Good afternoon — It’s Friday and No Socks Day.
In today’s CapCon:
Five law firms used in New York pension litigation donated about $500,000 to Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s campaign funds.
A large records request backlog at the New York Department of Health is having a real impact on New Yorkers attempting to get birth certificates and other documents from the agency.
Three new bills of note, including one that would mandate that insurance companies that own health care providers pay non-owned providers at least the same amount they would pay their own owned providers.
The bill backed by state Attorney General Letitia James to ban surveillance pricing in New York has been amended with a big change in enforcement.
A bill that would create new regulations around the reselling of tickets for live events in New York is on the move.
This Week in New York History: Carnegie Hall, Fort Ticonderoga and the New York Herald
Names in today’s CapCon: Thomas P. DiNapoli, Joseph Hernandez, Alan Hevesi, John Kaehny, Matt Sweeney, Letitia James
State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli (Will Waldron/Times Union)
💰 Law firms are big donors to DiNapoli’s campaigns
From Timothy Fanning
When he was sworn into office in 2007, state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli took the reins of a New York retirement fund tainted by a sprawling “pay-to-play” scheme that had engulfed his predecessor.
DiNapoli responded halfway into in his inaugural term by taking formal steps to clamp down on the improper influence, including instituting a two-year ban on pension fund managers from doing work for the massive investment account if they had made a campaign contribution to a candidate for comptroller.
Nearly two decades later, another arguable loophole remains untouched: Law firms retained by DiNapoli's office to represent the state retirement system in various litigation matters have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his political campaign funds over the years.
Joseph Hernandez, a Republican who is among several candidates vying to unseat the incumbent Democrat, contends the donations demonstrate that Albany's notorious pay-to-play culture has not fundamentally changed since the scandal that resulted in DiNapoli's predecessor, Alan Hevesi. Hevesi pleaded guilty to felony charges that would send him to prison.
In 2010, Hevesi, who had been state comptroller from 2003 to 2006, admitted he had accepted about $1 million in illicit benefits, including trips abroad and campaign donations, to steer investments for the multi-hundred billion dollar fund that is used to pay pension benefits to hundreds of thousands of retired government workers.
But law firms were not included in the rules DiNapoli had implemented to head off the type of scheme that led to Hevesi's downfall.
Five of the 18 securities and corporate governance firms used by the state comptroller’s office in pension litigation have collectively donated roughly $500,000, according to a Times Union review of campaign finance records.
The donations from the law firms stretch back years, and were also being made to state comptrollers prior to DiNapoli, including Hevesi.
We’re giving Capitol Confidential readers this exclusive preview. Check out the full story in the Times Union on Saturday.
New York Department of Health Commissioner James McDonald (Will Waldron/Times Union)
📄Records backlog is having real impact on New Yorkers
There are 3,000 pending requests for New York Health Department records made under the state’s Freedom of Information Law, as the agency manages what is believed to be one of the largest records backlogs across state government.
The backlog extends beyond Freedom of Information Law requests to the department’s vital records office, where requests for birth certificates, death records and marriage documents have languished for years. Last year, the state stopped accepting new requests for some of these public records altogether.
The delays are having real effects including hampering litigation, blocking access to citizenship in other countries, impeding efforts to secure new government identification, slowing genealogical research and obscuring agency operations and decision-making from public oversight. The proposed state budget is expected to include millions to help resolve the vital records backlog, but the department has not made any statements about addressing the situation involving Freedom of Information Law requests.
This section features new and interesting bills in the state Legislature.
🔎 TRACK: You can track our running list of new bills featured in this section for free over on Capitol Confidential Pro. Click here.
(Jim Franco/Times Union)
Preferential payment for health care providers owned by insurance companies: Some insurance companies might also own health care provider practices and vice versa. That could lead to situations in which they would prefer, payment-wise, the entities within that vertical integration. In other words, the insurer-owned provider would be paid more by the insurer than others. This bill would mandate that insurance companies that own health care providers would have to pay non-owned providers at least the same amount they would pay their owned providers for comparable services, and similarly, insurance companies owned by health care providers would not pay lower amounts to non-owner providers compared to owner providers. It would aim to ensure payment parity in health care reimbursement between owned and non-owned providers by insurance companies. (S10219 Gounardes, new same-as)
State data on pharmacies in New York: Have you noticed that, in some communities, chain pharmacies have closed at rapid rates in recent years? That’s been the case in the city of Albany. This would create legal definitions to distinguish between large, chain pharmacies and smaller, independently operated pharmacies. That way, the state can collect more detailed data on trends related to large pharmacies versus their independent counterparts. There are some areas of the state where independent pharmacies have actually opened while others have been forced to close because a chain pharmacy enters the market only to later close. Having more detailed data would allow the state to take a closer look at the industry and whether new policies are appropriate to protect consumers. (S10238 Gounardes, new same-as)
Retroactive enrollment in the Child Health Insurance Program: The Child Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) provides low-cost to free health insurance to children who live in New York but don’t qualify for Medicaid. While they program accepts applications for enrollment year-round, coverage isn’t retroactive once it’s approved. That means if a child or their guardian applies for health insurance under the program but then has to receive health care in the month or so pending their approval, they’re out of luck. This would change that by requiring retroactive coverage for the child from the time their application was submitted to when it was approved by the state, which administers the program. (S10228 Ryan, new same-as)
BILLS WITH NEW AMENDMENTS
James rallied at the state Capitol this year for the bill below (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Consumer discrimination through consumer pricing: This bill is being pushed this session by New York Attorney General Letitia James. It would prohibit food and drug stores in New York from using electronic shelf labels and surveillance pricing that changes the cost of product using an algorithm fed with personal data. It essentially seeks to prevent stores from charging different prices to different consumers for the same products at the same stores. The amended version, importantly, removed the option for a private right of action. That means enforcement would rest solely with the state attorney general’s office. That’s a concession that was also made last year on a different bill, the FAIR Business Practices Act, also pushed by James. That bill ended up passing after the amendment was made. This has been placed on the state Senate Consumer Protection Committee’s agenda for next week. (S8616A Gianaris, A9396 Solages)
Allowing cannabis companies to advertise on billboards: New York’s cannabis regulators currently ban stores from advertising in New York using billboards. This would reverse that, allowing advertising on billboards but with strict guardrails. The original version of this bill would have essentially only allowed a business to advertise their name, location and contact information. The newly amended version would allow more to be included on those billboards, including a company’s slogan and notice that they’re holding a cannabis showcase event. While they’re not huge changes, an amendment is a sign that the bill’s sponsor is responding to concerns that may have otherwise been preventing its passage. (S8913B Cooney, A9622 Peoples-Stokes)
An eye on bills moving through the state Legislature.
State Sen. James Skoufis (Will Waldron/Times Union)
Regulations around ticket resellers: This bill, called the Affordable Concerts Act, would create new regulations around the reselling of tickets for live events in New York. It would mandate licensing and renewal fees for professional ticket resellers, enforce transparency and refund guarantees for purchasers, restrict resale price markups and require clear disclosures for consumers around ticket availability. It’s scheduled to move for the first time next week since it was introduced last year. It’s on the agenda of the state Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee, whose chair is the sponsor. (S8221B Skoufis)
Journalism jobs tax credit: New York recently created a program to offer tax credits to companies that create and maintain jobs for journalists. It’s geared toward local newspaper and broadcast media outlets. But the language of the law that created the credit excluded nonprofit newsrooms and organizations that offer news products. This would expand the credit to carve those entities in. It’s on the agenda of the state Senate Economic Development Committee next week. (S9625 Ryan)
Information on legislative and otherwise governmental goings-on at the state Capitol.
🏛️ At the Capitol: Week of May 11
The state Legislature is scheduled to be in session Monday through Thursday of next week.
While hope had sprung eternal that they would vote on the remaining nine bills that make up the state budget by Thursday, the timing remains unclear after lawmakers disputed this week that there was a deal with the governor on the spending plan.
We’ll have a clearer sense of timing when those bills are actually introduced. I’ll be reading through all of them but feel free to flag anything you see that’s of interest.
There are no hearings or other legislative events scheduled for next week at the state Capitol.
The state Assembly hasn’t released its committee agenda for next week.
Senate Committee Meetings (5/11):
Disabilities: 11:30 a.m., LOB 709
Housing: 12 p.m., LOB 511
Each week, we tell you about part of New York’s history from years past. This research is from New York State Historian Devin Lander, assistant Lauren Lyons and the New York State Museum, so you know it’s legit.
📜 This Week in New York History: Carnegie Hall, Fort Ticonderoga and the New York Herald
For more content like this, check out the A Minute in New York History podcast.
Carnegie Hall, 1899. Courtesy of Carnegie Hall Rose Archives
🎵 May 5, 1891: This was the day Carnegie Music Hall opened in New York City. It was funded by industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who also served on the boards for the Oratorio Society and the New York Symphony Society.
Construction of the hall only took two years. It was originally intended to be a shared venue between the Oratorio and Symphony Societies. The opening day event featured Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as a guest conductor. He called the hall “impressive and grand.”
New York Herald Building, ca. 1895. From the collection of the Library of Congress
📰 May 6, 1835: The first edition of the New York Herald was published on this day by James Gordon Bennett Sr. and became the most popular daily newspaper in the country within a decade. It was housed in the New York Herald Building, which sat on what is now Herald Square — where 6th Ave. and Broadway intersect.
Bennett’s son took over the newspaper in 1867 and expanded its operations, opening a European office and financing expeditions to Africa. But he was scrutinized in 1874 after the paper published a false article claiming animals had escaped the Central Park Zoo and attacked civilians.
The paper was eventually sold to the New-York Tribune, becoming the New York Herald Tribune. It stopped publishing in 1966.
A Map of Ticonderoga with old and new lines and batteries, ca. 1777. From the collections of the Library of Congress
🪖 May 10, 1777: It was on this day that Fort Ticonderoga was captured by American forces during the Revolutionary War. It was actually Benedict Arnold (pre-defection) and Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys who planned the attack.
The fort had been a small garrison for the British army that housed artillery and was located on an important route between the American colonies and British Columbia. After about 80 men captured the fort, its cannon and weaponry were sent to Boston where Americans were trying to keep the British at bay.
The group went on to capture Fort Crown Point and Fort Saint-Jean. That cut off communication between the northern and southern parts of the British army.
What else I read today:
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🧦 No Socks Day: Now that you’ve arrived for this strange day, I’d like to call your attention to World Ovarian Cancer Day, which is also today and more important. New York has the fifth-highest incidence rate of ovarian cancer in the country, according to the National Cancer Institute. An average of 1,392 cases are recorded each year here. Why? We don’t know. But here’s what the American Cancer Society says you can do to keep an eye out for it in your own body.
