Government Affairs Council
Update
January 5, 2007
Government Affairs Council Meeting on January 16th
The first Government Affairs Council (GAC) meeting of 2007 will be held Tuesday, January 16, 2007, from 10:00 a.m. to approximately noon at The Business Council's offices at 152 Washington Avenue in Albany. We will begin with an informal reception for Business Council President Kenneth Adams at 9:30 a.m. which will provide an opportunity for GAC members to meet Kenneth prior to the meeting. The meeting will focus on the The Business Council Priorities for 2007. We will also provide details about Administration appointments, a quick review of new Legislators and other Executive and Legislative pronouncements. No advance registration is necessary. Hope to see you there.
Four New Appointments from Governor Spitzer
Governor Spitzer announced four additional appointments this week:
Lloyd Constantine will serve as Senior Advisor. Mr. Constantine served as a Transition Co-Chair for Governor Eliot Spitzer. He is the current Chairman of Constantine Cannon, a commercial litigation firm in New York and Washington, D.C.
Joe Baker, assistant deputy secretary for Health and Human Services. Mr. Baker has served as Health Care Bureau Chief in the AG’s office since 2001. From 1994 to 2001, he was executive vice president of the Medicare Rights Center and previously served as associate director of legal services for the Gay Men’s Health Crisis.
Debra Bachrach, deputy commissioner of the Office of Health Insurance Programs and the state’s Medicaid Director. OHIP is a new office in the state Health Department that is charged with running Medicaid, Family Health Plus, Child Health Plus and EPIC. From 1996 - 2006, Ms. Bachrach was a partner at Manatt Phelps & Phillips. She co-chaired the Not-for-Profit practice group. She also worked for St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center as vice president of external affairs and for former Attorney General Robert Abrams.
Melanie Turner, chief of staff. Has served as Spitzer’s scheduler for the past eight years. Worked for ABC from 1972 to 1978.
Assemblyman Canestrari Tapped to be New Assembly Majority Leader
Assemblyman Ron Canestrari of the Capital District has been tapped by Speaker Silver to be the new Assembly Majority Leader. Speaker Silver called the Assemblyman a "proven leader and a remarkable legislator". The job became available due to the retirement of Assemblyman Paul Tokasz. Assemblyman Canestrari was most recently the Chairman of the Assembly Higher Education Committee.
Labor
Commissioner Nominated
Staff Contact: Tom
Minnick
M. Patricia Smith has been nominated to serve as the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor. Ms. Smith is the Assistant Attorney General in-charge of the Attorney General's Labor Bureau, a position she has held since 1999. She served at the Labor Bureau for 12 years, first as Prevailing Wage Section Chief and then as Deputy Bureau Chief. From 1979 to 1987, Ms. Smith served as a Litigation Director at the Legal Services Organization in Indiana. From 1977 to 1979, she was a Staff Attorney for Connecticut Legal Services. She graduated from Trinity College in Washington D.C. in 1974 and the New York University School of Law 1977.
MTA CEO
Appointed But No DOT Commissioner Nominee
Yet
Staff Contact: Tom
Minnick
The key speaker at the November meeting of The Business Council's Transportation Committee, Elliot "Lee" Sander, has been appointed as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Mr. Sander had been Corporate Senior Vice President at DMJM Harris, a leading transportation engineering firm. Sander also served as Director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. He was also the founder and co-chairman of the Empire State Transportation Alliance, and has been a Commissioner on the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. He graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University with a B.S.F.S. in 1977.
New Executive
Orders
Staff Contact: Ken
Pokalsky
Governor Spitzer issued five Executive Orders on January 1. They are available on line at: www.state.ny.us/governor/executive_orders/index.html
Executive Order #1 states that officers and Governor-appointed employees of state agencies and public authorities cannot accept gifts of more than nominal value "where the circumstances would permit the inference that (a) the gift was intended to influence the individual in the performance of official business or (b) the gift constituted a tip, reward or sign of appreciation for any official act by the employee." This language is similar to the existing restrictions in Section 73 of the Public Officers Law, without that law's exemption for gifts valued at less than $75.
Executive Order #2 prohibits officers and Governor-appointed employees of state agencies from: making campaign contributions that benefit either the Governor or Lieutenant Governor or making requests regarding such contributions; inquiring about a person’s political affiliations or activities in any hiring, promotional, disciplinary or other employment-related actions, or related to any government procurement; prohibiting state officials from appearing in state-financed advertising; and prohibiting these employees from running for federal or state office while still employed by the state.
Executive Order #3 requires every state agency and public authority to identify which of its meetings are subject to the state’s open meeting law and to develop a timetable for ensuring that all such meetings are broadcast on the Internet, with a target of Internet broadcasting of all such meetings by July 1, 2007.
Executive Order #4 establishes judicial screening committees to recruit, evaluate and make recommendations regarding candidates for all judicial appointments by the Governor (except the Court of Appeals, for which there is already an evaluation process set forth in the State Constitution). A statewide committee will address appointments to the Court of Claims; each judicial department will have its own screening committee for appointments to the state Supreme Court and the Appellate Division; county-level screening committees will also be established to make recommendations for Couty Court, Surrogate’s Court and Family Court. The Executive Order commits the Governor to appointing candidates rated as “highly qualified” by these screening committees.
Executive Order #5 carries forward about seventy-four Executive Orders issued by former Governor’s Cuomo and Pataki, and rescinds all other prior Executive Orders. Among Governor Pataki’s orders that will remain in force are those: establishing and empowering a Director of Regulatory Reform (EO #20), Director of Consumer Protection (EO # 45), and a state “Chief Information Officer (EO # 117); and one imposing energy efficiency and renewable power purchase requirements on state agencies (EO #111).
Business Council Committee Meetings
"The Schuler Building" is
located at 152 Washington Avenue,
Albany, NY
"Corporate Woods" is located at 12 Corporate
Woods Blvd, Albany
Click
here for Directions (www.bcnys.org/inside/directions.htm)
Business Council Events
For information on any of our events, contact Anna DeLisle in the Conference Development Department or call 1-800-358-1202.
