Citizen Action of New York News

The Daily News

New York, NY

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/05/27/2009-05-27_in_tix_action_scalpers_whip_fans_again.html

ALBANY – Consumers hoping for caps on scalped tickets for sporting events and concerts may have a long wait.

Instead of restoring the caps, the Assembly appears poised to pass a bill extending – by nearly a year – the law that allows tickets to be resold for whatever the seller can get.

“It looks like the lobbyists got to the ticket scalping extender bill,” said Russ Haven of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

The ticket-selling market was deregulated in 2007.

A study by Citizen Action of New York released yesterday found that between 2007 and the start of 2009, ticket brokers and companies with an interest in ticket resales – eBay, StubHub, Ticket Brokers NY, American Express and the like – gave $21,250 in campaign donations to legislators.

Cablevision, which owns Madison Square Garden, gave $429,963, the Yankees gave $15,250 and the National Association of Theatre Owners $2,000, Citizens Action said.

The Assembly bill would extend the law for 50 weeks and require the state Department of State to issue a report on whether deregulation is working by Feb. 1. The bill would also outlaw ticket sellers like Ticketmaster from selling or transferring tickets to a secondary reseller that they own or control.

Consumer groups wanted the Legislature to reinstate price caps while the deregulation report was being done.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) wanted to cap the resale of tickets at 25% above face value.

Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-Suffolk), who is sponsoring the extender bill, denied lobbyists played a role in the legislation.

New York Post

New York, NY

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05272009/news/regionalnews/big_biz_bucks_block_bills_171103.htm

A torrent of massive campaign contributions by corporate and industry interests is blocking five key bills in Albany that, if enacted, would have consumers cheering, an advocacy group charged yesterday.

In a report titled “New Yorkers Pay When Big Money Plays,” Citizen Action of New York argued that rivers of campaign cash are unfairly skewing the debate on a range of issues.

“The current campaign-finance system gives too much control over how public policy is made in this state to big-money campaign contributors,” said Jessica Wisneski, the organization’s legislative director.

The Buffalo News

Buffalo, NY

http://www.buffalonews.com/149/story/683931.html

It is understandable that the public’s initial response to the recently passed New York State budget was a negative one. Media reports stressed unfair taxes and fees and bemoaned the failure to cut state spending.

A closer look, however, reveals that the budget is a reasonable response to a dire situation. It’s not a perfect budget — far from it — but there are key positives that have prevented more serious cuts in essential education, health and social services. Rather than vilify Sens. William Stachowski and Antoine Thompson, we should thank them for protecting the residents of economically depressed Western New York.

First and foremost, they deserve thanks for passing the Fair Share Tax Reform, which was aggressively advocated by the Working Families Party and Citizen Action of New York, along with other groups in the Fair Share Tax Coalition. By raising the income tax rate on the wealthiest New Yorkers (families earning more than $300,000 per year), more than $4 billion will be raised.

Statewide, this tax increase affects only 3.5 percent of the taxpayers, and an even smaller percentage in Western New York. New York’s highest tax rate is now comparable to that of New Jersey. Progressive income taxes are much fairer than sales taxes and fees, which impact lower income families to a greater degree. Without this tax revenue, Western New Yorkers would be burdened with higher property taxes in order to support necessary health and education services.

School districts will be spared major cuts or increased school taxes. Advantage After-School Programs will receive increased funding in order to expand the provision of after-school programs, which will benefit thousands of youth throughout New York State.

Although there are cuts in health care that will hurt hospitals, the budget included authorization to expand Family Health Plus, removed a proposed premium increase on the Medicaid buy-in for working people with disabilities and reformed the process to enroll in public health insurance programs.

The Working Families Party and Citizen Action of New York would like to thank all the Western New York legislators who were courageous enough to vote for the Fair Share Tax Reform, particularly Stachowski and Thompson, who have taken the greatest heat.

We urge them to tackle other reforms in the months ahead. Legislation governing industrial development agencies needs to ensure that our tax dollars will be used to create living-wage jobs. A system of public financing of elections needs to be established to reduce the influence of money in elections. Also, a thorough examination of state public authorities should be undertaken to assess the need for their continued existence, and if so, to establish a strong mechanism to make them accountable to the taxpayer.

Sam Williams is co-chairman of the Working Families Party. Ellen Kennedy is board president of Citizen Action of New York.