Kremer: How to characterize state government

By Jerry Kremer

Critics of New York’s state government like to call its operations “dysfunctional.”

As a former member of the state Assembly I will vigorously defend the Legislature from those attacks, as I know they are unfair. But there is something wrong with the way things operate in Albany. I just can’t find all the right words.

As the first of many frustrating examples, let’s talk about casino gambling. Just after the Sept. 11 tragedy, the state Legislature, concerned about the economy, approved casino gambling for two regions of the state. It was hoped that the construction of a few new casinos would pour billions of dollars into the state treasury each year.

Now almost eight years later, our leaders have yet to agree on one responsible operator to turn one of our downstate racetracks into the cash cow that the state so desperately needs. There is a lot of politics involved in this process, like everything else in Albany, but the delay is ridiculous and just plain ugly.

If you want another example of an Albany foul up, let’s talk about electronic voting machines. Right up to last November’s elections, voters all over the state were using machines that date back to the 1920s. Because of the way the machines are set up many a proposition that is good for the people gets ignored and is defeated.

It is totally unfair to the voters to give them such outdated equipment when they are casting their sacred ballot.
After the Florida election fiasco in the 2000 presidential election, it was decided that something had to be done at the federal level to stop fraudulent election activities. In 2002 Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, which provided for $325 million for the replacement of older voting machines.

By the year 2006 every state, including New York, was required to have new machines to more accurately record people’s votes. There is no doubt since that time that there have been many debates over which machine is the best one and is tamper proof. But part of the slowdown was because machine manufacturers had all hired lobbyists to press their case, which only caused more gridlock.
The 2008 presidential election has come and gone and New York is still without the new equipment. Last year, machines were installed in some polling places for handicapped voters only. Regrettably, there was little publicity about the new machines, and they got very little use.

It’s not just the legislative process that can be frustrating. The state government in general is also populated by a bunch of bureaucrats that do things their way or no way. Take the Department of Taxation and Finance.

Last year Gov. Paterson gave them the responsibility to conduct a tax amnesty program to let delinquent citizens to come forward and pay up without punishment. It was estimated that the amnesty would produce $250 million.

Our neighbors in New Jersey conducted a tax amnesty program in 2009 that collected $600 million in badly needed dollars. That state promoted the program with television and radio ads and it was a smashing success. New York’s tax collectors conducted their own tax amnesty program and it was a total flop. No ads, no hype and even the state’s Web site said there is no amnesty program in the middle of the amnesty campaign.

There is no way to ignore that there is no state budget at this point in time, but that isn’t a sign of dysfunction. New York, like the 49 other states, is wrestling with a massive deficit and hasn’t summoned the courage yet to pull the trigger and make serious cuts. Eventually that will happen.

So like I said, dysfunction isn’t the appropriate word to describe the happenings in Albany. But the more you know about what happens in the government, words like ugly, sloppy, slow, wasteful and embarrassing look like better ones.

Note: Jerry Kremer is the former Chairman of NYS Assembly Ways and Means Committee and President of Empire Government Strategies