Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jun 2005
Source: Ithaca Journal, The (NY)
Copyright: 2005, The Ithaca Journal
Contact: http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/letters.html
Website: http://www.theithacajournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1098
Author:  Michael Gormley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

LEGISLATURE SCURRIES THROUGH DEALS ON NURSING HOMES, METH

ALBANY -- Convicted sex offenders would be denied any state coverage 
for erectile dysfunction care and the state would provide $134 
million to Upstate nursing homes mostly to raise the salaries of 
workers represented by a politically powerful union, according to 
agreements announced Thursday.

State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno announced the agreement to 
provide the public funding for private salaries of upstate nursing 
home workers who are represented by the Service Employees 
International Union Local 1199 over three years. The proposal had 
previously been for $80 million over three years. Supporters argue 
the public will benefit because better wages, which can be less than 
$10 an hour, will attract better employees to care for nursing home residents.

The SEIU is the same international union at the heart of one of 
Albany's most notorious private deals. Negotiating with the governor 
and legislative leaders behind closed doors in 2002, SEIU won public 
funding for raises for its health care workers in a multibillion 
dollar health care reform act. Its president and Hispanic leader, 
Dennis Rivera, then endorsed Pataki. The union and its locals also 
contributed $4.5 million to political action committees from 2000 to 2004.

Earlier Thursday, Pataki announced several other agreements on what 
was scheduled to be the last day of the 2005 legislative session. The 
Senate, however, plans to return today to pass bills based on 
Thursday's last-minute agreements.

Pataki said those agreements include harsher penalties for setting up 
methamphetamine labs that have plagued some rural areas and tighter 
reins on the New York Racing Association. The NYRA proposal would set 
up a new oversight board that could take over NYRA if the 
long-troubled private organization fails to overcome its legal 
problems -- a necessary step to maintain the state's franchise to 
operate its thoroughbred race tracks.

The "NYRA Oversight Board" would include three representatives of the 
governor and one each from the Assembly and Senate, Pataki said. The 
board would replace a board within NYRA established by its board of 
trustees and management, which Pataki and state and federal 
investigators have accused of mismanagement and corruption. NYRA is 
under federal indictment.

The state also will speed up an analysis on the future of horse 
racing and the future of NYRA running the state's Aqueduct, Belmont 
and Saratoga race tracks, Pataki said.

The sex offender bill, when passed by the Legislature in this last 
week of the scheduled session and signed by Pataki, will replace the 
governor's temporary executive order that denied state funding for 
erectile dysfunction treatment. The law will deny such medication and 
treatment under Medicaid and the state's subsidized health programs 
for the poor, disabled, elderly and working poor. The care would be 
denied to any convicted sex offenders on the state Megan's Law 
registry that have been released to communities after serving sentences.

"This will allow us to continue to provide drugs in appropriate cases 
for Medicaid recipients, but be sure that none of those criminals are 
in any way involved," Pataki said.

In a related bill, the Senate gave final legislative approval to a 
bill that would make a convicted sex offender who takes a job as an 
ice cream truck operator guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable with up 
to a year in jail. A second offense would be a felony, under the bill 
prompted by a Wisconsin case.

The bill targeting so-called crystal methamphetamine labs was pushed 
by the Republican minority of the Assembly and Republican majority of 
the Senate as a major objective. The bill will lengthen sentences for 
operating the narcotics labs as well as for handling and disposing 
the main ingredients used in the drug's manufacture.

The Legislature entered its last scheduled day of the 2005 
legislative session on Thursday, negotiating additional measures 
including shipping wine by the case to consumers and ushering in a 
new Yankee Stadium.

One of the early agreements in the Legislature's traditionally long 
last day provided the New York Yankees the state authorization the 
team was promised to rebuild "the house that Ruth built" in 1923.

The Assembly on Thursday gave final legislative authorization to 
build parking facilities required for the new stadium and to require 
property of at least equal size be used for parkland.

The Yankees, Gov. George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael 
Bloomberg announced plans last week for an $800 million stadium in 
the Bronx next to the current one. The stadium is scheduled to open in 2009.
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MAP posted-by: Beth