Morning Wrap for Friday, July 31, 2009 (final post 9:30 a.m.)

From the Blogs:

The Daily Politics:

-Elizabeth Benjamin reports a four-judge appellate panel unanimously upholds a decision to allow Richard Ravitch to “exercise all of the powers of the lieutentant governor post with the exception of the ability to preside over the Senate and cast a tie-breaking vote there.”

-The Free and Equal Elections Foundation “chastised Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign for petition challenges filed by one of his GOP operatives, John Haggerty Jr.”

-Gov. Paterson will be hosting the Democratic Governors Association Summer Policy Conference in Saratoga Springs this weekend which will be attended by only a handful of governors and a “host of special interests.”

-Assemblyman Nelson Castro jumps City comptroller candidate Melinda Katz’s ship and endorses Councilman John Liu.

PolitickerNY:

-Steve Kornacki writes unless Gov. Paterson has the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2010, Republican Rudy Giuliani won’t run.

-Jimmy Vielkind reports the courts rule, for now, Richard Ravitch “can exercise the powers of lieutenant governor, but can’t provide over the state Senate.”

-Brooklyn Republican Chairman Craig Eaton says his “Draft Rudy” movement —to run for governor in 2010 — is “picking up steam.”

-Azi Paybarah writes Bill Thompson supporter, Stuart Applebaum, tells Mayor Bloomberg to “spend it all,” since, he says, the more the mayor spends the worse he does among voters.

-NYC Council candidate Matgaret Chin’s campaign manager Jake Itzkowitz tweets “Politicians should be able to use the ‘N’ word in attacking ignorance & racism. Aren’t we a mature enough culture for that?”

-Reid Pillifant offers an overview of Richard Ravitch’s court hearing on his appointment as lieutenant governor.

The Daily Intel:

-Chris Rovzar reports Sen. Hiram Monserrate will stand trial on Sept. 14 for slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass.

WFP:

-Charles Lenchner lists the Working Families Party’s endorsed candidates for NYC Council.

Albany Watch:

-Cara Matthews writes state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says the state’s $2.1 billion projected deficit “illustrates a bad habit New York has—spending money it doesn’t have.”

-Jospeh Spector reports the state Senate is scheduled to return to session next Thursday, Aug. 6 at 10 a.m. “to tackle mayoral control of New York City schools and other legislation.”

NY Fiscal Watch:

-E.J. McMahon writes “some of the financial details released by the Division of the Budget today are getting even more worrisome” such as projected negative cash balances in November and December 2009.

-Nicole Gelinas reports states, like New York, facing the biggest deficits have had “unsustainable growth in tax revenues, much of it from the financial and real-estate sectors” feeding “unsustainable growth in operating spending, which far outpaced inflation.”

-Healthcare to retirees has grown by 36 percent in the three years since the NYC has had to report it, and will near the $100 billion mark in less than a half decade and Mayor Bloomberg is “using a long-term store of savings to cover its immediate budget gap.”

Runnin’ Scared:

-Wayne Barrett writes the latest poll numbers show “Bill Thompson is now a real candidate for mayor” and should be treaded as one.

Opinion:

-New York Post would like the Court of Appeals to decide if Richard Ravitch’s appointment as lieutenant gov. is legal or not as quickly as possible.

-Albany Times Union writes about the state’s deficit of $2.1 billion, “Clearly, the governor was much closer to reality back in December than he and the Legislature ended up being in April.”

-New York Daily News calls on Gov. Paterson to “challenge the Legislature to address New York’s long-term needs rather than to craft short-term fixes bound to fail… think big and deliver big.”

-The Daily News thinks the state State should honor former state Senator Olga Mendez by passing equal labor rights for New York’s farmworkers.

-Rochester Democrat & Chronicle writes the “unprecedented rate” at which the state’s budget gap is widening calls for “a radical response by Gov. David Paterson and the state Legislature.”

-Syracuse Post-Standard hopes the state Division of Human Rights’ ability to impose new fines doesn’t spur more discriminators to take their chances in court.

-The Post-Standard writes, “Gov. David Paterson deserves a pat on the back” for signing a bill to “sweeten tax credits for the renovation of historic buildings.”

-Clyde Haberman, of the New York Times, writes, “Some leading political lights act as if the state is their empire, not part of a republic in which supreme power is supposed to rest with its citizens.”

-Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of The Business Council of Westchester, hopes “when the state legislature re-convenes this fall (or sooner) reality will set in and our legislators will make the hard decisions required to get our state moving in the right direction economically.”

Meetings/Press Conferences:

-Governor David A. Paterson will be in Albany and Saratoga County today.  He has no public schedule.

Press Releases:

-Siena Research Institute: NYS consumer confidence was unchanged in July, while the nation’s confidence decreased 4.8 points.

-Governor David A. Paterson: Director of Communications Peter E. Kauffmann states the governor is “pleased that Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch can continue to serve alongside Governor Paterson to help navigate the State through this historic economic crisis.”

-Gov. Paterson announces the City of Plattsburgh will receive approximately $2 million in clean water funding from the federal stimulus monies.

-Gov. Paterson is “incredibly pleased that Secretary Tom Vilsack of the United States Department of Agriculture will support raising the price support for dairy products as a first step to relieve some of the financial strain experienced by dairy farmers across the nation.”

-NYS Comptoller Thomas P. DiNapoli: Comptroller DiNapoli says “the state still has not made enough progress toward aligning recurring spending with recurring revenues.”