Left to right, Onondaga County Sheriff Navigation Deputies Jim McKenna and Eric Flansburg patrol the Oneida River and Oneida Lake Sunday. One of the bills that the state Legislature left unresolved this month was a bill that would link boating DWIs and driving DWIs for prosecution purposes. Currently if you have a boating DWI conviction and then get charged with DWI in your car, the second offense is not a felony.In addition to catapulting New York to the front of the gay marriage debate, Albany lawmakers this session pushed a total of 677 bills through both houses this year.
That’s a number slightly below average for the state’s six-month regular session, according to a report from the New York Public Interest Group.
But, as is always the case with Albany, there’s more work to be done. Another 934 others bills made it to one house for a vote without the other chamber giving it the same consideration.
In some cases, those proposals languished because of ideological differences. Senate Republicans, for instance, balked at creating a state healthcare exchange because it could be seen as an endorsement of President Obama’s healthcare law.
In others, lawmakers got bogged down by precise legal language despite general support for an issue. Assembly Democrats, known for their methodical movement on bills that change criminal codes, held up legislation that would strengthen laws involving boating while driving.
Other unfinished business will inevitably become law, though it’s too soon to say what that law will look like.
State lawmakers must redraw political districts before next year’s elections to reflect new population numbers from the 2010 Census.
But it remains to be seen whether they will adopt Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call for an independent commission to oversee the redistricting. For now, the state’s Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment has already scheduled public hearings on the subject, including one in Syracuse on July 19.
» Here are bills passed both the Senate and Assembly which needs Gov. Cuomo's signature or veto.
The Legislature could take up the lingering legislation in a special session, or they could try again next January. Most Central New York lawmakers said in recent days they almost certainly would be called back to Albany to at least deal with judicial appointments and approving yet-to-be-finalized state union contracts.
Whether their work will expand to include thornier issues – such as changing the retirement age for newly hired state workers – will be up to Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan.
Meanwhile, here’s a look at some of the unfinished business awaiting lawmakers for their next trip to Albany:
Health exchange
The Assembly approved Cuomo’s proposal to create a state health exchange – basically a place for individuals and small businesses in New York to buy health insurance.
But in the final days and hours of the session the Senate put it on the backburner, deciding they’d rather take up other issues — including same-sex marriage (which only four or 32 GOP Senators supported) – in lieu of a move that could endorse President Obama’s much-criticized health care plan.
Obama’s law requires states to create their own exchange or opt into a federal one. Cuomo, a Democrat, says New York must have its own exchange because of is size and its complex insurance market.
“I’m sure that whenever we return later this summer that would be at the top of the list,” said Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida.
Drunken operating offenses
The Assembly failed to take up a Senate bill, pushed by Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, that would make sure police and prosecutors could link charges involving operating a boat, motor vehicle or ATV while drunk.
Currently there’s no link among the charges. That means a person could wrack up multiple misdemeanor charges for drunkenly operating different types of equipment. The proposed change would string together the charges, so that a first offense in a car would be a misdemeanor, but a second offense, say in a boat, would be a felony.
“They should all be wrapped up into one,” said Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, who supports the bill, but acknowledged his house takes more time in considering bills that change criminal laws. “It does take time to convince people of the need. We’re criminalizing behavior. That’s not something we should take lightly.”
Organ donation
Lauren Shields had quite an 11th birthday on April 13. The heart transplant survivor from Stony Point watched the New York Senate pass a bill in her name.
Lauren’s Law would require workers at the Department of Motor Vehicles to ask applicants to make their decision on organ donation — “yes” or “no, not at the time” – in order to get a new or renewed driver’s license.
The Senate, the last days of session, passed an amended version of the bill to assure that the state would not keep records of people who declined to donate. But that last-minute fix didn’t assuage enough key members in the Assembly. The bill never made it past the Assembly Transportation Committee.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers who need kidney transplants will continue to wait, on average, for five years.
DNA collection
The Senate passed a bill that would require all people convicted of misdemeanors and felonies to provide the state with a DNA sample. DeFrancisco, who supported the bill, compared it to collecting fingerprints.
The Assembly sent the bill to its Codes Committee, where legislation often lingers for years.
Air ambulance
Northern New York is still without an air ambulance service.
“That’s a No. 1 priority,” said Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Oswegatchie, of next year’s business.
Residents up north used to rely on soldiers at Ft. Drum to provide the service, but that relationship ended four years ago.
Ritchie introduced a bill that would allow private companies to sell subscriptions for air rescue service, complete with medical equipment. The Senate passed the bill, but some Assembly members wondered whether the new business should be considered insurance rather than just a simple fee-for-service, according to Magnarelli, who worked with Ritchie on the bill.
Magnarelli doesn’t see it that way, and he said he believes his colleagues may come around by next year. For now, the bill was left in the Assembly’s Insurance Committee.
Pensions
In early June, Cuomo issued a press release announcing yet another “tier” to the state’s pension system, a new set of retirement rules for newly hired state workers.
But little else was said or done on the issue, somewhat understandably, as state leaders struck deals on other issues and Cuomo continued labor talks with his biggest unions.
Cuomo’s Tier VI plan calls raising the retirement age from 62 to 65, would end early retirement and would require workers to contribute 6 percent of their salaries toward pensions during their entire career.
The proposal will draw tough opposition from lawmakers on both sides of the aisles who depend on union backing during elections. But it’s pension costs that are one of the key factors driving up state and local government budgets and tax bills.
The issue is so wrought with political baggage, it’s hard to know when lawmakers might address Cuomo’s idea.
“Whether that gets resolved in a special session or later next year, I won’t even hazard a guess,” said Sen. David Valesky, D-Oneida.
Contact Teri Weaver at tweaver@syracuse.com or 470-2274.