Rochester Business Journal - Suozzi Unveils Plans For N.Y. Economic Revival

Rochester Business Journal - Suozzi Unveils Plans For N.Y. Economic Revival

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Thomas Suozzi's program for overhauling New York's economy—unveiled by Suozzi today in Rochester—drew an enthusiastic response from Rochester Business Alliance Inc. CEO Sandra Parker.

Stopping short of endorsing Suozzi, Parker praised the Long Island Democrat for including much of the Unshackle Upstate agenda in his economic plan.

Largely based on Center for Governmental Research Inc. studies, Unshackle Upstate proposals are widely supported by business leaders across the upstate region.

Rising as the first speaker in a question-and-answer session following Suozzi's roughly 45-minute speech, Parker said, "I just want to congratulate you for your support of Unshackle Upstate; these are the kind of reforms that are needed. A lot of smart people have been debating these things for years."

Among Suozzi's proposals shadowing the Unshackle Upstate agenda are a plan to give local communities the ability to redesign their own Medicaid programs.

Other points in Suozzi's plan are calls for workers' compensation reform and reform of the state's scaffold law to make it easier to assign blame for construction accidents to negligent or drug-impaired workers. He also wants to make it easier for municipalities to resist police unions' bids for higher pay and to reform the law governing bidding on public construction projects.

New York's brownfields law should be changed to give state-approved developers of brownfields projects relief from liability, he said, and original polluters should pay costs for cleanups overlooked in brownfield redevelopment projects.

A former Glen Cove mayor who is nearing the end of a second term as Nassau County executive, Suozzi is widely regarded as a very dark horse in an expected Sept. 2 Democratic gubernatorial primary against New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The latter enjoys a 60-point lead over Suozzi and Republican hopefuls in polls.

Undaunted by those odds, Suozzi today reminded listeners that Sen. Charles Schumer, D-Brooklyn, in his first Senate bid had similarly trailed former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro in the polls before winning the party's nod and a his current seat.

Casting Spitzer as a party insider beholden to big-money special interests, Suozzi portrayed himself as an outsider who would buck the system but also bring together disparate players. Spitzer's proposals so far have been heavy on platitudes and light on specifics, Suozzi charged.

"I like happy children and puppies too," Suozzi said. "We need more than metaphors and symbols."

Suozzi said that he would boycott the state Democratic Party convention in Buffalo next week to protest his not being allowed to speak there. Hoping to attract Democrats to his cause, he plans to instead deliver a counter address in a downtown Buffalo public square.

A key feature of his plans to revive Upstate New York economies, Suozzi said, would be to convene a series of regional forums in the first 100 days of his gubernatorial term. The forums would pull together state and federal boards and agencies, local politicians, business interests and others. Each would arrive at a consensus of where its region should go and enact specific plans. A similar approach worked in Glen Cove and Nassau County, which were in dire economic straits when he took over but subsequently revived, Suozzi said.

Suozzi declined to say whether he would continue to campaign if he fails in a primary bid in September.

http://tomsuozzi.com/news/rbj-052506/