CapCon: Dems Reject Congressional Maps, Flaco the Owl Inspires Albany, This Week in New York History
CapCon: Dems Reject Congressional Maps, Flaco the Owl Inspires Albany, This Week in New York History
Where things stand on redistricting, how Flaco the owl has inspired state lawmakers, what happened this week in New Yok history, and more.
Good afternoon — it’s Monday, and National Pistachio Day.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024
TODAY’S CAPCON: Where redistricting stands, as of Monday afternoon and what could happen, Flaco the owl inspires Albany, prosecutorial watchdog panel closer to convening, This Week in New York History
🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? Yes.
❄️ Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Partly cloudy, high 20s. New York City: Partly Cloudy, around 40. (National Weather Service)
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🗺️ Latest on Redistricting: Democrats in the state Legislature rejected a set of maps this afternoon proposed by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission for New York’s 26 districts in Congress.
If you need a refresher on how we got here, check out this story from us on Friday.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike GIANARIS, D-Queens, told reporters they saw “a number of constitutional defects” with the maps.
“If you look at it, they clearly engaged in incumbent protection, which is prohibited by the constitution,” Gianaris said. “There are numerous county cuts … there are communities of interest that are not properly reflected in the lines.”
State law now allows them to, instead, draw their own maps.
Gianaris said they haven’t come to an agreement with the Assembly on what those will be, but we also don’t know by how much they plan to rework them.
The state’s redistricting rules say that if lawmakers draw their own maps, their changes have to impact less than 2 percent of the district’s population compared to the commission’s maps.
But lawmakers could also repeal that rule and draw more freely, legal experts have said.
When asked if Democrats plan to stick within that 2 percent, or try to avoid that constraint, Gianaris said that will depend on discussions with the Assembly.
“It’s hard for me to answer that question until we know where the Assembly wants to go, where we want to go, and where we end up,” Gianaris said.
Democrats are aiming to approve their own set of maps at some point this week, Gianaris said. That could mean extending session beyond Wednesday, the last day scheduled for this week.
Looming over this entire process is time. The petitioning period for candidates who want to get on the ballot for the June 25 primary begins Tuesday. That gives Democrats a few options.
Option 1: They could approve new maps this week, and leave this year’s political calendar as it is.
That would give candidates a few less days to collect signatures, but would mean the current rules would remain.
Option 2: They could approve new maps this week, and change the rules or time period for petitioning.
They could allow candidates to qualify with less signatures, for example.
Option 3: They could approve new maps whenever they want, and alter the political calendar or petitioning rules.
They could move the June 25 primary to a later date.
We won’t know more until Democrats unveil their maps, and a plan with them.
But there’s also an expectation that the maps, however Democrats choose to draw them, could be the subject of a lawsuit. That’s what happened two years ago.
Gianaris said they’ll try to “correct” what they see as constitutional defects within the commission’s proposed maps.
“I think at the end of the day, if we come up with a map that respects communities of interest, deals with keeping political boundaries intact, and deals with some of the issues that we think are flawed in the map that was presented to us, hopefully the courts will agree,” he said.
🔴 Republicans slammed Democrats for rejecting the maps.
Sen. George BORRELLO said that Democrats are working against the will of the public, which approved a constitutional amendment in 2014 that created the Independent Redistricting Commission.
“They wanted to eliminate this behind-closed-doors way of drawing redistricting maps,” Borrello said.
Sen. Jack MARTINS, who sat on the commission before he was elected to the Senate, pushed back on Democrats’ claims that they are unconstitutional.
“These lines aren’t drawn haphazardly,” Martins said “These maps are drawn meticulously, they’re drawn conforming to law.”
🦉 Flaco Inspires Albany: The death of a beloved owl could breathe new life into a bill that would require certain new or significantly altered buildings to use bird-friendly designs.
Flaco escaped from the Central Park Zoo a year ago after someone cut open his enclosure. But he continued to live in the Big Apple until he died last week.
Flaco died after flying into a building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the Associated Press reported.
But he was otherwise in pretty good shape, according to a necropsy performed on the owl.
Lawmakers have now renamed a bill after him. It’s called the Feathered Lives Also Count Act, or FLACO Act, and is sponsored by Sen. Brad HOYLMAN-SIGAL.
“[Flaco’s] death after apparently striking a glass window pane raises the importance of our passing common-sense laws to help stop preventable window strikes, which kill millions of birds, like Flaco, each year,” Hoylman said.
The bill would require state-owned and state-leased buildings to incorporate features designed to reduce the chances of a bird dying from crashing into it.
The bill has floated around the Legislature for the past few years, and was called the Bird Safe Buildings Act. It’s failed to gain enough support to pass, but the bill’s sponsors are hoping Flaco’s story inspires more lawmakers to sign onto the effort.
⚖️ Policing Prosecutors: A state commission charged with investigating complaints of misconduct made against prosecutors and recommending sanctions may finally be coming together nearly six years after its enacting statute was first approved.
The Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct was delayed by litigation and amendments to its enacting statute.
A bill to create it was first passed in 2018.
The commission has now hired Susan FRIEDMAN to be its inaugural administrator, a role that will control its operations, staffing and formation.
Friedman is a senior staff attorney with the Innocence Project, a group that seeks to reverse wrongful convictions.
She’s also worked for the Legal Aid Society in New York City.
“The commission will play a vital role in strengthening the public’s trust in the criminal legal system,” Friedman said.
“I’ve worked with prosecutors whom I admire and who are committed to justice. This commission honors and elevates their integrity by reinforcing the standard for professional conduct that they uphold every day.”
The creation of the commission has been a slow trickle in recent years. Appointments from the governor’s office and the Legislature were made months apart, and no commissioner has been named.
Next steps, before they can get to work, include hiring staff and developing the commission’s rules and procedures.
📖 THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK HISTORY: Every Monday, we’ll plan to tell you about part of New York’s history from years past. This research is from New York State Historian Devin Lander and the New York State Museum, so you know it’s legit.
February is Black History Month. For a calendar of events taking place at museums and historical societies across New York State, click here.
📖 February 26, 1993: Six people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured when a rented truck full of explosives was detonated beneath the World Trade Center in Manhattan.
The attack happened in the middle of the day, and an investigation from the FBI revealed that Islamic fundamentalists were to blame.
They were able to find the apartment where the bomb was made, and found enough cyanide gas “to wipe out a town.”
🎩 February 27, 1860: Four score and seven years ago, and more than a century before that, President Abraham Lincoln delivered his well-known “Cooper Union Speech” at the Cooper Union in Manhattan.
Lincoln gave the speech before he was selected as the Republican nominee for president. It made him appear more moderate, historians say.
It’s considered one of his most memorable speeches, and argued that slavery should not be expanded into western states.
🏙️ February 28, 1909: Today marked the first National Women’s Day, held in New York City and organized by the Socialist Party of America to celebrate women workers.
The event didn’t stop in New York City, and eventually spread across the globe.
March 8 was later adopted as International Women’s Day by the United Nations, in 1977.
💻 Virtual Public Meetings: A9268 HYNDMAN: Would allow local government bodies to conduct hybrid public meetings, during which some officials may participate remotely. This would codify pandemic-era rules around this. (New Assembly sponsor)
🍁 Cannabis Control Board: S8636 COONEY: Would expand the Cannabis Control Board from four voting members (aside from the chair) to six, and would expand the Cannabis Advisory Board from 13 members to 19. (New bill)
🧑⚖️ Supreme Court Justices: A9283 DINOWITZ: Would increase the number of state Supreme Court justices in any judicial district by allowing one justice for every 40,000 people, rather than 50,000. (New bill)
The Times Union Bill Tracker: Your guide to key bills on the table in this year’s legislative session, compiled by the TU’s Capitol Bureau. Find it here.
🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? Yes.
🙋 Hearings:
Hearing to Explore Disparities in New York’s Banking Industry, 11:30 a.m., Hearing Room A
🕕 Tomorrow’s Committee meetings (2/27):
Senate Budget & Revenue | 9:30 a.m., LOB 912
Senate Agriculture | 10 a.m., LOB 901
Senate Education | 10 a.m., LOB 510
Senate Judiciary | 10 a.m., CAP 124
Senate Labor | 10:30 a.m., LOB 308
Senate Energy | 11 a.m., CAP 123
Senate Environmental Conservation | 11 a.m., CAP 124
Senate Codes | 11:30 a.m., LOB 610
Senate Cities 1 | 12 p.m., LOB 411
Senate Health | 12 p.m., CAP 124
Assembly Agriculture | 9:30 a.m., LOB 829
Assembly Children & Families | 9:30 a.m., LOB 624
Assembly Real Property Tax | 10 a.m., LOB 641A
Assembly Social Services | 10:30 a.m., LOB 843
Assembly Consumer Affairs | 11 a.m., LOB 942
Assembly Energy | 11 a.m., LOB 942
Assembly Corporations | 11:30, LOB 423
Assembly Banks | 12 p.m. LOB 423
Assembly Labor | 12:30, LOB 524
Assembly Governmental Employees | 1 p.m., LOB 840
Assembly Housing | 1:30 p.m., LOB 942
Assembly Transportation | 1:30 p.m., LOB 829
(If an Assembly committee is streaming, you’ll find that here.)
💚 National Pistachio Day: I find that people either love or hate pistachios. I’m in the former category, so I’ll be celebrating National Pistachio Day today.
Pistachios originated in the Middle East, where they’ve been growing for thousands of years, says American Pistachio Growers, a trade group.
It wasn’t until the 1880s that pistachios became popular in the U.S.
More from the Times Union (Free for CapCon Subscribers):
Governors’ meddling in State Police matters has continued under Hochul
Ted Danz bid for Breslin seat might be decade-old rematch
Assemblyman Smullen's son seriously injured in crash
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Massive U.S. cyberattack clogs New York pharmacy prescriptions
PEF officials, former staffer sued over sexual assault claims