Allegro

Legislative Update

Volume CII, No. 9September, 2002

Heather Beaudoin

$5.5 BILLION MORE ALLOCATED TO HELP REBUILD MANHATTAN
IMPORTANT CAMPAIGNS WILL CONTINUE NEXT YEAR
ARTS NONPROFITS GENERATE $36.8 BILLION FOR ECONOMY
INCOME GAP IS WIDEST IN NEW YORK
TENANT RIGHTS LEGISLATION

$5.5 BILLION MORE ALLOCATED TO HELP REBUILD MANHATTAN

Congressional leaders approved the final $5.5 billion installment of President Bush’s pledge of $20 billion to rebuild lower Manhattan, this summer. “With these funds, New York will be able to rebuild and to be stronger and better than ever,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton who, with fellow New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, led the campaign for federal aid.

The bill will provide: an extra $2.7 billion for Federal Emergency Management Agency emergency response and debris removal, bringing the total to nearly $9 million; $1.8 billion for a state-of-the-art transit hub that would connect PATH trains with all subway lines running through lower Manhattan; $750 million to repair utility systems; $167 million to repair roads and highways; and $90 million for a long-term health monitoring program for workers and others exposed to hazardous materials at the World Trade Center site.

IMPORTANT CAMPAIGNS WILL CONTINUE NEXT YEAR

Unfortunately, the COBRA Subsidy Bill did not pass the New York State Senate this year. The Entertainment Industry Coalition has already started to mobilize for its passage in 2003.

Another important measure that was turned back this session would have raised the minimum wage to $6.75 per hour – affecting some 600,000 New Yorkers, whose incomes would have increased from about $11,000 to $14,000 a year.

ARTS NONPROFITS GENERATE $36.8 BILLION FOR ECONOMY

A study on “The Role of the Arts in Economic Development” by the National Governors Association (NGA) reports that the not-for-profit arts industry provides $36.8 billion in annual revenue to the U.S. economy, and supports 1.3 million full-time jobs, making nonprofit arts institutions “a potent force in economic development nationwide.” An article in Backstage on July 19 noted that the report should help state arts agencies justify their right to level or increased funding from state legislatures, and increase the likelihood that governors will support such legislation.

The report demonstrates how arts programs have assisted state and local governments in generating economic vitality, restoring and revitalizing communities, improving urban life quality and making communities more attractive. It recommends several ways that governors can include the arts in an economic development strategy.

INCOME GAP IS WIDEST IN NEW YORK

Over the last two decades, the income gap between wealthy families and low- and middle-income families in the United States rose to historic highs, despite sustained periods of economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s. According to the study “A State-by-State Analysis of Income Trends,” New York State saw the greatest increase in income inequality over the last 20 years. Real income for the bottom fifth of families fell by $800, while the average income of the top fifth increased by $56,800.

The study was conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute. It recommended such policy initiatives as raising the minimum wage, strengthening unemployment insurance, implementing a wide range of supports for low-income working families, removing barriers to unionization and reforming regressive state tax systems to narrow the gap. For a copy, visit www.epinet.org or www.cbpp.org.

TENANT RIGHTS LEGISLATION

People 65 or more years old living in Mitchell-Lama co-ops gained a tax break in this year’s NYS budget, through a provision on School Tax Relief. It falls short of the tax breaks extended to other cooperators, and the Mitchell-Lama Council will fight for equality next year, according to Tenants and Neighbors. Lawmakers took another action important to tenants when they extended the Loft Law for two years, until March 31, 2004.

However, the two major goals of the Rent 2002 Campaign failed to pass the legislature. One bill would have extended the rent control and rent stabilization laws until 2008. The other would have ended vacancy decontrol of apartments after the rent rises to $2,000 a month.