a preliminary budget hearing.

Tuesday at noon, The Brennan Center for Justice will present Democracy's Problems and Prospects: A Book Talk with Douglas E. Schoen: “America’s democracy is floundering, Congress is hopelessly gridlocked, and millions remain without gainful employment. Despite all this, longtime political strategist and polling expert Douglas E. Schoen remains optimistic.”

Tuesday evening, CUNY Institute for Education Policy (CIEP) will host a one-on-one conversation with the President of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), Michael Mulgrew: “This unscripted conversation will cover a wide range of pressing issues facing New York State's teachers and their students.” Mulgrew will be speaking with CIEP Director David Steiner, who is also Dean of the Hunter College School of Education and former State Commissioner of Education.

[Explore the latest original reporting from Gotham Gazette for something you may have missed]

Wednesday
Wednesday morning in Albany, Capital New York will host “Medical Marijuana: Is N.Y. Doing it Right?”, an in-depth conversation on the topic of New York’s medical marijuana law "covering regulation, accessibility, barriers to entry into the local market, program costs and more.” Featured speakers will include the incoming Counsel to the Governor of New York, Alphonso David; Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried; State Senator Diane Savino; and others.

On Wednesday, City Council Member Andy King and the Riverbay Corporation will host the "2015 Veterans Job and Resource Fair" in Co-op City in the Bronx. "Employers as well as non-profit resource organizations and city agencies will be present, including JP Morgan Chase & Co., which, with other founding corporations, launched the 100,000 Jobs Mission in 2011 with the goal of hiring 100,000 military veterans by 2020."

Wednesday afternoon, the Graduate Center at CUNY will host another public lecture in the Immigration Seminar Series: “Everyday Illegal: When Policies Undermine Immigrant Families.” Among the speakers will be Joanna Dreby, Associate Professor of Sociology at University at Albany, SUNY.

Wednesday evening, “Albany Capital Pro Trivia Night!...Albany Bureau Chief Jimmy Vielkind tees up questions on all things policy, politics and media."

Also Wednesday evening, Beta NYC is hosting a Civic Hacknight in Queens with Coalition 4 Queens.

Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at MoMA PS1, New York City Council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer will host a Cultural Town Hall event featuring special remarks from the Cultural Affairs Commissioner, Tom Finkelpearl.

Also in Queens Wednesday evening, BP Katz is hosting a "parent advisory board meeting on common core" that will include reps from the city DOE.

Thursday
All day Thursday, the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development will host its Annual Community Development Conference. The morning keynote speaker will be Thomas J. Curry, Federal Comptroller of the Currency. The afternoon keynote speaker will be Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of New York City Council.

Thursday morning, Manhattan BP Brewer hosts a meeting of the Manhattan Borough Board.

Thursday at City Hall, there will be a Student Voter Registration Day press conference held by elected officials, advocacy groups, and school representatives.

Also Thursday morning, Queens BP Melinda Katz will hold a land use meeting at Queens Borough Hall.

Thursday’s City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Governmental Operations for its preliminary budget oversight hearing; a meeting of the Committee on Veterans to consider a resolution "calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign S.752, the Veterans' Education Through SUNY Credits Act"; and a meeting of the Committee on Education to consider multiple resolutions, including one "calling upon the New York State Legislature to reject any attempt to raise the cap on the number of charter schools," one "calling upon the Department of Education to amend its Parent's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities to include information about opting out of high-stakes testing and distribute this document at the beginning of every school year, to every family, in every grade," and one "calling upon the New York State Legislature to eliminate the Governor's receivership proposal in the executive budget for New York City." 

Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to speak at a fundraiser for the Democratic candidate in the special election to fill the vacant 11th Congressional District seat, Brooklyn City Council Member Vincent Gentile. Democratic activist Bill Samuels and Manhattan Council Member Ben Kallos will host the event at Mr. Samuels’ Manhattan home.

Also Thursday evening, the Department of Transportation and the MTA are hosting a town hall to unveil plans around the Utica Avenue B46 SBS Project, according to Riders Alliance, which is encouraging its members to attend and make their voices heard.

Thursday evening, at 6:30 p.m., Housing Preservation and Development will host a Owner Outreach and Education Forum with Council Members Inez Barron and Rafael Espinal and Cypress Hills Development Corporation in East New York, Brooklyn.

Also Thursday at 6:30 p.m., Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will host East Side Coastal Resiliency Project's Community Engagement Session: “Following on HUD's Rebuild by Design competition, New York City is working to reduce the risk of extreme weather and climate change, as well as improve quality of life. This project focuses on neighborhoods near the East River between Montgomery and 23rd Streets.”

Thursday at 7 p.m., the NYC Young Republican Club will host its monthly meetup at the Women's National Republican Club.

[Explore the latest original reporting from Gotham Gazette for something you may have missed]

Friday and the weekend
All day Friday, Common Cause NY, Citizens Union, the New York City Council, and other partners will host Student Voter Registration Day “to increase youth voter registration and excite young people about being involved in the democratic process. Through interactive discussion SVRD encourages youth to see how issues at the polls affect their everyday lives.”

Friday’s City Council schedule will include a meeting of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations, jointly with the Subcommittee on Libraries, for a preliminary budget hearing.

Friday morning, Amnesty International USA will have its weekend-long 2015 Human Rights Conference and Annual General Meetings, in Brooklyn: “The 2015 Annual General Meeting will bring over a thousand human rights activists from around the world together to engage in networking opportunities, human rights actions, inspiring plenaries, outstanding key notes, and hands-on workshops." Speakers will include Harry Belafonte, Ann Burroughs, Rosa Alicia Clemente, Nusrat Durrani, Steven Hawkins, Thomas Jagow-Schultz, Benjamin Jealous, Linda Sarsour, Ciara Taylor, Vincent Warren, Jesse Williams, and Jie-Song Zhang.

Friday afternoon, Assembly Member Rebecca A. Seawright will host a Women’s History Month celebration, at which the Assembly Member is also set to give out Women of Distinction Awards to recognize “remarkable women and their efforts to improve our community.”

On Friday at 5:30 p.m., to commemorate women's history month, Council Members Laurie Cumbo and Jumaane Williams "will host the second annual Shirley Chisholm Women of Distinction Celebration & Award Ceremony" at Brooklyn Public Library-Central Branch. "This event will honor seven extraordinary women from New York City who are making tremendous strides in their fields by using their skills and expertise to strengthen our communities. Two young community leaders will also be honored during the event and New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito will serve as the event's keynote speaker."

Friday evening in Albany, City & State NY will host a Somos Albany Kickoff Cocktail Reception. The event will feature New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and New York State Assemblyman & Somos el Futuro Chair Marcos Crespo.

Saturday morning, The Office of Manhattan Borough President, Gale Brewer, together with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will host "Tuberculosis Awareness Walk and Rally." 

Also Saturday morning, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) will host a CUNY Citizenship Application Assistance Event in Brooklyn.

On Sunday afternoon, City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez will give his State of the District speech at George Washington Educational Campus.

[Explore the latest original reporting from Gotham Gazette for something you may have missed]

***
Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).

***
by Rati Mukhuradze, Marco Poggio, and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

PA James at Friday's event (photo: Sara Valenzuela)

With a Wednesday evening event in Manhattan, Public Advocate Letitia James concluded her five-borough "Our School, Our Voices" series of community forums on the future of mayoral control of the city's schools.

Speaking before a gathering of around 60 people at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, James raised the issue of increasing local control over school governance through more community engagement and parental involvement. "Mayoral control has functioned as a business model," James said, largely referring to its implementation under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who won the right to control the city's system through state law in 2002.

Mayoral control over the city's schools was established to address a chaotic and corrupt school governance system. It was extended by the State in 2009 and is set to expire in June of this year. State legislators will soon decide on extending the system, perhaps as part of ongoing budget negotiations that are set to conclude by April 1. Education policy is proving, as usual, to be among the most contentious areas of debate.

Mayor Bill de Blasio went to Albany in late February and asked lawmakers to make mayoral control permanent. Governor Andrew Cuomo has proposed a three-year renewal, while the Democratically-controlled State Assembly has put forth a seven-year extension. The Republican-controlled State Senate has not taken a definitive position, but Sen. Jon Flanagan, who heads the Senate education committee, has said he's still waiting to see if Mayor de Blasio deserves to keep the power. There is mounting pressure on de Blasio to show that he can turn around the city's most struggling schools.

"In all likelihood, based upon my experience working with the New York State Legislature, it looks like mayoral control will continue. The question is, in what form," James told Gotham Gazette after Wednesday's forum. She believes that extending the degree of local control is still possible. "I believe that, yes, we could somehow expand the opportunities for parental engagement, parental involvement, and sharing governance on the Panel for Education Policy as well as strengthening Community Education Councils beyond just advisory."

Wednesday's forum, like the others James has hosted, included a panel, along with other guest speakers, and audience input. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Member Helen Rosenthal addressed the forum on issues of technology in education and increased transparency of Department of Education data, respectively.

While differing on the extent to which Mayor de Blasio - or any Mayor - should have power over city schools, panelists agreed on the central tenet that education should be removed from the sphere of politics as much as possible. Some even advocated for what seems to be the impossible task of ending mayoral control.

Sam Anderson, member of the Independent Commission on Public Education (iCOPE), which sees education through a human rights lens, said, "Mayoral control by definition is dictatorial." Its structure, he said, does not allow for the involvement of parents, students, and educators in the decision-making process, and that it should be done away with.

Most panel members, however, seemed to understand that mayoral control is a reality, however harsh it appears to some. Teresa Arboleda, a public advocate appointee to the Citywide Council on English Language Learners said, "I would love to see mayoral control go, but considering all the obstacles, we have to be real." She insisted that it be separated from the budget debate and that a big step in diluting the Mayor's power would be in establishing fixed terms for the PEP members. Currently, the Mayor appoints 8 of the 13 members, with the rest being chosen by the Borough Presidents.

Anne Looser, a high school special education teacher and a member of Teachers Unite, focused on the strengthening of School Leadership Teams as a means of "local control and site-based governance." Noah Gotbaum, a parent member of a Community Education Council, said if mayoral control does continue, it should be along the governor's proposal of three more years while the City explores alternatives.

James explained that in her belief and from what she hears from New Yorkers, people need to have a say and be heard at the community, neighborhood, and school levels. "We must demand that the infrastructure now in place under mayoral control is supported and respected," she said. "The School Leadership Team, Community Education Council, the PTA, and all the educational councils, which I have appointees on, must have an important role helping shape educational policy and priorities in their district and maximizing opportunities for community input."

Calls for attention to this issue may be heard at the state level, though it is unclear how much even Mayor de Blasio is listening. James capped her campaign with a Friday policy breakfast at CUNY Law School with renowned education policy expert Diane Ravitch as keynote speaker. (On Sunday afternoon, James will host an "Our Schools, Our Voices" rally at City Hall park, calling on the State to meet its funding obligations based on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity ruling.)

Then, on March 28, according to Gotbaum, students, teachers, and parents will come together in Manhattan to "fight Governor Cuomo's destructive agenda" by rallying outside the governor's office.

James is optimistic about the momentum the movement is gathering. "I think [these forums] are very effective because I really believe that there's power in people," she said.

"Our hope really rests in the Assembly and I hope the Assembly members are listening to basically the calls of their constituents," she added. "They're petitioning their government. They want change. They believe that concentrated power just does not work and [it's] in the interests of not only the students but the parents, and in furtherance of government - or I should say, in furtherance of democracy."

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

CM Ferreras and Speaker Mark-Viverito at a 2014 budget hearing (photo: William Alatriste)

At a hearing of the City Council Standards and Ethics Committee held at City Hall Thursday, representatives of the city's Conflicts of Interest Board reiterated a long-standing request for an independent budget.

In his testimony, Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) Deputy Executive Director Wayne Hawley said, "For almost two decades the board has sought an independent budget." The fact that the Board is charged with overseeing the same officials who decide their annual budget, he said, is "in and of itself a seeming conflict of interest."

"This conflict should be corrected through a charter amendment that removes the board's budget from the discretion of the public servants who are subject to the board's jurisdiction," he added, referring to the Mayor and members of the City Council.

Thursday's preliminary budget hearing involved oversight of the Board's performance over the last year and discussion of its budget going forward. But, for all intents and purposes, things remain the same. Under Mayor Bill de Blasio's initial fiscal year 2016 budget plan, the Board's funding is largely unchanged, with a few minor increases, and the main focus of testimony was the years-old request for a budget independent of the Mayor and the City Council.

The Board's pleas have not fallen on deaf ears. Council member Alan Maisel, chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee, agreed that the Board should be completely independent. "From a practical sense, political sense, democratic sense, they shouldn't have to go hat in hand to get their funds," Maisel told Gotham Gazette. "They should get a fixed budget. It should be basically automatic."

The proposed charter amendment is similar to the budgetary provision for the Independent Budget Office, which receives 10 percent of the budget of the Office of Management and Budget. However, the Board's proposal would set its budget according to the City's total expenses for the year - specifically, it would be not less than four thousandths of one percent (0.00004) of the city budget. It would also require detailed public accounting of the Board's expenditures. Going by the City's Fiscal Year 2015 adopted expense budget of $75 billion, this formula would yield a COIB budget of $3 million. In actuality, it was allocated $2.1 million.

The Board submitted an identical proposal to the Mayor and Council Speaker in 2009, with the exception that the budget request was set at 0.00007 of the total. It was reduced in conjunction with dropping a proposal for investigative authority for the Board.

Hawley believes the Board's pleas are being heard. "The last careful discussion of this was during the last charter reform." he told Gotham Gazette. "I think they listened, there are competing interests and the Board understands the competing interests as a matter of, probably, good government."

The counter-argument to budget independence, he conceded, is that it takes away freedom from democratically-elected officials charged with making budgets to allocate money as they see fit.

The Board's budget requests have only marginally increased and their staff size has been stable, but their responsibilities and workload have jumped over the years. Despite Hawley acknowledging to the Committee that losing even one person from the 22-member staff could make a significant difference, the Board did not request any additional funds for staffing.

"We think our staff is about the right size," Hawley said. "There's always the temptation to ask for more, but we're mindful of the fact that one more staffer for us arguably means one fewer teacher or one fewer firefighter or one fewer sanitation worker, and we're mindful of that."

[Related: read our preview of this hearing for more background on the function of the COIB]

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

Gov. Cuomo pushing his minimum wage hike (photo: @NYGovCuomo)

The middle ground is a particularly familiar place for Governor Andrew Cuomo - and it is where he has put himself in the debate over increasing the state's minimum wage. Cuomo has come under fire this week from electeds and advocates on the left who support a significantly larger increase to the wage than the one Cuomo has proposed and from conservative officials and business groups that oppose any increase whatsoever.

Cuomo and his proxies have toured the state this month promoting a proposal that would increase the state minimum wage to $10.50 an hour and New York City's to $11.50, even touting the support of a variety of labor unions and some city business reps. Cuomo and the Legislature enacted a staggered wage increase in 2013 that is set to culminate with a $9 statewide minimum at the end of this year. But, Cuomo now sees that as insufficient.

"I want to increase the minimum wage in this state, because the truth is the minimum wage is at $9, that's $18,000 a year, and you cannot live in this state and raise a family on $18,000 a year. You can't pay the rent, you can't pay for food, you can't pay for insurance, and you can't buy clothes on $18,000 a year," Cuomo said at a rally in Rochester focused on his upstate agenda.

He continued: "The Assembly wants to raise it to $15 an hour. God bless them—shoot for the stars - that's what they did in the Assembly. The Senate is totally against raising the minimum wage. I think the truth is somewhere in the middle, I proposed raising $9 to $10.50 statewide. Often, the political truth is in the middle."

There may be no better, simpler summation of Cuomo's governing philosophy than that.

The State Senate's one-house budget proposal contains no minimum wage increase while the Assembly's would set New York City's minimum wage independently of the state's and tie it to inflation. Per the Assembly outline, the state's minimum wage would be $10.50 by 2017, $12.60 by 2019 and the city's and surrounding suburbs would reach $12.50, then $15 at those times.

In a statement, new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said, "Raising the minimum wage is about the moral obligation we have to help families across the state who are struggling to get by. The current wage floor is not enough to allow full-time workers who put in a 40- hour work week to afford life's basic necessities, let alone achieve financial independence."

Cuomo's proposal shirks promises he made to the Working Families Party last spring in exchange for its endorsement that he would back a plan to allow the city to increase its minimum wage in connection to the rate of inflation. Mayor Bill de Blaiso, who helped broker the deal between Cuomo and the WFP, is still a major supporter of giving the city control of its own minimum wage and linking it to inflation, as are many Democrats in the state Legislature. The mayor has even asked city businesses to start voluntarily paying a $13 hourly minimum.

Despite his public campaigning on the issue, Cuomo has given signals that he is wavering.

"I hope to get it done this legislative session either in the budget, which is April, or at the end of the legislative session in June," Cuomo reportedly said during an appearance in Buffalo. Putting anything out of the budget and into policy negotiations thereafter gives it less weight, but could lead to expanded time for negotiation.

Advocates like Michael Kink of Strong Economy for All say that if Cuomo is serious about the wage increase he will not abandon it in budget negotiations. "I think obviously he has the most leverage in the budget. It is the only time where all three sides have to agree on something so there will always be something in the budget each of the three leaders view as main," Kink said. "They can stomach something they oppose to get a big win. Obviously Cuomo's priority is the privatization of education and charter schools. I'm glad he is working on it (the minimum wage), but the fact that he is going in signaling he is willing let it go is disturbing."

State Sen. Liz Krueger said it was "troubling" to hear Cuomo indicate he could deal with the minimum wage outside of the budget. "This is the place to get this done and this is the one economic proposal that will help everyone across the state."

Kink doesn't feel Cuomo's wage proposal goes far enough. "We want a wage hike that will a make difference in workers' lives," said Kink. "Fastfood workers didn't start fighting for $9.50, they wanted something that would help people pay bills and lead their lives. That's why they started 'The Fight for 15.'"

Meanwhile, a group of business interests, upstate chambers of commerce, and conservative advocacy groups joined together this week to oppose even Cuomo's smaller wage proposal.

"Any attempt to increase the minimum wage before full implementation [of the plan in place] should be rejected," the groups said in a statement. "We strongly urge Albany to continue the progress made in improving New York's economic competitiveness while focusing on pro-growth initiatives as budget negotiations enter this final stretch." Members of the coalition include The Business Council, Unshackle Upstate, The Farm Bureau of NY, and The National Federation of Independent Business.

The groups say that the full impact of the state's last minimum wage hike on businesses is not yet apparent as the $9 wage won't go into effect until the end of the year.

Business groups took offense earlier this month because Cuomo unveiled his "Fight for Fair Pay" campaign while they held their small business lobby day at the capitol.

"Gov. Cuomo's campaign to increase the minimum wage could push struggling small businesses over the edge," Greg Biryla, Executive Director of Unshackle Upstate, said in a statement on March 3. "For employers who are trying to create new jobs and expand their business, another minimum wage increase and an added $69 million in new health care taxes would be a brutal combination. Albany needs to focus on improving the state's business climate – not make it more toxic."

Senate Republicans have not included a minimum wage increase in their budget proposal but some members indicate it is an issue they are willing to negotiate. However, they note that not only is the state's last wage wage increase not fully implemented, but that the Labor Department also just increased the minimum wage for tipped workers in February.

Kink said that Cuomo's public support of a minimum wage increase is "valuable" but also just makes political sense. "This is a tremendously popular issue for voters in both parties," Kink said. "I'd love to see increased aggression from the governor on the minimum wage. I'd like to see him throw the kind of ferocity into the faces of minimum wage opponents that he shows to the groups opposed to his education agenda."

Cuomo's public support of a wage increase isn't exactly typical of the governor. He has been criticized by advocates in the past for not stumping on specific policies.This time Cuomo has been on the road and his office is issuing press releases in support of the increase.

"The sweetest and healthiest success is one that enables everyone to do well together – that is what community is all about," Cuomo said announcing his "Fight For Fair Pay."

"As our economy recovers and our businesses add new jobs, we need to ensure our entire workforce has the opportunity to be part of the economic recovery and new momentum we are seeing in all corners of the State," the governor said. "New York has always been a leader in protecting our workers and building strong communities, and this year we must continue to move forward by fighting for fair pay and raising the minimum wage statewide."

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

SBS Commissioner Torres-Springer (photo: @NYCBusSolutions)

Small business assistance is a perennial political promise. Few can argue with the goal of stimulating the city's economy and almost everyone has some connection to the issue.

After all, the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) reports that 98 percent of the city's 220,000 businesses are considered small (fewer than 100 employees). The number has increased in recent years due to an entrepreneurial boom in the city. According to the Center for an Urban Future, nearly twice as many businesses were incorporated in the city in 2011 than in 1991. Every day, many New Yorkers go to work or shop at these businesses, often doing both.

Mayor Bill de Blasio sees owners and employees of these businesses as squarely in the crosshairs of his mission to reduce inequality and create opportunity. The needs of individual business owners vary some because the category is so large, but, there are many commonalities among those looking to start, maintain, or grow a small business.

After a first year in which the de Blasio administration drastically reduced fines levied on small business, the City has just launched a new, multifaceted approach to reduce regulatory burdens. While these moves are certainly welcome, many in the small business community say that access to capital and ever-rising rents remain their largest challenges.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's 2014 Small Business Credit Survey, 40 percent of local business owners say they're struggling with common problems of finding customers and managing cash flow. Many businesses also said that securing loans was a major issue.

"Twenty percent [of businesses] cited credit availability as a top concern. Most small firms reported needing micro loans of $100,000 or less," said Claire Kramer Mills, an assistant vice president in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's Community Affairs Office.

The survey was conducted over a two-month period during the fall of 2014. More than 2,000 businesses with fewer than 500 employees were surveyed from 10 states. Responses were weighted to reflect the full population of small businesses in each state. Specific New York City figures were then highlighted for Gotham Gazette.

Most businesses need some kind of loan in order to launch or stay alive, especially in New York City. "Very small" businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up the majority of the city's small businesses and are growing at the fastest rate. These are local restaurants, tech start-ups, boutique retail stores, neighborhood coffee shops, and more.

Many of these business owners have little or no additional support outside of family or friends, and navigating the banking system can be difficult. According to the Federal Reserve survey, more than 20 percent of local business owners applied for funding from online lenders last year despite often higher interest rates.

Aissatou Bah, a loan officer at the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, cautioned against using online lenders for their expediency, because interest rates can be double or triple the standard.

The Brooklyn Cooperative's mission is to help community businesses, but that doesn't mean it can give money to just anyone. Bah said that a strong business plan and a little patience is essential.

"Every lender wants to lend money, that's what business owners tend to forget sometimes," said Bah.

She said that the average loan decision can take two weeks. In cases where people aren't fully prepared, she'll refer them to SBS or local business development centers for more guidance before giving them financing.

The Brooklyn Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is one of those places where owners can get advice at any stage of a very complicated process. Operated by the State University of New York and funded by federal money, the Brooklyn SBDC helps people with business plans, networking, research, and other services from the start-up phase onward.

"It's a very daunting situation to open a business," said Director Robert Piechota. "You better make sure you know what the heck you're doing."

The Brooklyn SBDC also helps people, particularly those who don't speak English, understand the City's complex bureaucracy, "It's not very easy to open a business or maintain it given the constantly changing landscape of regulations," said Piechota.

The city offers similar services as well. The Department of Consumer Affairs, which investigates many businesses, not only scaled back the fines it levies, but launched expansive new initiatives in order to communicate with businesses in a variety of languages. SBS operates seven "NYC Business Solutions" centers where people can get pro-bono legal services, help reviewing leases, business courses, and access to capital. According to an SBS spokesperson, the department helped connect businesses with approximately $58.5 million in capital last year through various methods.

The City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) also helps small business get lines of credit and loans of up to $250,000 through its Capital Access Loan Guaranty Program. The EDC helps facilitate financing through various lenders and provides up to a 40 percent guarantee for qualified applicants.

Many of these systems were already in place under the Bloomberg administration. As a council member and the public advocate during that time, Mayor de Blasio often talked about the need to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses. Since taking office he's made efforts to reach that goal.

Last year, he lowered revenue targets for fines given out by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Keeping with this tack, his administration recently announced its Small Business First program to further improve the climate for small businesses.

Led by SBS, the $27 million initiative seeks to streamline the regulatory process across more than 15 different city agencies over the next four years. Opening any business - particularly one involving food - requires permits and inspections from more agencies than many people may realize. While the initiative won't change that, it includes 30 ways in which the City is making the process easier - including an online portal to find and file forms, translating materials into multiple languages, and more.

Local business groups have reacted positively to the plan, but say that regulations will still pose a challenge for owners.

"Small Business First won't eliminate all of the regulatory barriers small business owners face, but anything the City does to make it easier for small business owners to understand and comply with local regulations is a step in the right direction," said Victor Wong, director of business outreach and GoBizNYC at the Partnership for New York City.

SBS will be creating a Small Business Advisory Board - made up of city personnel, elected officials, and small business owners - to monitor the program's success and offer future recommendations.

City Comptroller Scott Stringer has also announced a "Red Tape Commission," made up of various business and community leaders, that will spend a year producing recommendations for streamlining the regulatory process. How this will differ from Small Business First remains to be seen, but representatives from SBS and the comptroller's office both said they plan to work together on the issue.

"I am confident that the Red Tape Commission's work will provide valuable new insight, reform proposals, and audit topics that will help make city government more responsive to the needs of the small business community," Stringer said in a statement.

City Council members have been getting in on the action as well. Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito proposed the idea of a "small business advocate" position in her February State of the City address and other ideas have been floated by various members.

Robert Cornegy, Jr., chair of the Council's Committee on Small Business, said that he supports increasing access to capital and finding ways to reduce regulatory burdens by providing industry-specific advice. Cornegy told Gotham Gazette that one of the most pressing issues is the ability for businesses to afford space.

"So many small businesses have been devastated by enormous and unmanageable rent increases and it's heartbreaking. Too often, businesses that have been part of a neighborhood's renaissance are unable to remain and reap the rewards of the changes they have helped to create," Cornegy said by email.

Cornegy said he often hears stories of commercial tenants being harassed by landlords in his Brooklyn district, but they have less protection than residential tenants.

The council member has introduced a resolution calling on the State to pass legislation that would establish a property tax credit for commercial landlords who limit rent increases to small business owner tenants upon lease renewal. Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, of Queens, has introduced a similar resolution, focusing on small businesses that own property.

Council Member Helen Rosenthal said that she's also seen this happening in her district on the Upper West Side, particularly when landlords get an opportunity to bring in larger corporate tenants for more money. She hopes to change this when designing new construction.

"In new buildings I'd love to have an opportunity to negotiate for physical spaces that would imply a small business," Rosenthal told Gotham Gazette.

Some advocates worry that rent increases will have an irrevocable effect on the small business community. Steven Barrison, executive vice president of the Small Business Congress, estimates that thousands of "mom and pop" businesses are closing shop every year.

"Businesses are in a crisis, they're on life support now," he said.

City and state officials are often wary, of course, of alienating the real estate industry - and there is a limit to what the City can do without receiving more support from Albany for commercial rent regulations.

Good news includes that as the economy continues to grow, small businesses are seeing better success rates. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 80.7 percent of the establishments that opened in New York State during 2013 survived through 2014, and bankruptcies have declined since 2010.

Despite positive trends, entrepreneurs still face tough odds when running one of the city's many thousands of small businesses. Even with the possibility of additional federal and state funding, and the city's efforts to reduce regulatory hurdles, starting a business in New York will always be a risky proposition.

"Just having an idea is not enough in this country to have a sustainable business," said Cornegy. "You can open one, but sustainability is based on a good solid plan."

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by Cole Rosengren, Gotham Gazette
@ColeRosengrenNY

City Council Chambers (photo: William Alatriste)

"If you have a question about whether your conduct is allowed under the City's ethics law, press two," says one part of the automated response a caller hears after dialing the Conflicts of Interest Board.

As preliminary budget hearings continue this week at the City Council, the Conflicts of Interest Board (COIB) will be examined to ensure that it is fulfilling its role in preventing corruption and properly funded to do so. The Council's Standards and Ethics Committee, chaired by Council Member Alan Maisel and with oversight of the COIB and ethical protocols among city officials, is holding its preliminary budget hearing on Thursday.

The hearing comes at a time when corruption and ethics have been all over the news as state-level lawmakers continue to wind up in handcuffs, accused of both legal and illegal wrongdoing, and engage in negotiations over reforms. Officials at the city level have not been without scandal, of course, and there has been increased scrutiny of late on the City's Department of Investigations (DOI).

The Council's Standards and Ethics Committee does not oversee the DOI, but with oversight over the COIB, similar issues come up - namely that of independence.

The Standards and Ethics Committee has punitive powers, but has rarely needed to exercise them in the past few years save for two recent cases, those pertaining to Council Member Ruben Wills, a Democrat, and former Council Member Dan Halloran, a Republican, both of Queens.

Wills was recently arrested for the second time in as many years. He has been indicted this time around for filing false documents with the COIB. Dan Halloran was sentenced last week for corruption and bribery in trying to aid former State Senator Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, in bribing his way onto the 2013 ballot for Mayor as a Republican. Halloran was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Last month, the Standards and Ethics Committee held an oversight hearing to discuss the two cases. Requests for comment made to Maisel's office were referred to the committee's general counsel, who did not respond to calls or messages.

Thursday's budget hearing of the committee will be, for the most part, an opportunity for the COIB to present its annual report. The COIB implements and enforces New York City conflict of interest laws. It also educates city employees on ethical requirements, acts in an advisory capacity to current and former employees, and oversees financial disclosure for elected officials.

A spokesperson for the COIB declined to comment ahead of the hearing.

In recent years, the COIB's workload has increased but staff numbers and budget have barely changed. According to the COIB's annual report, the board conducted 599 training sessions last year, up 11 percent from 506 in 2013. In 2001, only 190 sessions were conducted. COIB received 488 new complaints in 2014, marginally lower than the 506 in 2013, but almost four times the number from 2001 (124 complaints). There were 4,950 total requests for legal advice from current or former city officials, compared to 4,088 the previous year and 2,189 in 2001.

Despite this increased burden, the budget for the COIB has increased from $1.69 million in 2002 to a proposed $2.11 million for this year as outlined in Mayor Bill de Blasio's fiscal year 2016 preliminary budget. (It was $2.03 million in fiscal 2014). The staff strength stands at 22, actually one less than in 2001.

At last year's executive budget hearing, COIB Executive Director Mark Davies said in his testimony that the Board was "just about at where we should be" in terms of manpower and resources. But, he ceded that maintaining the quality of the staff depended on ensuring a steady budget and possible future budget cuts would be draconian and dangerous.

Herein lies the most COIB's most important concern. Although it is a non-mayoral agency in function, it has an almost contradictory structure. The board has five members, approved by the City Council and appointed by the Mayor, who serve staggered six-year terms and can be reappointed for a second term. With the Mayor's involvement and the Council's consent key to these appointments, the contradiction in the board's mandate is apparent. COIB members are not only charged with enforcing rules on the very people, mayoral staff and council members, who make their appointments, but who decide the board's budget. Therefore, each year, the COIB advocates for a charter amendment to provide it with independent budgeting.

"Our mission is to guide honest officials thereby promoting both the reality and the perception of integrity in government by preventing conflicts of interest violations from ever occurring," said Davies in his 2014 testimony. "In other words we are in the prevention business, not in the punishment business, thus perhaps most importantly the board reiterates a concern that it has expressed for many, many years: the lack of an independent budget."

Such a charter amendment would need widespread support since it can only be passed by referendum or through state legislation.

Good government groups are on board with COIB's proposal. "Independent budgeting is an important fail safe for agencies that conduct oversight, like the COIB," said Rachael Fauss, director of public policy for Citizens Union. "Codifying this in law will ensure that it continues to receive sufficient resources, regardless of the administration that is in office."

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, said COIB has a strong reputation for objectivity. "Could it be strengthened by being more independent? Possibly," she said. But a significant measure, she said, would be "a full outside evaluation of how things are being handled by the board. From an anecdotal point of view, not from any systematic review, there seems to be a bias towards the executive."

Considering the focus on ethics reforms over the last year, at both city and state levels, and the Council's recent critique of the Department of Investigation's apparent performance decline, the COIB may do well to take this opportunity to ask for a larger budget and push for complete independence. Not only would that help protect against future uncertainty but also ensure it is not beholden to the whims of political forces. As its annual report states, "Ethics lights the way to good government."

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by Samar Khurshid, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid

Note: Gotham Gazette is an independent publication of Citizens Union Foundation, sister organization of Citizens Union