With help from Shawn Ness
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Hundreds of protesters gathered “Spend no more money on Israel’s crimes,” chanted in Albany today.
But legislative leadership doesn’t care.
In the state with the largest Jewish population in the U.S., leaders in the state Assembly and Senate have refused to even consider a bill promoted by Democratic Socialist lawmakers that would crack down on charities they say would “empower and deepen Israel’s war crimes.”
“This is not a start, and the Speaker’s position has not changed,” Mike Whyland, a spokesman for House Speaker Carl Heastie, wrote in an email to POLITICO.
It’s the latest sign of how the war in Gaza continues to divide the Democratic Party, exposing a rift between center-left lawmakers and establishment politicians that has grown since the conflict began.
Today, the new focus on the war has done little to move the needle on Albany’s problems. The leadership and senior Democrats here will not waver in their support for Israel. This includes avoiding legislation that criticizes the Israeli regime.
“Jewish members of Congress feel like the world has largely turned on them, not just as members of Congress, but as Jews,” said Rep. Amy Paulin, a Jewish Democrat from Westchester. “We don’t feel that here. We don’t feel that in meetings. We work together as colleagues. Those kinds of divisive issues rarely come up.”
Playbook then asked Pauline if she felt opposition to Israel was growing in the legislature.
“I do not know. Because we don’t talk about it,” she responded.
In contrast to that portrayal, hours earlier, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and State Senator Jabari Brisport had hosted a raucous rally for “Don’t Spend a Dime!: End New York’s Funding for Israeli Settler Violence.”
The bill would strip New York charities of their tax deduction status if they fund organizations that allegedly engage in violations of the Geneva Conventions. It secured the support of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stood next to Mamdani at a Bronx rally for the bill last week.
“This meant a lot to me,” Mamdani said of AOC’s support. Because while there may be an attempt to characterize this as a marginal position, the reality shows that this is the majority position,” Mamdani said. “It just doesn’t reflect accurately in the halls of power.”
Brisport told Playbook he’s heard from fellow Democrats who are like-minded and agree with his bill but are wary of drawing opposition across party lines.
“I won’t name names, but I’ve had members of Congress say to me, ‘Obviously I support this cause, but I’m not going to support (the bill) at this time.’”
In the meantime, the bill remains an impossible task in Albany, where Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart Cousins both said last year that they would repeal the bill.
Rep. David Weprin, co-chairman of the National Association of Jewish Legislators, said of the Mamdani-Brisport bill, “It was just brought up for inflammatory reasons, and the sponsors said it was anyway.” “I don’t think we thought it was going to go anywhere,” he said. .
“He just brought it up to create tension,” Weprin added. “I hope people don’t fall into that trap.” — Jason Bipperman
Union Persuasion: Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building Trades Council of New York, said labor leaders will have a difficult time convincing some members to vote for President Joe Biden.
“This is a very unique situation for Donald Trump,” LaBarbera told Playbook in an interview. “Some people don’t change their minds.”
LaBarbera was in Albany today to bolster apprenticeship programs under a $7 million state budget allocation to boost workforce training. This funding includes support for direct admission and pre-apprenticeship programs and will strengthen ongoing efforts for high school students, veterans, and others who have previously faced legal challenges.
With the presidential election just over four months away, organized labor is well-positioned to leverage its political power. In particular, New York has one of the highest union density rates in the United States, following Hawaii.
That has allowed Labor leaders to expand their influence in New York, a blue state where recent polls show Trump eating into Biden’s lead. LaBarbera’s international union supported Biden’s re-election bid and gave him the support of a key demographic that has backed Trump’s political movement.
Trump has been courting working-class voters across the country in a big way, potentially winning over this segment of the working-class electorate. He made a brief campaign stop at a union construction site in Manhattan last month.
Union leaders are planning a persuasion campaign for a potentially small subset of voters who are not yet committed to either man.
LaBarbera flagged a series of accomplishments for Biden, including infrastructure spending and pension protections.
“Our members will never be convinced that Joe Biden should be the next president,” LaBabera said. “They should look at what this president has done for unions.” — Nick Reisman
Raspberry explodes. question: New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ top intergovernmental aide stood down from a City Council hearing without taking questions about the controversial authority-expanding bill, highlighting the strained relationship between the mayor and the City Council.
“To me, this shows contempt for this council,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams as Tiffany Raspberry, the mayor’s director of intergovernmental affairs, left the council chamber. “We all saw this very clearly.”
The mayor’s administration initially refused to testify on a bill that would have given the council a vote on appointing mayors to lead the 21 agencies. But two hours into the hearing, Raspberry agreed to read a prepared statement but took no questions. “I wasn’t officially invited,” she explained.
Council member Lincoln Ressler, who chaired the hearing, responded to the claims by saying the council made it clear last Thursday that it wanted someone from the Adams administration to speak.
In a statement, Raspberry said the bill would delay appointments and confirmation hearings would be “weaponized to score cheap political points.”
The Mayor’s Charter Revision Committee also held its first formal meeting today. Diane Savino, another of Adams’ intergovernmental affairs aides, was named executive director. — Jeff Coltin
Will not give up: Pauline’s proposal to resolve key issues raised by the state’s highest court when Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes conviction was overturned expired in Congress this year.
But Rep. Lee said he is not giving up.
“I will be here as long as it takes to get this passed,” Paulin told reporters today.
Her bill seeks to address issues related to the use of so-called Molineux evidence to support sex crime charges by establishing a defendant’s pattern of behavior.
In the Weinstein case, prosecutors were able to call witnesses who accused the former Hollywood mogul of sexual assault and misconduct, but those allegations were not part of the criminal charges he faces.
The bill was approved by the Senate earlier this month.
But lawmakers have raised concerns about the bill’s implications for strengthening prosecutors’ ability to use Molyneux evidence in sex crimes cases.
“I am shocked because I believe that without these changes, serial rapists will not be easily convicted in New York and will primarily cause problems for women,” Paulin said.
Lawmakers noted the potential impact on defendants’ rights in less high-profile cases.
Paulin said there are “groups (of lawmakers) who absolutely don’t want it and groups who want to bring it back with amendments.” — Nick Reisman
No Senate action on Parker: Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she has no plans to take any action against fellow Democrat Kevin Parker over allegations that he pushed advocate Michael Carey at the Capitol two weeks ago.
“Honestly, I’ve never heard exactly what happened,” Stewart-Cousins said. “There was an investigation, the state police looked into it, but no one ever filed an official report. Now that the charges have been dismissed, it doesn’t matter.”
Carey said that after the incident, he and Parker resolved the issue and told police he did not want to press charges.
Stewart-Cousins was questioned about the incident following an event announcing legislative plans to help EMS workers. The package includes a bill that would allow ambulance companies to receive Medicaid benefits to transport patients to places like urgent care facilities and a bill that would increase the tax credit for volunteer firefighters from $200 to $800. — Bill Mahoney
More about the Empire State:
— Experts say the job market is We are finally showing signs of returning to pre-pandemic levels. (Political Status)
— Mayor Eric Adams still The city is considering revoking Sean “Diddy” Combs’ keys as he faces sexual assault and domestic violence charges. (Daily News)
— It is still unclear whether congestion charges will be imposed. We will meet the state’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as we want. (New York Times)
