Hayseeds No. 208

Spitzer to Overhaul Budget Process.

It looks like our governor is planning to release budget documents earlier this year, and try to have a public discussion on what should go in the budget before it's due on legislators desks in January.

That's a remarkably good idea. There is a need for more discussion on the budget process, and less rush. It also gives the governor more of an upper hand, as he can get a chance to work out conflicts until right before the deadline, where important programs are left out.

It should be very interesting to watch the Spitzer reforms.

Dan O'Donnell Puts in Spitzer's Gay Marriage Bill.

Let the fun begin—assuming the Assembly Democratic conference agrees to let it go forward. The bill number is A.8590 and it's been added to the Cowdung Bill Tracker.

It would be great if New York State legalized gay marriage. It doesn't really harm anyone, and if your so inclined then go out and marry a fag. I don'[t see how anybody can rationally oppose it, as legalizing gay marriage is about equality—there are no costs involved it one way or another.

The sponsors for this important piece of legislation are:

Marc S. AlessiJeffrion L. AubryMichael BenedettoJonathan L. BingWilliam Boyland, Jr.Adam BradleyJames F. BrennanRichard L. BrodskyKevin A. CahillVivian E. CookLuis M. DiazJeffrey DinowitzPatricia A. EddingtonSteve EnglebrightHerman D. Farrell, Jr.Ginny FieldsDeborah J. GlickRichard N. GottfriedAndrew HevesiSam HoytEllen JaffeeHakeem JeffriesSusan V. JohnBrian P. KavanaghIvan C. LafayetteRory I. LancmanGeorge S. LatimerCharles D. LavineBarbara LiftonVito J. LopezDonna A. LupardoJohn J. McEnenyJoan L. MillmanCatherine NolanFelix OrtizAmy PaulinJosé R. PeraltaJ. Gary PretlowPhil RamosJose RiveraNaomi RiveraLinda B. RosenthalTeresa R. SaywardMichelle SchimelRobert K. SweeneyMatthew TitoneDarryl C. TownsHarvey WeisenbergMark WeprinKeith L.T. WrightEllen YoungKenneth Zebrowski

It should be very interesting to watch.

The Fat Cat Ain't So Fat.

The TU CapRegion blog looks at how the mayor has lost weight:

The Senate Democrats Say They Care About the Suburbs.

And they are putting together suburban offensive they say with their plans to create a suburban-rural caucus to better address those issues.

Nor is it certain that a Democratic-controlled Senate would be notably more suburb-friendly, given that 22 of the 29 Democratic Senators hail from New York City.

With Senate Republicans already pushing for lower property taxes, for instance, it's hard to tell what Democrats would do differently if they seized power, said Joseph Zimmerman, a University at Albany political science professor. "I wouldn't expect radical changes if the Democrats took over," said Zimmerman.

It would be interesting to watch. Many Republicans are getting old in the suburbs, and it's getting bluer across the state. Still will it happen? We will have to wait and see.