Capitol Report: “Is Cuomo’s Bloom Fading”?
Posted: 03.04.2011 at 9:51 AM
This week was a turning point for Andrew Cuomo. Now that his budget is coming into sharper focus the Governor appears to have lost his "golden boy status" … at least among some groups.
ALBANY --
Advocates for the poor chanted and blocked entryways to the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the Governor's budget cuts.
15 people were arrested – saying they had been pushed into civil disobedience by a combination of painful cuts to social services and the Governor's unwillingness to extend a personal income tax.
This week also saw the release of the Governor's Medicaid Redesign Team’s recommendations… on which, some say, there was clear evidence of the Governor's behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing…
Horner is referring to horse trading between the Governor and hospitals in which the Governor was able to slash Medicaid reimbursements by 2% in exchange for limits hospitals payout in damages from lawsuits.
Cuomo's golden boy image took a few other hits this week as well – including getting publically chastised by Mayor Mike Bloomberg after doing an end-run around him on the issue of teacher seniority. It's also becoming clear to some special interests that the Governor's mandate relief team didn't tackle any of the current cost drivers to municipalities…
Finally, the Governor appears to be arbitrarily singling groups out for vilification. Last week, he demanded that New York State Superintendents cap their salaries – something that took the group by surprise.