In a declining economy, it is critical that we not only protect families struggling to make ends meet, but also continue investing in ensuring every child has access to a quality public education.

While the proposed property tax cap may have been a good political sound bite, thousands of New Yorkers across the state contacted the Governor and their legislators and urged them to find a better solution that would not hurt their local schools.

And the Assembly did just that. We applaud the Assembly’s passage of the “Circuit Breaker” bill and their bold stance for public education.

Greg Jobin-Leeds, Vice Chair of Education Voters of America, weighs in on school funding inequity and the Property Tax Cap in Massachusetts, warns New Yorkers to avoid the same fate. Read the challenge to New York’s leaders here.

Gov. David Paterson’s tax cap bill has passed the Senate, 38-20.

It’s not really a surprise, given that all the GOP members are present, with one empty seat that belonged to ex-Sen. Joe Bruno, and they all voted in the affirmative (as they say here in the chamber).

The Democrats are down three members. A number of those who are here joined with the Republicans in voting “yes,” including Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith and Deputy Senate Minority Leader Jeff Klein, not to mention two of the upstater (Aubertine and Valesky) and the lone Long Islander, Craig Johnson.

The “no” votes were all Democrats. They were:

Adams, Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Perkins, Sampson, Savino, Serrano, Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins and Thompson.

This morning, a number of Senate Dems held a press conference (sponsored by Education Voters of New York) outside of the Senate Dems offices to discuss their opposition to the property tax cap - including Sens. Liz Krueger, Kevin Parker, Neil Breslin, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Tom Duane, and Eric Adams.

The event was supposed to be outside the Senate chamber, but it didn’t get that far. And though Senate Minority Spokesman Curtis Taylor announced that “this is not a Senate Democrats press conference,” he didn’t push them out of the hallway, either.

Krueger, Parker and Breslin had strong words for the Paterson/ Senate Republicans’ bill, calling it “pandering” and “politics.” Though they wouldn’t speak ill of the governor or their colleagues (particularly the marginal ones) who will vote for the tax cap, such strong language is striking, particularly since it could be applied to the Senate Dems who do vote for it. (Remember the Hillary movie that featured footage of Edwards and Obama criticizing her?)

Such vocal dissention in the conference is interesting, as one thinks about the future of the Senate if the Democrats take over. Republicans have made their ever-shrinking majority work because their conference members have toed the line.

The day’s press conference prompted one Senate Democratic staffer to say, with a sigh, “we’re a coalition, not a conference.”

Senate Dems offer a hostile amendment

Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, introduced a hostile amendment to Paterson’s property tax cap bill - Klein is proposing to include the Senate Dems’ own property tax cap plan - which would eliminate the STAR program and replace it with a circuit breaker. In his comments, Klein noted Republican Sen. Betty Little’s circuit breaker bill, which has been introduced by Sen. Betty Little.

Skelos replied, “I don’t think Governor Paterson has asked us to amend this bill.” He noted that by eliminating the STAR program, 833,000 would lose their STAR rebate, while 623,000 would receive a circuit breaker benefit. 1.5 million taxpayers receive STAR check in 2007.

Little spoke up, saying that she wasn’t in support of the Dems’ hostile amendment, but that she still was supportive of a circuit breaker bill in the future.

A group of Senate Democrats held a press availability outside their conference room this morning to declare their opposition to the property tax cap bill championed by Gov. David Paterson that will be taken up on the Senate floor later today. The core group was: Neil Breslin, Liz Krueger, Ruth Hassell-Thompson, Kevin Parker and Andrea Stewart-Cousins. They were later joined by Tom Duane and Eric Adams. Just before the event got started, Curtis Taylor, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, emerged to inform the press: “This is not a Senate Democrats press conference, let me be clear.” The gathering was organized by NY EdPAC, the pro-education group funded by the Leeds family, one of whom, Greg Jobin Leeds, penned an anti-cap OpEd for Newsday that ran yesterday. Krueger announced that the Democratic conference “will be split” when the measure comes to the floor. She and her colleagues refused to say whether there would be enough votes to pass the cap anyway. Anti-cap advocates estimate they’ve locked down between 10 and 12 “no” votes.Breslin called the bill “pandering,” while Parker insisted it is a pre-election “scheme” by the Republicans. He refused to ascribe any blame to Paterson, who sent the program bill to the Senate for consideration. Three Senate Democrats are absent today: Suzi Oppenheimer (she’s got an aggressive GOP challenger in Liz Feld, who has been pushing on this issue), Carl Kruger (the only Democrat to chair a Senate committee, he was close to former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno), and Eric Schneiderman (he had surgery on his leg). Sen. Marty Connor has so far not checked in. (UPDATE: Connor has arrived). The GOP has a full house, I’m told, with the exception of the empty seat left when Bruno retired. That would put the split at 31-26, unless Connor shows up. Also, Sen. John Sabini is set to be confirmed to the Racing and Wagering Board chairmanship to which Paterson nominated him. That would be minus one more for the Democrats. Generally, the confirmations come at the end of the session, but the GOP could screw the Dems and do it early if they were so inclined.

As state senators prepare to return to Albany tomorrow to pass a property tax cap, they’re being warned to think twice about the measure by a powerful donor whose family bankrolls a PAC that has injected itself into past Senate races.

In a Newsday OpEd this morning, Greg Jobin-Leeds urged lawmakers to consider Massachusetts as proof that “a property tax cap - while popular - is an ineffective way either to provide tax help or to protect equitable education funding.”

“Repeatedly, the Massachusetts property tax cap has been held up as an example for New York,” Jobin-Leeds wrote. “While New York’s skyrocketing property taxes must be addressed, to those of us who live in Massachusetts, claims of tax cap success contradict the truth.

(Snip)

“And while the cap reined in property taxes when it was first implemented, taxes have since gone up at a rate similar to New York’s.

One of the goals of the Massachusetts cap was school cost containment. But rather than providing schools with tools to find efficiencies, a cap merely forces spending cuts.”

Jobin-Leeds and various other members of the Leeds family are quite wealthy (they made their money ib publishing) and are also big campaign contributors - giving mostly, but not exclusively, to the Senate Democrats (particularly Andrea Stewart-Cousins) in recent years as they stepped-up their efforts to win the majority.

The Leedses also bankroll NY EdPAC, an education reform group that started getting active in Senate races in 2006.

In that election cycle, the PAC’s parent organization, the League of Education Voters, ran TV ads targeting incumbent GOP senators, including Nick Spano, who lost his seat to Stewart-Cousins that year - her second attempt at unseating him.

The Senate Democrats are under pressure from NYSUT and other unions to reject the tax cap, which is being championed by the GOP and Gov. David Paterson. Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith has personally endorsed the cap, and a number of other senators have introduced their own versions.

But Sen. Eric Schneiderman and others have argued against the cap, in part because it leaves out the so-called “big five” districts, including NYC. Schneiderman recently raised the concern that a tax cap will require the state to increase education aid, and city taxpayers, who will get no break under the cap as it is currently proposed, will largely be footing that bill.

“Approximately one half of the General Fund comes from tax payers in New York City, who receive virtually no tax cuts under the Suozzi proposal,” Schneiderman wrote in a recent memo to his Democratic colleagues.

“New York City legislators will have a very hard time supporting a plan under which our highly taxed constituents are forced to subsidize tax cuts for the rest of the state.”

Newsday, August 7, 2008

As lawmakers return to Albany tomorrow, their fervor for a property tax cap should be tempered by a look at states that have already traveled this route. Repeatedly, the Massachusetts property tax cap has been held up as an example for New York. While New York’s skyrocketing property taxes must be addressed, to those of us who live in Massachusetts, claims of tax cap success contradict the truth.

I grew up on Long Island and attended public schools in Great Neck. I’ve since moved to Boston, but I recognize now - as my parents once did - that just as our schools were built by previous generations, it’s now our responsibility to ensure an excellent public school education for future generations. Without this, New York’s economic woes will only deepen.

Unfortunately, Massachusetts proves that a property tax cap - while popular - is an ineffective way either to provide tax help or to protect equitable education funding. Massachusetts’ three-decades-long experiment has exacerbated inequities in public school funding, reduced valuable local services, and increased schools’ dependence on state aid, which fluctuates with economic and political vagaries. And while the cap reined in property taxes when it was first implemented, taxes have since gone up at a rate similar to New York’s.

One of the goals of the Massachusetts cap was school cost containment. But rather than providing schools with tools to find efficiencies, a cap merely forces spending cuts. It doesn’t lower energy, transportation or health care costs. It doesn’t improve management skills, hire better personnel or innovate. Districts have been forced to make cuts to basic teaching staff in addition to art, music, athletic programs and other services provided by schools.

Moreover, Massachusetts’ cap was first implemented during an economic boom - so greater state aid could compensate for the loss of property taxes - and when the student population was waning. Instituting this cap in New York now - as the state faces an economic downturn, budgetary concerns and expanding student enrollment - would have a punishing impact on public school children.

Since the cap began, Massachusetts has seen dramatic growth in school inequity. This should be a red flag to New York, which already has one of the widest gaps between rich and poor in the nation. Wealthy communities in Massachusetts pass annual tax-cap overrides and continue to fully fund their schools. But the rest of the state cannot afford to do so and rely only on state aid.

The middle class communities in Massachusetts are the hardest hit. School budgets in these communities have grown more slowly than those in wealthy areas, which override unforgiving budgets, or than those in poor communities that are supported by targeted state aid. Middle class communities have seen their schools wither. People who have the means move to better-funded districts.

State aid can clearly ease the burden of funding education with property taxes. In New York this year, after aid was greatly increased, average property taxes fell below rates of the early 2000s. But even with the intention to increase school funding, Massachusetts has shown that aid fluctuates with economic and political realities, taking school budgets on a volatile annual roller coaster ride.

Achieving excellent education for our children and fixing unfair tax policies on working families don’t need to be conflicting priorities. New York has the benefit of being able to study Massachusetts’ mistake. The state can institute a circuit-breaker cap that provides immediate help to taxpayers based on their ability to pay. State aid could be increased proportionately to the local tax decrease. Corporate tax loopholes can be closed. Income taxes on the state’s highest earners can be increased to a fairer and more equitable rate.

There are ways to provide every child the opportunity to learn at a quality school, while protecting working families. New York can do both, if its leaders rise to this challenge responsibly and don’t succumb to political expediency.

newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opjob075791488aug07,0,4043631.story