KATHY’S PRE-ELEX STALL GAME
Delays over 420 bills voters or donors don’t like
Gov. Hochul is ducking any chance she’ll offend voters and powerful interest groups before Election Day by delaying action on a backlog of more than 420 bills that passed the Legislature earlier this year, The Post has learned.
The hand-sitting on either signing or vetoing the bills, critics say, comes as Hochul fights for her political life in a neck-and-neck race against Republican rival Lee Zeldin heading into Tuesday’s election.
Some of the measures target the medical, bank, real-estate and cryptocurrency-mining industries that are hefty Hochul campaign donors, while others would benefit donor-friendly trial lawyers and transit-worker unions, a review by The Post reveals.
“The governor has made a strategic decision not to sign or call up lots and lots of bills until after the election. It’s enormously frustrating,” said John Kaehny, executive director of the governmentwatchdog group Reinvent Albany.
The stall has drawn frustration from even key Democratic allies.
For example, 56 members of the Black, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus sent a secret letter to Hochul — a copy of which was leaked to The Post — urging the governor to sign the Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act into law.
The bill passed the state Assembly and Senate on May 3.
“The prompt signing of FAPA into law is of particular concern to our Caucus since manipulative foreclosure practices disproportionately harm communities of color,” reads the letter, signed by Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Valley Stream), the caucus chair, and 55 other minority lawmakers.
“With each passing day, New York homeowners are increasingly losing their homes to what would otherwise be time-barred foreclosure actions. The FAPA should be signed into law in its current form without further delay.”
But big real-estate and banking industry players, including Hochul donors, lobbied against the bill — among them JPMorgan
Chase, Capital One and KeyBanc.
A ban on cryptocurrency mining at former fossil-fuel plants has also been left in the lurch by Hochul. Mayor Adams, a booster of the crypto industry and also a backer of the fellow-Dem governor, has urged Hochul to veto the bill.
Hochul has reported a $40,000 campaign donation from Ashton Soniat, chairman & CEO of Coinmint, which operates one of the world’s largest crypto-mining
facilities in upstate Massena, as well as industry lobbyists.
Another measure outlaws sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in retail pet stores. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), is strongly supported by animal-rights activists to crack down on abusive “puppy mills” that supply pets to retail stores.
But it is opposed by shop owners, who claim they’ll be put out of business.
“New York is complicit in animal abuse and it has to stop,” said Libby Post, head of the New York State Animal Protection Federation.
Another widely popular piece of legislation would restore the state comptroller’s authority to pre-audit contracts and sign off on spending, which was removed by ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his first term in 2011.
The removal of state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s oversight preceded the Buffalo Billion bid-rigging scandal that led to corruption convictions of key Cuomo associates, including top aide Joe Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros.
Stricter oversight of executive spending would also prevent the type of play-to-play accusations that have haunted Hochul, including a brewing scandal involving a $637 million, no-bid contract for COVID rapid tests her administration gave to a company linked to $300,000 in contributions to her campaign.
There are ongoing negotiations over the auditing bill, which emerged as an issue in the only televised debate between Hochul and Zeldin, Kaehny said.
Team Hochul disputed the assertion that she is stalling on the bills.
“Since taking office, Gov. Hochul has signed nearly 1,000 pieces of legislation, including almost 600 so far this year, that — whether The Post reports it or not — are strengthening public safety, keeping New Yorkers safe from gun violence, ensuring quality education for every child, delivering tax relief to hardworking New Yorkers and supporting small businesses, and we are reviewing the remaining legislation,” said Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays.