The 2008 session has begun on a fast track.
The Governor and Legislature have placed a spotlight on the upstate economy, this is good news for the Rochester area. Beyond that focus, the Governor has committed to two big projects in our community - $55 million to allow for the reuse of the Midtown Plaza site and $50 million for the new Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Rochester, our community’s largest employer. For more information about the CTSI project, you can check this out at www.urmc.rochester.edu/ctsi/.
January 22 brought the unveiling of the Governor’s budget. The school districts in the 131st district received significant increases in aid averaging nearly an 8% increase. Despite this, local districts will still lose funding due to the actions of County Executive Brooks and the so-called F.A.I.R. plans that diverts local obligations to or our children and their education. The City of Rochester will receive an additional $11 million on top of the aid that it will receive under the formula established last year. I will continue to advocate for Rochester projects and needs not included in the budget as submitted.
While all of these big picture events were occurring, I was hard at work on many of the details of important legislation and issues. The Assembly, Senate and Governor concluded negotiations on further legislation to lower workers’ compensation costs. While last year’s reforms brought about a 20.5% premium reduction, totaling more than $1 billion in savings to employers and bringing about the long overdue increase in the benefit level for injured workers, I am continuing to press for further action. My legislation, A. 9817, reforms the rate making process to encourage competition and further lower costs to local employers. I am pleased to let you know that this legislation has passed the Assembly and Senate and has been delivered to the Governor for action.
The Assembly Labor Committee, which I am honored to chair, has held several meetings already this session. Among other actions, we reported favorably A. 9483, legislation to improve enforcement of the prevailing wage law and to enhance penalties for those bad actors that willfully cheat workers out of their wages.
We also advanced legislation to prohibit mandatory overtime for nurses, A. 1898-B. Current hospital practice that imposes overtime rather than seeking volunteers that are willing to work overtime or hiring additional staff is bad public policy, and also dangerous for the health of patients and staff. The Assembly passed this bill last year, and I look forward to action by the Senate on this important public health issue.
Another bill I am advancing is to increase the state’s minimum wage. I applaud Congress’ action to raise the federal wage to match New York’s. We know that more remains to be done. My proposal would raise the minimum wage to $8.25 and would provide for an annual adjustment tied to a cost of living index thereafter.
I have many action items on my agenda for the upcoming session. I look forward to hearing from many of you about these issues and to reporting about the progress of the session.
