Several members of the Westchester delegation to the state Assembly and Senate have their work cut out for them, according to legislative scorecards recently issued by the Business Council of New York State and Rochester-based Unshackle Upstate.
With all 212 seats in the state Legislature up for grabs in November, incumbents, candidates and business organizations have stepped up their activity with less than two months until Election Day.
While the current government has represented a marked improvement over previous legislatures, passing on-time budgets in consecutive years, Business Council of Westchester Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President John Ravitz said there has not been enough action taken in the areas of mandate relief and fiscal reform.
“We were obviously looking for a much stronger showing,” he said.
The key issues for Westchester businesses “aren”™t the sexy headline issues but they”™re ones that have to be addressed in Albany to move economic development along,” Ravitz said.
Ravitz said the state has not done enough to reduce the costs of Medicaid and of pension benefits that weigh down local governments.
He said more action also is needed to streamline the state”™s environmental review process for planned developments and that more could be done to encourage public-private partnerships on public works and infrastructure projects.
Ravitz said a major focus of the Business Council has been to maintain open lines of communication with the county”™s legislative delegation.
The state government has taken positive steps over the past year and a half, Ravitz said, but he cautioned that much work remains in order for the state to continue to attract and retain businesses that “want to see that our house is in order.”
In the Business Council of New York State scorecard, all six Democratic members of the state Assembly representing portions of Westchester received pro-jobs scores of 54 percent or below, while Republicans Robert Castelli and Steve Katz received scores of 62 percent and 75 percent, respectively.
Of the five state Senators representing portions of Westchester, Republican Greg Ball received a score of 90 percent, while his four Democratic colleagues received scores ranging from 56 percent to 70 percent.
The BCNYS scores were based on legislators”™ votes on items deemed by the group as being pro- or anti-growth.
Legislation supported by BCNYS included bills to reduce state and local pension costs, control state spending while avoiding new taxes, reform labor laws that impose unnecessary costs and restrictions on employers, and promote new jobs and investments in strategically important business sectors.
BCNYS opposed bills it said sought to extend public-sector prevailing wages to private- sector projects, expand lawsuits against publicly traded companies, drive up group health coverage costs, erode workers”™ compensation program reforms, and impose new environmental costs on power generation.
Unshackle Upstate, which advocates for lower taxes and spending, pension reform and mandate relief, rated legislators on a scale of one to 100 based on the results of the two-year term.
In the Assembly, Katz, whose district includes portions of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, received an 82, while Castelli received a 63. Sandra Galef, who represents portions of Westchester and Putnam, received a 53, making her the only Democratic Assembly member from Westchester to score above a 50.
In the Senate, Ball, whose district includes parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, received a 73, while Democrats Jeffrey Klein and Suzi Oppenheimer received a 62 and a 53, respectively, and Democrats Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Andrea Stewart-Cousins both received a 43.
