Press and Sun Bulletin Editorial December 30, 2001:
Roy: State Legislature's No. 1 aim: Self-preservation
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| YANCEY ROY
New York Journal
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ALBANY -- The state Legislature swings into action this year and the public thinks it's going to be about jobs, education, taxes and post-Sept. 11 fallout.
Not exactly.
Sure, there'll be a budget, environmental programs and public-safety matters. Remember, last year, lawmakers neglected various lingering problems.
But here's the secret topic really on most politicians' minds: reapportionment. Or, as watchdogs call it: The Incumbency Protection Program.
In reapportionment, politicians draw election-district boundaries for the Legislature and Congress. Drawing them right helps to ensure that 99 percent of state legislators get re-elected every two years.
Following the 2000 Census, all 211 legislative districts must be redrawn to accommodate population shifts. And national Census results mean New York loses two of its 31 congressional seats because the Empire State grew at a slower rate than other states since 1990. So 31 congressional districts must be reconfigured into 29.
All the work must be completed by spring. All the seats are up for election in November, not to mention races for governor and other statewide offices. So the boundaries must be established in time for candidates to qualify for the ballot in June.
Who does the work? The people with the most to lose. The people who already command the Legislature.
Appointees from Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, R-Brunswick, Rensselaer County, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, control the computer-modeling process that's used to design new districts. And they will shepherd territorial tradeoffs to keep each party in charge of one house. In the spring, Bruno and Silver must force through a bill that sets the new districts.
That means lawmakers' districts -- and perhaps their livelihoods -- will be at stake while they're negotiating spending for the poor, the environment and business.
"This is the thing on the minds of every single legislator," said Blair Horner of New York Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization. It will go into every calculation about backing leadership or bucking leadership. "How will this affect my district (boundaries)" is a question that will accompany every decision, Horner said.
"Anyone who suggests reapportionment is not significant is being very naive," Assemblyman Joe Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County, said. "It has the potential to reshuffle the deck ... (determining) who are players? Who has the power?"
Reapportionment is the elephant in the room this year.
So what's the consequence for public policy? It puts more power in Gov. George Pataki's hands. He has to sign off on any reapportionment bill.
If he wants something this year, reapportionment could give him leverage to get the Senate and Assembly to go along. Checks and balances? Well, the Legislature could delay the budget, hold out and generally give Pataki a hard time during an election year. But essentially Pataki has the upper hand.
The goal of reapportionment should be competitive elections. New York has a woeful record there. Of the 211 current legislative districts, all but 20 are so gerrymandered that one party or another controls the seat decade after decade.
District lines are configured in such a way to give either Republicans or Democrats a comfortable majority in each district.
That's contributed to New York's record of 17 consecutive late budgets and helped foster a process where rank-and-file legislators have little power.
"If the fear factor (of losing) were greater, they'd act a lot differently," Horner said. But that's an unlikely scenario, given the history of reapportionment and the lack of public input on the process.
"It's hard to believe they'll get religion," Horner said, "that (reapportionment) is about government of the people, not protection of the parties."
Roy covers state government and politics for Gannett News Service. Write to him c/o Press & Sun-Bulletin, P.O. Box 1270, Binghamton, N.Y. 13902-1270.
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