The Record (Troy, NY)

Business Council invites candidates to address forum

- By David Klepper Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) » In New York state government news, candidates for statewide office are taking their message to the state’s leading business advocacy organizati­on.

The Business Council of New York State has invited Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican Marc Molinaro as well as contenders for attorney general and comptrolle­r to address its annual conference on Lake George this week.

Meanwhile, Cuomo’s opponents are seizing on the recent sentencing of former top aide Joseph Percoco, saying it shows Cuomo isn’t up to the task of tackling Albany corruption.

A look at stories making news: BUSINESS POLITICS: Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Republican rival, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, are the top invitees to the Business Council of New York State’s annual confer- ence in Lake George.

Several candidates for state attorney general and state comptrolle­r are expected to speak Monday or Tuesday at the event as well.

The influentia­l organizati­on meets each year at the Sagamore Resort at Bolton Landing. The event takes on a special importance in election years as candidates for legislativ­e and statewide office seek support from state business leaders.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, Congressma­n John Faso and former Congressma­n Chris Gibson, all Republican­s, are also scheduled to speak.

“No other event in the state offers this caliber of programmin­g,” said Heather Bricetti, president and chief executive of the Business Council.

HOT PERCOCO: Joseph Percoco isn’t running for anything but you can expect to hear his nameplenty of times before November.

The former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo — whom the governor once likened to a brother — was sentenced to six years in federal prison on Thursday for a bribery scheme related to state economic developmen­t funding.

Cuomo’s general election opponents, including Republican Marc Molinaro and independen­t former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, are seizing on the case and Cuomo’s defense that he didn’t know about the misdeeds as evidence that the governor has failed to deliver on promises to address Albany’s chronic corruption problem.

Cuomo tried to turn the tables with a new campaign ad released the same day as Percoco’s sentencing. The spot accuses Molinaro of doing favors for a local architectu­re firm that donated to his campaign and briefly hired his wife. The total of the contributi­ons? Just over $5,500 over several years.

Cuomo, meanwhile, took in more than $ 500,000 from executives and companies linked to a bid-rigging case involving state economic developmen­t funding. The governor has now given away more than $400,000 of the contributi­ons to charity.

BACKUP LIBERAL? Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for governor, is wooing voters who cast a ballot for Cynthia Nixon in the recent Democratic primary, saying he can be their “plan B.”

Hawkins says he is the natural choice for liberals who had hoped the longtime activist and former “Sex and the City” star would oust Cuomo.

Hawkins placed third in the 2014 gubernator­ial election against Cuomo and Republican Rob Astorino. He formally kicked off his 2018 run last week in Syracuse.

Hawkins said he’s an “eco- socialist” who will push for single-payer health care, higher taxes on the wealthy, more funding for subways and transit and a “Green New Deal” that does more to encourage renewable energy and eliminate fossil fuel demand.

“The good news is that we largely know how to move to 100 percent clean energy while creating millions of jobs, eliminatin­g needless deaths from air pollution, and lowering energy costs,” he said. “All we need is the political will to act and the Greens have that in abundance.”

 ??  ?? Marc Molinaro
Marc Molinaro
 ??  ?? Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Gov. Andrew Cuomo

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