Hochul hangs a hiring sign

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Jan 31, 2024 View in browser   By Nick Reisman, Jeff Coltin and Emily Ngo Presented by With help from Irie Sentner Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is loosening requirements to make it easier for asylum-seekers with work authorization to obtain government jobs, an effort borne out by increasing desperation for finding a state-level fix amid federal inaction over immigration. | Hans Pennink/AP New York is the first state in the nation to make it easier for asylum-seekers with work authorization to obtain government jobs. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is loosening requirements like English language proficiency, education qualifications and certification for as many as 4,000 jobs in state government. “I’m anxious to get this moving quickly,” Hochul told reporters on Tuesday in Albany. “When we get them approved, we can get them matched to jobs.” Many of these positions are for clerical duties, food service and facilities operations — entry-level jobs that can be tough to fill. The workers would have to obtain the required credentials to get the job permanently. But while they do that, they would be working and earning money, a goal Hochul has long sought as a way of alleviating stress on state-funded services. The effort is borne out by increasing desperation for finding a state-level fix amid federal inaction over immigration. It also comes as Republicans are trying to make the migrant crisis a key issue in pivotal House races this November. Prior efforts by Hochul, such as issuing work permits to migrants, have faltered due to legal constraints. New York City’s intake system has reported more than 170,000 migrants since 2022, placing a strain on government services. State spending to address the migrant crisis could increase by $500 million to $2.4 billion under Hochul’s proposed budget, with the governor dipping into a surplus fund. The move to change work requirements, laid out in a memo from the Department of Civil Service and first reported by Bloomberg News, is meant to provide a stabilizing solution for migrants in need of food and shelter. Hochul has long hoped that work-eligible migrants getting paychecks will help reduce some of the burden on the state and city. “That’s the answer to this whole situation: Put them to work,” she said. But it’s also been slow going. Asylum status and work authorization can be a lengthy process for approval that can take months if not longer. At the same time, Republicans knocked the change. Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt told Playbook the rules change would make New York an even bigger destination for migrants. And it highlights how blue states like New York and red states like Texas are taking drastically different approaches to immigration and border politics. “Texas is trying to actually secure their own border, and we’re going to hire them for the state of New York,” Ortt said. “The contrast is mind boggling to me.” Gil Guerra, an immigration policy analyst at The Niskanen Center think tank, acknowledged the bind states face over the lack of a federal immigration deal. “Funneling in those legal pathways for work can be good and a temporary solution,” he said. Still, he is skeptical New York will become a greater beacon for migrants if it’s easier to get a job. People are drawn to the state because of existing networks of people from their home countries, he said. Guerra said the next step for state officials should be to tap into those existing networks and help people find work and housing. “Tap into diaspora networks and find out where else in the state these communities live,” he said. “You can decentralize it a bit more so the strain is not borne by one city.” – Nick Reisman HAPPY WEDNESDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? Making a public safety announcement near Albany. WHERE’S ERIC? Attending NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban’s “State of the NYPD” address, hosting his annual Interfaith Breakfast, holding a roundtable discussion with leaders in the Jamaican community, meeting with German Ambassador Andreas Michaelis and Consul General of Germany in New York David Gill, host a roundtable discussion with members of the United Clergy Coalition, appearing on PIX11’s “PIX11 News at 5pm,” hosting “Talk with Eric: A Community Conversation” and deliver remarks and accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award at Promise Project’s charity event. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I'm not a mathematical genius, but having five testimonies or hearings, and at most you got 500 people, that’s not a reflection of our school system. So, parents, we are asking folks to write in.” – Mayor Eric Adams on people testifying against mayoral control of schools.   A message from Amazon: Amazon provides tools and services to help our small business partners grow, providing logistical support and connecting them with global customers. Daniel and Eileen started BubbleBlooms but struggled to find customers. They turned to Amazon’s marketing tools to find new customers across the country. See how Amazon tools help small businesses grow.   ABOVE THE FOLD Council Speaker Adrienne Adams led the charge to override the veto as tensions rise between the Council and Mayor Eric Adams. | John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit OVERRIDDEN. NOW WHAT?: The New York City Council delivered a striking rebuke to Mayor Eric Adams by overriding two of his vetoes by an overwhelming 42-9 margin on Tuesday, POLITICO reports. The no votes came from the conservative Common Sense Caucus, while all other Democrats — even those who didn’t initially back the bills — voted for the override. The vote capped weeks of lobbying and media appearances from officials on both sides of the debate. And punctuated the most significant clash in years between the two branches of city government. Both bills face challenges, though. The correction officers union may sue over the bill placing limits on isolation in jails. Or opposition from the federal monitor overseeing Rikers could potentially halt its implementation. And while Councilmember Kalman Yeger elicited groans in the chamber by repeatedly raising technical objections and delaying the vote, his move could, in theory, be the basis of a lawsuit arguing that the vote today wasn’t legally valid. Mayor Adams himself won’t be suing, since he’s said he’d implement the police transparency bill as written. And Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who sponsored the bill, has said he’s ready to discuss how to do that efficiently — and that he never envisioned it as the time-wasting burden Adams claims it to be. – Jeff Coltin MUSICAL CHAIRS: A mayor’s office staffer was eager to note that members of hizzoner’s team were specifically barred from the floor of the City Council chamber ahead of the veto override vote Tuesday — in an incredibly low-stakes power struggle they interpreted as retaliation for “chairgate” last week where an Adams’ adviser tried to take reporters’ chairs out from underneath them at a council press conference in the rotunda. “We have an inordinate amount of press requests. We don’t have enough chairs for you,” a council security guard told a mayor’s office staffer, in audio shared with Playbook. Instead, they were offered seats on the balcony, still in the chamber. A spokesperson for Speaker Adrienne Adams confirmed it was a decision made by her office to save space on the floor for council staff and press, and suggested it was silly to make a stink about it. It’s an indication that, despite Adams and Adams’ protestations, things may remain tense at City Hall. – Jeff Coltin   A message from Amazon:   CITY HALL: THE LATEST New York City saw a nearly 3 percent drop in major felony crime, according to a mayor's office report released Tuesday. | AP Photo/John Minchillo REPORT CARD: There were fewer major crimes in New York City during the last six months of 2023 compared to the same time period a year before. And there were more arrests. Mayor Adams released his Preliminary Mayor’s Management Report Tuesday, which showed a nearly 3 percent drop in major felony crime. Nearly all categories fell compared to the same period in 2022 — something Adams pointed to during press appearances throughout the day. Auto theft, felony assault and crime in public housing developments were a few of the outliers that went up, along with felony crime in schools. The broad decrease came even as the NYPD made fewer gun arrests, which Adams has credited in the past with bringing down violent crime. Felony arrests, on the other hand, increased by 10 percent to 18,184, while quality of life summonses skyrocketed by 69 percent to 67,441. On the sanitation front, the Adams administration has scrubbed a longstanding metric that showed the share of streets rated clean (it was nixed after a previous report showed an uptick in filth). The sanitation department did, however, report a tenfold increase in illegal dumping cameras, which now number 107, an increase in violations from roughly 20,300 to 25,100 and, at nearly 4,000, more than double the number of abandoned cars removed from city streets compared to the same time last year. — Joe Anuta ALBANY UPDATE: Mayor Adams’ top housing aide is feeling good about the city’s chances of getting major housing legislation passed in Albany this session — including a key development tax break that’s been expired since 2022. “I am perceiving more openness and more energy around coming to a deal,” Deputy Mayor for Housing Maria Torres-Springer told Playbook on her way back from the state Capitol Tuesday. “The conversations were really productive, they were very engaged,” she said, reflecting on a day of meetings with legislators from both houses. The Adams administration is pushing a suite of proposals to boost residential development, with an eye towards easing the city’s severe housing shortage. Chief among them is a tax incentive program for multi-family construction known as 421-a, which expired in 2022 after legislators declined to extend it. Many lawmakers argued the old program did not yield enough public benefit to justify its cost. Requirements around affordable housing, construction wages and oversight are all areas that “can and should be modified and improved from the old program,” Torres-Springer said. Some prominent lawmakers also want any new version of 421-a to be paired with tenant protections — a grand bargain Torres-Springer thinks is within reach. “We want to help facilitate that, and we’re happy to provide as much support and encouragement as necessary because when this session is over, if we don’t have the package that addresses the supply issue, then we are really going to erode the strides that we have made,” she said. How many more Albany trips does she have planned this year? “As many as it takes to get this deal done.” – Janaki Chadha More from the city: — The Adams administration delayed payouts on two-thirds of the $38 billion it inked in contracts between the summer of 2022 and 2023, the city comptroller found. (POLITICO Pro) — The city cancels walk-in IDNYC appointments after lines of migrants seeking them stretch overnight. (The City) — After years of delays, the city’s sanitation department is finally slated to make a zoned system to reform the way trash is collected from businesses. (Gothamist) NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY Giffords today will endorse Democrat Yvette Valdés Smith in a Hudson Valley Senate race against Republican Sen. Rob Rolison. | AP Photo/Mike Groll GIFFORDS AND NEW YORK: Giffords, the group that has sought stricter gun laws across the country, is making a play for a closely watched state Senate race in New York. The organization today will endorse Democrat Yvette Valdés Smith in a Hudson Valley Senate race against Republican Sen. Rob Rolison. Smith is one of four recipients of the group’s inaugural Champion Award. The state already has some of the toughest gun laws on the books. But advocates believe more work can be done on the issue, especially at the state level. “We need to build a bench of strong gun safety champions who are running for office for the first time or running for state seats,” Kevin O’Keefe, the group’s deputy political director, told Playbook. Smith in an interview pointed to the need to fund anti-gun violence programs like SNUG and the racially motivated mass shooting in Buffalo in 2022. “While we do have the strongest gun safety laws, it’s not enough,” she said. – Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Temporary disability payments in New York could be increased for the first time in 35 years. (WXXI) — Lawmakers say their personal experiences have led them to support the long-debated aid-in-dying legislation. (Spectrum News) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION End Citizens United alleges that Republican congressional candidate Mazi Pilip failed to file a complete, accurate report to the Clerk of the House of Representatives. | Jason Beeferman/POLITICO FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The watchdog group that filed a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice over inconsistencies in George Santos’ financial disclosures has done the same for the GOP pick to replace him, Mazi Pilip. End Citizens United alleges that Pilip failed to file a complete, accurate report to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, leaving questions about investment accounts, spousal income and an investment property. “Mazi Pilip has taken a page out of George Santos’ playbook and is engaging in shady bookkeeping practices to conceal her financial interests,” End Citizens United president Tiffany Muller said in a statement. “She’s not being upfront about her finances which raises a major red flag so close to the special election.” A spokesperson for Pilip responded, “This complaint is baseless, clearly politically motivated and to be expected from Tom Suozzi’s surrogates.” Pilip amended her personal finance disclosure statement, the New York Times reported. But the letter from ECU to the DOJ states the “financial disclosure still appears to be missing critical information that was previously filed in nonpublic financial disclosure reports with the Nassau County, New York Board of Ethics.” The inconsistencies in Pilip’s reports are nowhere near the scale of Santos’ alleged financial falsifications. Pilip, a Nassau County legislator, is running in the Feb. 13 special election against Democratic former Rep. Tom Suozzi. – Emily Ngo   A message from Amazon: Amazon has partnered with small and medium-sized businesses for over 23 years, connecting local businesses like BubbleBlooms with customers across the country to help them break down barriers to growth. Learn how Amazon helps small businesses thrive.   NEW YORK STATE OF MIND —  Elliot Resnick, the former top editor at The Jewish Press, pleaded guilty to obstructing police from holding off the Jan. 6 mob. (New York Times) — Some Hudson Valley law enforcement agencies that assisted the feds in investigating drug crime will receive more than $1 million each from the U.S. Department of Justice. (Times Union) — Two Long Island families, among the hundreds whose children received falsified vaccination records, sued school districts prohibiting their children from attending school. (Newsday) SOCIAL DATA Edited by Daniel Lippman MEDIAWATCH — “Wall Street Journal plans layoffs, restructuring in D.C.,” by Axios’ Sara Fischer: “The changes will include a small number of layoffs as well as some new roles, the sources said. The reorganization will also move some Washington-based economics coverage to New York.” — Molly Jong-Fast is joining MSNBC as a political analyst. She is currently a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and hosts the podcast “Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast.” … Kendis Gibson, an alum of MSNBC and ABC News, has joined PIX11 as an afternoon news anchor. MAKING MOVES — Jasmine Harris, a former aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), will join the Biden campaign as director of Black media, theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor reports. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Dylan Byers … CNN’s Clarissa Ward … Fox News’ Martha MacCallum … David Plotz … NYT’s Katherine Miller … Heather Riley … NBC’s Christine Romans and Sarah Blackwill … Tricia McLaughlin … Michael Kempner of MWW … Brooke Buchanan … Alex G. Lee … (WAS TUESDAY): New York City Councilmember Susan Zhuang … Lizzie Grubman ... Linda Scacco ... Judith Rosen YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY $113 million The amount raised by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in 2023 for House Democratic candidates and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, his team said Tuesday.   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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