Jan 9, 2013

Cuomo focuses on unemployment insurance, WC, group trust reform

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered his annual State of the State message to start his third year in office this week, with an emphasis on rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy, and push for both a state minimum wage hike and gun control at the top of his agenda. The State of the State address allows the governor to lay out his yearly agenda for the legislators and the people of New York.

Cuomo has referred to the minimum wage hike as one of his "litmus test" items for lawmakers to pass this session. New Yorks minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and Democrats want it to go to $8.50 an hour. In the wake of the Connecticut school massacre, Cuomo also joined Assembly Democrats and outlined his plans for further gun control measures, including restricting the kinds of guns available for purchase and expanding gun registration requirements. Senate Republicans have so far been more interested in cracking down on the use of illegal weapons. Cuomo also vowed to push heavily for public campaign finance laws.

With respect to insurance, the governor is proposing to reform the states unemployment insurance system to repay the federal debt two years earlier, provide workers compensation relief to businesses, resolving employer group self-insurance trust liability and reducing costs for stakeholders by closing unnecessary funds, including the fund for reopened cases. Cuomos group trust proposal promises to enable 10,000 businesses to reasonably settle their existing claim liabilities with the state though bonding and using the proceeds of the bond sale to purchase assumption of liability policies for claims associated with defaulted GSITs.

The Democratic governor goes into his third year in office seeking to build on the successes of his first two years, when he was able to get the Legislature to support most of his initiatives. Lawmakers passed a property-tax cap, ethics reform, a new less generous pension tier and the legalization of same-sex marriage. But Cuomo is grappling with an economy that has yet to rebound, and a budget deficit that is likely to increase due to Sandy-related costs. Cuomo has warned that the states budget gap for the fiscal year, which starts April 1, could balloon to $2 billion because of Sandy repairs and he is seeking $30 billion in federal aid to rebuild after the storm, which wrecked the shorelines in the New York City area. He also will have to work with a tenuous leadership situation in the state Senate, which will be run by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans.

The State of the State message is not only a message from the governor to the Legislature but is also the beginning of the Legislative year. Article XIII section 4 of the state constitution sets the day for the beginning of the legislative term as the first Wednesday after the first Monday in the month of January. The governor is required to give the State of the State by Article IV Section 3 of the New York State Constitution.