March 28 news report with Don Perkins

All your local news, as reported by Don Perkins.

Cuomo and Leaders Reach Budget Agreement

New York governor Andrew Cuomo and the leaders of the state legislature made a final agreement on the next state budget yesterday. It was a tying of loose ends on a tentative budget agreement made on Monday. The Senate and the Assembly can begin voting on the budget bill today, allowing them to have the spending plan done by the April 1 deadline. Next year’s budget has specific revisions for infrastructure, including replacement of roads and bridges, economic develop and an increase in spending of 2 percent over the current year.

School Districts Prepare for Funding

School districts in the southern tier are set to receive a quarter of $805 million in the state education funding. State senator and assistant senate majority leader Thomas Libous said Tuesday that the extra funds will be a reprieve for some schools that have been forced to make cuts in staff and reduce their budgets.

“Two hundred million dollars is additional money in the overall $805 million that will be distributed – a good portion of it – particularly to upstate rural schools,” Libous said. “While we’re still working on the formula of how it gets distributed, I think overall in central New York school districts will see more funding than what the governor has proposed.

“It certainly isn’t going to solve everybody’s problems, but it’s going to be a good step in moving forward,” Libous said.

School aide was one of the major issues in the state budget talks and now that, that issue and others have been agreed on, the budget can be passed by tomorrow or Friday. School officials still report an average of $1 million shortfall.

$220 Million Spent on Lobbying in Albany

A state government watchdog groups has issued a report on just how much money has been spent lobbying over the past year and some of the results. The state joint Commission on Public Ethics reports that $220 million has been spent to influence lawmakers in Albany during 2011. The biggest spender appears to be the Committee to Save New York, which supported Governor Cuomo’s last state budget proposal. The spent about $11.9 million.

Another big spender was the Healthcare Employee Union 1199SEIU along with the New York Hospital Association. They went through about $7 million trying to get their point across.

The highest-spending lobbyist was the New York State United Teacher’s Union with $6 million.

All those organizations saw success in last year’s legislation. Last year marked the first time that the total spending surpassed the $200 million mark.

Hartwick selects Ordoñez Commencement Speaker

Hartwick College’s 2012 commencement speaker will be biotechnology executive Kathy Ordoñez. A 1972 Hartwick graduate, Ordoñez is a senior vice president for special development at Quest Diagnostics and president of Celera. She will address the class of 2012, their families and the Hartwick community on Saturday, May 26, in a ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m. on the college’s Elmore Field.

Ordoñez holds a Bachelors of Science degree and received an honorary Doctor of Sciences from the college in 2000.