Diane Savino

Liberal billionaire George Soros and members of his family have contributed a little more than $1 million into state campaign coffers since 2000, with nearly all of it going to help Democrats in the State Senate.

Already this year, George, his son Robert, Robert’s wife, Melissa, and another son, Jonathan, contributed $199,500. George, Robert and Melissa each gave $25,000 to the New York State Democratic Party and gave the maximum allowable personal contributions - $9,500 - to Eric Schneiderman, David Valesky, Craig Johnson and Joe Addabbo.

(Two other members of the Soros family also contributed this year. Son Jonathan gave $9,500 to Democratic State Senate candidate Rick Dollinger and his wife, Jennifer, gave $1,000 to a pro-abortion rights lobbying PAC that donated to Johnson and Dollinger.  read more »

In a chat with Staten Island Advance political editor Tom Wrobleski, State Senator Diane Savino reviews the legislative session that just wrapped up, discussing how shocked she is that lawmakers, "at the end of this whole process, really not have accomplished that much for the people of the State of New York.”

Savino goes on to call the state budget “out of whack."

"We put it together with spit and scotch tape and Monopoly money and I think we’re going to run out of Monopoly money in about three weeks,” she said.

She went on, “The revenue projects were seriously out of whack and we knew it at the time.  read more »

Here's a little more evidence of how frenzied things are getting in Staten Island, now that Representative Vito Fossella's seat might be up for grabs in the fall.

Yesterday I reported that, according to Independence Party state executive committee member Frank Morano, the I.P. is interviewing candidates for Fossella's seat on May 25.  read more »

According to two Republican sources, City Hall staffer Fred Kreizman is considering a run for state Senate on their line against Democrat Diane Savino, whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Kreizman works in the Community Assistance Unit and has previously taken some time off from work to help Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell on Long Island, who lost her special election race earlier this year to Democrat Craig Johnson.  read more »

So, the latest Siena poll not only shows Eliot Spitzer’s approval plummeting further, but shows voters overwhelmingly opposed to raising taxes.

Here's what that combination of data says to Democratic state Senator Diane Savino: “The public is finally starting to realize, they’re paying and paying and paying and they’re not getting the results that they want,” she explained.
“On one hand, you may have the governor who is trying to stand up for the overtaxed and over-burdened New Yorkers and saying no to the legislature, and the legislature--it may put them [all] in a position they don’t know how to get out of," she said. "They can’t advocate for increased taxes, right?”

(Note: Some legislators, like Assemblywoman Deborah Glick of Manhattan, have spoken favorably about raising taxes, at least on the state’s top wage-earners.)  read more »

Last night at David Weprin’s fund-raiser for his city comptroller campaign, I learned that the City Councilman’s long-time chief of staff, Jack Rubin Friedman, is leaving in January to become the head of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. One attendee told me that Rubin might run for Weprin’s seat in 2009. (Rubin was standing nearby and interjected that it’s only a possibility at this point.)

The event at the Woolworth Kitchen and Towers drew a number of notable attendees: Dan Gardonick, Eric Gioia, Dave Pollak, Hank Sheinkopf, Domenic Recchia, Diane Savino and George Arzt.

Press-shy top aides to Christine Quinn, Ramone Martinez and Chuck Meara, were also there, and probably weren’t thrilled when Weprin announced their presence over the microphone.

I’ve called a few state senators to get their thoughts on the cost-cutting measures Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith introduced in Albany this morning, including reducing the state’s non-essential workforce by 6,000 through attrition, a part of the plan that has already drawn criticism.

State Senator Diane Savino, a former labor activist with Local 371 of AFSCME, offered a sort of preview of how the Democrats intend to defend some of the more contentious aspects of what they're proposing.

“We have to accept the fact that next year, we’re going to have a serious budget deficit for a variety of reasons," she told me.

More after the jump.  read more »

The NYC Patrolmen's Benevolent Association will endorse Andrew Cuomo for Attorney General at their headquarters.

The Drum Major Institute will host a benefit, presenting its Drum Major for Justice awards, followed by an after party roundtable for bloggers.

The Young Democrats of Richmond County host their monthly meeting featuring Diane Savino and Sean Patrick Maloney.

—Nicole Brydson

In case you were wondering why a guy like David Paterson would want to leave the elevated job of Senate Minority Leader, a frustrated Democrat emails over a note that a prominent Republican, Dean Skelos, just introduced a near-copy (S6524) of a sex-crime bill introduced last year by two Democrats, Diane Savino and Jeff Klein. (The original is S2695).

Skelos, and the Republicans, will of course get the credit if it passes. Which is why it's nice to be in the majority.  read more »

"Typical albany bullshit!" grumbles the Democrat.