Senate Minority Question Costs, Agenda Of Today’s Special Session

Today’s special session of the State Senate will cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars, yet none of the important issues facing the state will be addressed. Instead, Senators have returned to Albany only to confirm political appointments – confirmations which easily could have waited until the regular legislative session resumes in January.

"This is a shameful waste of taxpayers’ money," said Senator David Valesky (D-Oneida). "If the Senate Majority are going to call a special session, then they should be getting down to business and going to work, just like my constituents do every day."

Valesky said there is no shortage of work to attend to. "We still have a long way to go on Government reform and we have yet to address inequities in school funding," he said. "Additionally, our Workers’ Compensation program is broken and health care costs continue to skyrocket. Why isn’t the Senate addressing any of these issues during this special session?"

Valesky said the Senate should use the special session to override the Governor’s veto of an important reform measure that would force disclosure of the amount of taxpayers’ money the State spends on consulting services and make State contracts with outside consultants more open and accountable.

According to the Public Employees’ Federation (PEF), independent reports and audits have found that New York State wastes as much as $500 million in taxpayer dollars each year hiring outside consultants.

"This reform measure unanimously passed the Legislature," Valesky said. "Clearly there are enough votes to override, why isn’t the Senate Majority taking action?"

Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson (D-Westchester) said the Senate Majority should have followed through on the emergency contraception bill it passed last year when it was vetoed by the Governor.

"Women have a right to make their own reproductive rights choices," said Senator Hassell-Thompson. "The Senate Majority may try to hide behind the fact that the Assembly, as the house of origin, is supposed to first override the Governor’s veto. But they all know that this bill has long been a top priority of the Speaker and the Assembly Majority. Had the Senate Majority Leader expressed the courage or the desire to override the Governor, I’m confident that the Assembly would have taken action immediately."

Senator Eric Schneiderman, Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate, who sponsored the original emergency contraception legislation, S 6323, in 2002, said "This isn’t a scientific debate about emergency contraception -- because that debate has been settled.  EC is a safe, effective way to prevent unwanted pregnancies."

"The Senate’s failure to break with the federal government’s disregard for science is both costly and tragic.  Overriding the Governor’s veto would result in 82,000 fewer abortions and 122,000 fewer unintended pregnancies this year, while saving taxpayers $254 million in Medicaid expenses," Schneiderman said.