By Juliette Michaelson, Senior Planner

Yesterday, Governor Chris Christie put an enormous dent in New Jersey’s economic future. Access to the Region’s Core, a new tunnel to connect NJ TRANSIT’s existing train network to a new terminal at Herald Square in Manhattan, would have enabled New Jersey’s prosperity for generations to come by doubling NJ TRANSIT’s capacity into the region’s economic hub, significantly cutting train commute times to Midtown, increasing the reliability of service, reducing traffic and greenhouse gas emissions, creating construction and long-term jobs, driving economic growth in the right places, and boosting home values. But the $8.7 billion project, like all major infrastructure projects, could have gone over budget, and Gov. Christie flatly refused that New Jersey assume any responsibility for any potential cost overruns.

Never mind that the cost overruns — if they occurred — were likely to be in the range of $2 billion — not the $3 billion to $5 billion repeatedly cited by Christie without supporting evidence or documentation.

Never mind that, in its negotiation with New Jersey, the federal government proposed that up to $1.2 billion in cost overruns be split three ways between the federal government, the Port Authority and New Jersey.

Never mind that NJ TRANSIT and the FTA found ways to reduce the project’s construction costs by up to $700 million by postponing elements of the project that were not necessary on opening day.

Never mind that the federal government offered New Jersey a federal loan at an unbeatable interest rate, and one that wouldn’t require repayment until six years after the first draw-down of the loan, at which point New Jersey would be starting to reap the economic and tax benefits of the project.

Never mind that a partnership with private investors could have limited or eliminated New Jersey’s exposure to cost overruns.

Never mind that the federal government does not require a cash commitment to cover potential cost overruns — only that a project has identified a non-federal funding stream that could be called upon to cover contingency costs.

Gov. Christie’s assertion that he couldn’t move forward with the project because he couldn’t “make payroll” is disingenuous at best. By the time cost overruns materialized, if they materialized at all, it would be in the latter half of this decade, after Gov. Christie’s tenure and after the project had begun to boost New Jersey’s economy. In fact, the only immediate impact is that New Jersey will now have to repay $350 million to the federal government for work already completed.

All the arguments in the world about the benefits of the project, the unparalleled return on investment for New Jersey and the unforgivable loss of $6 billion in federal and Port Authority funding, did not move Christie one inch. If New Jersey was on the hook for a dollar more than the $2.7 billion already committed to the project, the project was going to get canned.

Of course, Gov. Christie’s request for someone else to assume the risk of overruns — the federal government, presumably, or the Port Authority — is entirely unfair. It is, after all, NJ TRANSIT, a New Jersey agency, that is building the project. A financing scheme that saddled anyone other than New Jersey with the responsibility for cost overruns would have created obvious disincentives for the state to keep construction costs down, and obvious incentives for any future state-sponsored and federally backed infrastructure projects to underestimate construction costs.

But, as my mother wisely says, “Let bygones be bygones.” ARC remains a vital — and shovel-ready — project that New Jersey, New York and the Northeast sorely need. If New Jersey won’t build it, the federal government should step up to the plate, turn ARC into a federal project (possibly with the Port Authority as a local sponsor) and build it. They could then lease back out to New Jersey the right to use the tunnel, most likely at a higher cost to New Jersey in the long run. Gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Wisconsin have pledged to return high-speed rail grants to the federal government claiming their states can’t afford their shares. If they do, we know of a shovel-ready project in the Garden State that could quickly make use of those funds.

Cynics might say that Christie knew all along that his proposal to have someone else cover potential cost overruns would never fly, and therefore that New Jersey’s contribution to ARC would conveniently be available to fund the state’s road-building fund, which is nearly insolvent. A more generous interpretation of the last six weeks is that Christie had nothing to lose by asking others to shoulder the risk of cost overruns, so he went for it. Whatever Christie’s true reasoning, the cancellation of ARC is a great loss to the state of New Jersey, the region and the Northeast Corridor. Here’s hoping this project will come back, and soon.

Saratoga Asset Allocation Model Performance

Click here for the Saratoga Performance and Allocation Update: PA Update

Click here for the Saratoga Investor Profile Questionnaire: IPQ

Statement of CSEA President Danny Donohue to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s call for state employee layoffs this year

Oct. 26, 2010

“CSEA is shocked that the Attorney General, the state’s top law enforcement officer, would advocate breaking the law. Shame on Attorney General Cuomo. He knows full well that the no layoff agreement that the Paterson administration made with CSEA and PEF is legally binding and has already been upheld by the court.

The Attorney General is undermining his own credibility even before he has even been elected governor. He obviously has a lot to learn about managing the state work force, let alone following the law.”

Christie Kills Train Tunnel, Again

By PATRICK MCGEEHAN
October 27, 2010, 11:25 am

Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, put a second and final stop on Wednesday morning to the most expensive public works project under way in the country, a proposed rail tunnel under the Hudson River that could have doubled commuter-train service to Manhattan.

Mr. Christie had canceled the project earlier this month, saying that New Jersey could not afford its rising share of the projected costs. Then, pressed by federal officials to reconsider, he agreed to wait two weeks while alternative financing plans could be drawn up.

But, in the end, Mr. Christie said the taxpayers of New Jersey would still be liable for cost overruns that could run into the billions of dollars.

The decision to stop construction of the project, known as Access to the Region’s Core, could cost the state $3 billion that was pledged by the federal Department of Transportation for new transit projects, and some or all of an additional $3 billion commitment from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The state was responsible for the balance of the project’s total cost, which had been estimated at $8.7 billion.

But Mr. Christie challenged that figure, saying the project would surely cost much more. Last week, the federal transportation secretary, Ray LaHood, who had tried to talk Mr. Christie out of stopping the project, said that his staff estimated that it would cost at least $9.775 billion and possibly more than $12 billion.

Solidarity Revisited

By Bill Hohlfeld
Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Yesterday in Times Square, thousands of New York City Building and Construction Trades members gathered to show solidarity with one another and make a clear statement that they have had enough of non-union construction in and around this city. They waited patiently to see a labor movement icon, and to hear the words of guest speaker, Lech Walesa.

His manner was jovial as he took the podium. He laughingly confessed that he was glad he never had to run for office against the previous speakers, because he was convinced he would have lost. He remembered fondly how the United States showed such strong support for the Polish Solidarity movement and he evoked the old AFL slogan of “Union Yes!”

He further reminisced of the days when 200,000 Soviet troops occupied Poland and another 1,000,000 were spread across the remainder of Eastern Europe. He recalled the nuclear missiles in the region and how both Reagan and Bush sadly opined that only another war could ever change the situation. “But,” Walesa said, “Thirty years ago we all miscalculated. We counted troops and tanks, and didn’t count on our values and our spirit.”

“ Today,” he declared, “we are establishing the United States of Europe, and alongside the United States of America, we will be able to face the challenges presented by China, which possesses a great culture but a different value system [than the West]. Only then, can we create a better world.”

He ended his comments by reminding everyone that we are all responsible for determining what shape democracy takes, and that our prospects for peace are rooted in our solidarity. “When communism was finally dismantled in Europe,” concluded Walesa, “it was the union who won the victory.”

As President Walesa was whisked away to the airport, many local labor leaders took the microphone echoing and re-echoing the message of the day. Denis Hughes of the NYS AFL, Jack Ahern of the NYC Central Labor Council and Ed Malloy of the NYS Building and Construction Trades Council all took their turns at “drawing a line in the sand” and pushing back against the “war on the middle class.”

A refreshing change in the roster was an impassioned Pat Lynch of the NYPD PBA. Speaking of New York’s union workforce, both public and private, he was adamant in his claim that, “We are not ‘in season.’ We were not responsible for this [financial] mess. We build this city and keep it safe.” After alluding to the fact that the NYC Building Trades were among the first to support the police in their recent struggle to secure a fair wage, he assured the thousands in the crowd that while police officers are “on duty outside the barriers, their hearts are with you inside those barriers.”

Several of the Business Managers of the various Building Trades addressed the throng as well. Among them was Local 46’s own Bob Ledwith. His words were few, but effective. Beginning with the mantra of “one union” Bob exhorted all those present not to accept the decline of the Middle Class. “We are the first generation of workers” Bob grimly reported, “that will not leave things better for their kids, and for their grandkids.” After briefly recalling organized labor’s victories of the 1980s and 90s, Bob closed with words that, no matter what tomorrow brings, will prove to be prophetic: “It’s your Union, your today, your future.”

Get Involved in the Fight Against Hunger

Each day, more than a million New Yorkers are forced to choose between buying groceries or the medicine they need. AARP believes that no one of any age should have to choose between filling a prescription or putting nutritious food on the table.

During the weeks of Oct. 25 and Nov. 2, AARP is working with food assistance groups throughout the state to help connect older New Yorkers to food programs and benefits and to encourage our members to volunteer in the fight against hunger.

“About half of New Yorkers who are eligible for food stamp benefits do not apply,” said Lois Aronstein, AARP New York State Director. “That is why we are encouraging people to go to our Create The Good web site to find out about programs like food stamp benefits and local food pantries for themselves or a loved one. They can also look for ways to volunteer to help others. Just go to CreateTheGood.org/FoodHelp and type in your zip code.”

Volunteer opportunities include working at local food pantries, donating to food banks, assisting at food stamp enrollment sites, or downloading AARP’s Create The Good toolkit to learn how to organize your own food drive.

“Whether you have five minutes or five hours, you can change the life of another person,” said Aronstein.

Create The Good can help New Yorkers find out if they are eligible or food stamp benefits and link them to enrollment sites.

“New changes to the food stamp benefit have made more people eligible,” said Aronstein. “For instance, you may qualify even if you work, receive Social Security, SSI, and/or retirement benefits. You may also be eligible if you own a home or car, have money in the bank, or live with others.”

In addition, the new food stamp card looks like a debit card. No one but you and your grocery clerk knows what the card is for. Finding out if you qualify is easy; you can go online or call to find out if you may qualify. And it’s important to know that you are not taking the benefit from someone else who needs them. Food stamp benefits also help the economy. Every $5 used in food stamps puts $10 in the economy.

“In these economic times, making ends meet has become harder and harder for so many families and older adults in New York City, said Aronstein. “Food stamp benefits can help older adults stretch their income and purchase nutritious foods.”

About Create The Good

Create The Good is a network of people sharing tools and ideas to help make a difference on their own or in groups in their communities. It is powered by AARP and the AARP Foundation’s more than nine million volunteers, donors and activists. Create The Good offers local volunteer opportunities as well as ideas for self-directed activities and how-to videos for simple service projects people can organize on their own, like weatherizing homes, starting healthy walking groups, fighting fraud, preparing for a hurricane and other needs.

NYSUT makes it clear that misuse of test data is unacceptable

NYSUT Media Relations – October 22, 2010

ALBANY, N.Y. October 22, 2010 – New York State United Teachers said today that misusing data to evaluate students or teachers is “never acceptable,” and it would continue to hold media and policymakers accountable for attempts to misuse scores “whenever or wherever that occurs.”

“Media misuse of unreliable student data to unfairly label or scapegoat teachers would undermine the good-faith initiatives now under way to strengthen teacher evaluations in New York state,” said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi. “As educators, we are committed to ensuring that assessments, whether of students or teachers, are based on fair and valid measures that incorporate all necessary elements, and are used in the way they were intended.”

The New York City data being sought by some media outlets fails to meet that standard on all counts, he said, and would only fuel unfair teacher-bashing and scapegoating. The United Federation of Teachers, NYSUT’s affiliate in New York City, succeeded Thursday in getting the city to delay release of data from an experimental pilot project until the matter can be heard in court. (see www.uft.org).

The data links teachers by name to so-called “value added” scores that theoretically quantify teachers’ impact on student achievement. In fact, experts agree that current methodology for measuring “value added” has well-documented limitations that undercut its reliability.

“This particular data was gathered for an experimental pilot project and is based on tests that the state itself has disavowed, and on deeply flawed methodology that is neither fair nor accurate in assessing ‘value added,’” said NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira. “Parents and teachers need and deserve a process that is fair and reliable in measuring student growth.

“This would qualify as abuse of student test information,” Neira added. “At a time when teachers are leading initiatives to strengthen the profession, this would set back good-faith efforts to establish fair and appropriate ways to include student growth as one measure of teacher effectiveness.”

Neira noted that, through NYSUT’s Innovation Initiative, five local labor/management teams are laying valuable groundwork on the appropriate way to incorporate student growth as one of multiple elements in teacher evaluations. That work offers a foundation for the state’s plan to develop fair and accurate teacher evaluations that would include student growth as one of multiple measures.

NYSUT, the state’s largest union, represents some 600,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; faculty and other professionals at the state’s community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York, and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and AFL-CIO.

High unemployment persists, but New York has not fared as badly as most states in the downturn.

For immediate release: October 22, 2010

Contact:
James Parrott
Deputy Director and Chief Economist
212-721-5624 (desk), 917-880-9931 (mobile)

State and local government job losses far exceed losses in other sectors this year

New York, New York—A report released today by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that
while the Great Recession has taken a terrible toll in New York, the Empire State has not been as
hard hit as most of the country. From December 2007—the start of the national recession—
through September 2010, New York’s 3.3 percent total job loss ranked it 39th among all states.
That is, 38 states had even worse job performance over that period.

“This certainly does not mean that New Yorkers have been spared the recession’s devastating
effects,” said James Parrott, the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Deputy Director and Chief Economist.
“It just means that New York was hit a lot less hard than most parts of the country.” (See
attached table with state rankings.)

FPI’s Executive Director Frank Mauro stated, “Claims that New York is doing badly compared
to the rest of the nation are not borne out by this record of New York’s relative performance
during the Great Recession. Since the start of the recession in December of 2007, 38 states have
had greater percentage job losses than New York; and 33 states have experienced a greater
increase in their unemployment rates than New York’s 3.6 percentage point increase.”

Mauro concluded, “Given the effects of the Great Recession in reducing employment and
undercutting state and local tax revenues, New York’s economic and budget challenges are far
from unique.”

Yesterday, the New York State Department of Labor released new figures showing that the state
lost 15,000 jobs (on a seasonally adjusted basis) in September with job losses roughly evenly divided between the private sector and the state and local government sector.

Given the job gains earlier this year, the state has experienced a net gain of nearly 63,000 jobs since the low point
reached in December of 2009. The state’s 0.7 percent job growth this year is better than the
national job growth of 0.5 percent.

The state’s job growth this year has been concentrated in food services and health care (both with
net gains of 14,000 jobs), professional and technical services (13,000), temporary employment
agencies (10,000), retail trade (8,000), and manufacturing (5,000). However, since private sector
employment levels bottomed out last December, New York State has lost 26,000 government
jobs, with 23,000 of that occurring at the state and local government levels. No other major
sector in the state’s economy has lost more than 3,000 jobs since December 2009.

“Job losses in state and local government this year now far exceed those of any other sector in
New York,” noted Parrott of the Fiscal Policy Institute. Parrott added, “Job cuts by New York
State and local governments are creating a significant drag on the state’s economic and
employment recovery. The loss of 26,000 government jobs further reduces the dwindling supply
of middle income jobs that have long been the mainstay of New York’s economy.”

New York State’s unemployment rate held steady at 8.3 percent in September and down from
8.8 percent in September of 2009. Still, there were 800,000 New Yorkers officially unemployed
in September, a number nearly 75 percent higher than when the recession began in New York in
the spring of 2008. When discouraged workers and the under-employed (those working part-time
involuntarily) are factored in, the underemployment rate in New York is 15 percent.

The protracted downturn has meant that half of New York’s unemployed have been jobless for
nearly six months. This is more than twice the length of the median unemployment duration
during the 2001-to-2003 downturn. Also, nearly 30 months after the recession began in New
York in April 2008, initial unemployment claims data released yesterday show that New York
workers are still losing jobs at a pace 28 percent greater than before the recession About 25,000
New Yorkers file initial unemployment claims each week.

DEC Commissioner’s firing sheds light on staffing concerns

Friday, October 22, 2010 at 4:56PM

Albany – The New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) has been sounding the alarm on the latest round of work force reductions and the negative affect they will have on state services for months. Now one of the governor’s own commissioners has raised a red flag and it appears to have cost him his job.

“Eleven thousand, three hundred eighteen (roughly 100 jobs each week), that’s how many state executive branch jobs have been eliminated since the governor declared the state was in a fiscal crisis more than two years ago,” said PEF President Kenneth Brynien.

“State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis knows first-hand how work force reductions affect vital services. Yet, when Grannis voiced those concerns to the Paterson administration he found himself out of a job,” Brynien said.

“DEC is in turmoil as a result of drastically reduced staff at a time when numerous critically important environmental issues need to be addressed,” added Environmental Program Specialist and PEF Executive Board member Wayne Bayer. “Without adequate professional and competent staff there is the potential for serious harm to public health and safety.”

“The issues raised in the DEC memo released to the public are not new to the professional staff. We have been telling the Legislature and governor for years our staff shortages are resulting in drive-by inspections and triage management. Any additional cuts will prevent DEC from fulfilling it’s mission, and statutory and regulatory responsibilities,” Bayer added.

PEF will continue to fight further cuts to services and seek to restore the damaging cuts that have already occurred, including, those at but not limited to, the DEC.

“As a union, we know this is not the New York we want. The new governor, the Legislature and the public must decide if this is the New York they want,” Brynien said.

Solving the MTA’s Budget Crisis and Reinvesting in Mass Transit

Solving the MTA’s Budget Crisis and Reinvesting in Mass Transit:
A Five-Step Platform for the Next Governor of New York State

A report by the Drum Major Institute & Transportation Alternatives
then link to the report which is above.

Introduction and Overview: The Problem and Five Steps for Reform
The governor and state legislature are directly responsible for the MTA’s finances: they decide how much revenue flows to the authority, and only they have the power to put the MTA on sound financial footing. While MTA executives can continue to cut costs at the margins, only a concerted plan led by the next governor can redirect investment to the state’s mass transit system and avert a fiscal disaster. A true Albany reformer willing to make tough choices would move the MTA away from costly borrowing and make smart investments that will drive renewed economic growth, boost the state’s economic competitiveness, and save taxpayers money in the long-term.

Read the entire report here: MTA