By Mike Vilensky
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pledge to make government work and his knack
for easing partisan gridlock are facing new headwinds ahead of his
re-election campaign next year.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, ended his seventh legislative session
last week with important matters unresolved and lawmakers pointing
fingers. Earlier in the year, lawmakers were days late in
completing the budget, the longest delay of Mr. Cuomo's tenure.
It is unclear whether legislators will reconvene for a special
session to try to break an impasse over a number of issues,
including Mayor Bill de Blasio's authority over New York City
schools, and the rate of sales taxes in New York counties. On
Sunday, Mr. Cuomo said he hopes to do so before July.
The stalemate marks a contrast from past years when the
Democratic governor won concessions from both parties by his
deadline. And it undercuts one of his top political talking points,
that he can oil the wheels of government, said analysts, officials,
lobbyists and others involved in state politics.
These people attributed Mr. Cuomo's new difficulties prodding
legislators to his lengthening time in office and natural tensions
that arise between the branches, and to changes in legislative
leadership. They said it is an open question how the dynamic will
affect 2018. Mr. Cuomo has said he will run again; Republicans said
they plan to run on a reform platform against the two-term
incumbent.
"Mario Cuomo is reported to have said that in politics friends
are fleeting and enemies accumulate," said Blair Horner, the
director of government watchdog New York Public Interest Research
Group and a longtime Albany observer. "That is what you're seeing,
and I think it will consistently get harder."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Cuomo said: "Gov. Cuomo's record of
results speaks for itself -- passing more on-time budgets than any
other governor in modern political history and delivering major
progressive victories year after year."
At a news conference last week, Mr. Cuomo said his
accomplishments for the year were largely hashed out in the state
budget in April, including softening criminal penalties against
minors and offering free college tuition for some middle-class
families.
After that, "We got to every issue, we just don't have agreement
on every issue," he said. He mostly blamed the Legislature, saying
lawmakers were derelict in their duties for going home without
resolving pressing matters.
The governor faces new legislative dynamics as he tries to make
a three-way deal. The state Senate is unusually fractured, because
nine dissident Democrats keep the Republicans in control of the
chamber, even though Democrats have a numerical majority.
In the Assembly, Democratic Speaker Carl Heastie appears less
eager to cut deals than former Speaker Sheldon Silver, also a
Democrat.
"It's clear the Assembly is changing its approach," said
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, a Manhattan Democrat. "Why should we
let bad policies be enacted into law all the time?"
Mr. Cuomo has said he will work with whoever is in power.
In 2010, he ran as a reformer, calling state government "a mess"
and the legislative process "a disgrace." In 2014, he said his
Republican challenger would "bring back hyperpartisan
gridlock."
Throughout his tenure, Mr. Cuomo has worked closely with both
parties and been credited with restoring some orderliness to state
government. But legislators and political strategists said that
time may be ending, and Republican critics are seizing on the
tensions in Albany.
Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, an upstate Republican, said
this session had been rife with "chaos."
Jessica Proud, a Republican strategist who worked on Rob
Astorino's 2014 GOP gubernatorial race against Mr. Cuomo, said she
expects cleaning up Albany "to be a main issue in next year's
election."
She said Mr. Cuomo benefited from entering office on the heels
of scandals and chaos following the resignation of Gov. Eliot
Spitzer, but "the veneer is coming off."
Still, Mr. Cuomo is a relatively popular figure in New York with
an approval rating above 50% in recent polls, and he would likely
be the front-runner in the 2018 governor's race.
Mel Miller, a political consultant and former Assembly Speaker,
said there is "residual anger" between the Legislature and Mr.
Cuomo after past battles, but he cautioned that the tensions are
healthy.
Mr. Miller said the state government is not dysfunctional yet.
"Compared to Congress," he said, "it is elegant."
Write to Mike Vilensky at mike.vilensky@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2017 20:41 ET (00:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.