Sound Shore

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week called for an overhaul of the public education system, with an aim toward boosting student achievement and heightening accountability. How far would such an overhaul reach?

Cuomo, in his State of the State address, announced the formation of a bipartisan commission to tackle education reform. He disclosed no details, except to say that the panel would be tasked with developing a plan.

Educators and others offer their ideas on the governor’s initiative, in a LIVE Editorial Spotlight interview 11 a.m. Tuesday on LoHud.com. Watch at www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; submit a question by engaging the CoverItLive blogging feature.

The state Legislature convenes for its 2012 session just after the New Year. What issues do you hope they take up in 2012? What are your priorities for your representatives in the state Senate and Assembly? Replacing the Tappan Zee bridge? Pension reform? Mandate relief? What are your top issues?

Leave your answers in the comments below.

Good Monday morning. Here’s a glance at opinion content published over the weekend in The Journal News:

Sundday, Dec. 18
Tappan Zee Bridge: Editorial
We comment on news that a bipartisan coalition of Hudson Valley political leaders have called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to slow down planning for a new Tappan Zee Bridge; the group said any new bridge must include mass transit options. We agree. We write:

How fast should the fast-tracked plan to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge go? Local elected officials, along with environmental and transit advocates, have an answer: not quite as fast as Gov. Andrew Cuomo would like. In a joint statement Thursday, a bipartisan coalition said it was “not enough” to design a bridge with only the possibility of adding transit later, as the current plan shepherded by Cuomo does. Their concerns should be taken seriously — by Albany and Washington both.

While the new Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing project has proceeded at breakneck speed in the last two months, the key ingredient is still missing: money to pay for it. That means policymakers still have ample opportunity to consider what 11 elected representatives said in their statement, and what scores have stated at some 280 public hearings: “… the Tappan Zee Bridge must be replaced, but . . . a bridge without public transportation would gridlock the Hudson Valley’s economy and do nothing to prevent rising traffic congestion and air pollution.” …

Here’s a glance at today’s opinion content:

Cuomo’s tax deal: Editorial
We comment on the deal Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered with leaders of the state Legislature to cut taxes for middle-class New Yorkers will raising taxes on the wealthiest. We write:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Legislature, the latter the long-time poster child for government dysfunction, are co-creating a new moniker that is altogether more complimentary and at once reflective of the high expectations that the voters hold for state governance. Their often stuck-in-the-muck counterparts at the local level and in Washington should take copious notes. Albany is on the verge of accomplishing something big.

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We’re back with regular round-ups of opinion content after last a respite last week.

Here’s a glance at editorials and commentaries we published over the weekend:

Sunday, December 4
Fracking: Commentary
We comment on the ongoing review of whether or not hydraulic fracturing of New York’s Marcellus shale, through which the extraction of natural gas reserves could be a boon to struggling upstate communities. A public comment period on the review ends Jan. 11. We write:

… Officials of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental watchdog group, highlight numerous flaws in New York’s draft regulations — a report nearly three times as long as “War and Peace.” Shortfalls include a lack of analysis of “significant health and environmental harms”; insufficient setbacks to protect water bodies, homes, aquifers and wells from drilling; inadequate protection for watersheds and aquifers — a theme highlighted at the Wednesday hearing; and inadequate rule-making by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The NRDC officials — acknowledged experts on the concerns confronting state regulators — expect to raise additional concerns with the DEC, addressing air quality, engineering, surface and subsurface water quality, and other matters. The DEC officials must also consider nearly 10,000 new written comments, on top of 13,000 comments submitted earlier, and remarks from 600 hearing speakers — from among 6,000 people who attended hearings. And there could be plenty more feedback before the state closes off public comment Jan. 11; the original deadline was Dec. 12. As forthcoming as the public has been on fracking, the DEC officials should be no less generous with answers that address New Yorkers’ justified concern.

Tappan Zee Bridge: Reisman
Phil Reisman reminisces about the contributions made by Gov. Malcolm Wilson, a Yonkers Republican for whom the Tappan Zee Bridge is named.

Monday, December 5
Tappan Zee Bridge: Community View
Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a regional policy watchdog organization, comments on the plans for a replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge and the critical need for a mass-transportatoin component.

Representatives of a consortium of groups pressing for an extension of the so-called “millionaire’s tax” in New York discuss their effort in an Editorial Spotlight interview 1 pm. today on LoHud.com. Expected participants include:

» Dennis Hanratty, executive director of Mount Vernon United Tenants;
» Ron Deutsch, executive director of New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness;
» Rachel Estroff, ongoing organizer for Westchester For Change;
» Joe Mayhew, legislative/ political coordinator, Communications Workers of America District 1;
» Juanita Lewis, Westchester community organizer for Community Voices Heard.

To watch LIVE, go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; to submit a question, engage the “CoverItLive” blogging feature on the right of your screen.

Should New York’s “millionaire’s tax” be renewed? Answer our poll.

Democrats in the state Legislature, along with union leaders and some Occupy Wall Street members, have called for renewing New York’s so-called “millionaire’s tax,” which slaps an income tax surcharge on individuals earning $200,000 or more, $300,000 or more for families. Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposes extending the surcharge, which expires at the end of the year. Should the “millionaire’s tax” be extended?

Cast your vote in our Editorial Board poll:

Representatives of the Mid-Hudson Regional Council — the local business consortium competing with business councils statewide for a share of $200 million in economic development dollars from Albany — discuss their proposed Strategic Plan and Priority Projects, in an Editorial Spotlight interview 10 a.m. Tuesday on LoHud.com.

Panelists include: Council Co-Chair Dr. Leonard Schleifer, president and CEO, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; Marsha Gordon, president and CEO, The Business Council of Westchester;
Al Samuels, president and CEO, Rockland Business Association; and Aimee Vargas, regional director, Mid-Hudson Region, Empire State Development.

To watch, go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight; to send a question or comment during the interview, engage the CoverItLive feature on the right of your computer screen.

Good Monday morning. Here’s a look at opinion content published over the weekend:

Saturday, Oct. 8
Occupy Wall Street and ‘99 percenters’: Commentary
Christopher Ketcham, uthor of “The Rein of the One Percenters: Income Equality and the Death of Culture in New York City” in the current issue of Orion magazine, offers a commentary on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Ketcham compares the demonstrations to the Populist movement of the Gilded Age.

Cyberbullying: Commentary
State Sen. David Carlucci, a Rockland Democrat, comments on cyberbullying in a Community View. Carlucci advances legislation he says “will stiffen penalties for online bullying and stalking, giving law enforcement the ability to charge individuals with a misdemeanor for ‘cyberbullying’ and in extreme cases, expand second-degree manslaughter to include ‘bullycide’ when the perpetrator intentionally or recklessly causes the victim to commit suicide.”

Sunday, Oct. 9
Pensions: Editorial
We comment on Sunday’s watchdog report on the Lower Hudson Valley’s 45 new admittees to one of the state’s more exclusive clubs — those earning public pensions of more than $100,000. We write:

… In 1980, according to the Employees Benefit Research Institute, 39 percent of private-sector workers had a pension that provided a guaranteed payout at retirement; that figure is down to about 15 percent today. About 42 percent of those formerly covered by pensions now have 401(k) plans, which have been battered by the raucous financial markets. There has been little guidance from Wall Street, corporate board rooms or public policy makers on how retirees are supposed to get by with so much less; at the same time Social Security is under constant threat.

The dearth of discussion — perhaps the spreading Wall Street protesters could add this complaint to their list — means more struggles for those on payrolls, leaving payrolls, or hoping some day to join one. If only our collective envy for the six-figure pension club would translate into retirement solutions for the rest of the working world.

Hank Williams Jr.: Reisman
Phil Reisman weighs in on the case of Hank Williams Jr., the country singer who made headlines last week when he compared President Barack Obama to Adolph Hitler.

Here’s a glance at today’s opinion content:

PEF’s rejection: Editorial
We comment on news that the Public Employees Federation, the second largest union of state employees, rejected a package of give-backs negotiated with the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. We write:

… The rejected deal, apropos of these post-recessionary times, largely mirrored the no-layoffs pact easily ratified by the Civil Service Employees Association last month: It provided for a three-year freeze on wages, followed by 2 percent raises in the fourth and fifth years; nine days of furloughs, four of which would be repaid at the end of the contract term; and increased employee health care costs.

Broad protections against layoffs would have been in force the next two years.

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