In a blow to upstate, the Legislature passed a law last night that will instruct the Census to count prison inmates not at the place they reside, but at their last known address, usually downstate. That will be a subtle population shift that can help keep the number of seats downstate up compared to us.
Already the redistricting process allows such latitude in the size of Senate and Assembly districts one can make one area of the state get fewer seats than their population would suggest....By putting the opposition party seats at the maximum population and the majority party seats at the low end, one creates a couple of extra seats statewide for the ones doing the drawing. If Democrats control both houses, that will be done to create Democrat hegemony for the next hundred years.
The not counting of inmates will have a subtle difference on County Legislative races.
The premise of the Census is to reflect where people live on April 1 of the decennial year....This law distorts that.
State of Politics Blog
24 comments:
Nice job Darrel...there you go. Playing to your Downstate Democrat masters. If the Democrats keep the Senate this fall, you can kiss New York good-bye. Farm Workers Bill will pass, not fail like it did last night. Register all fire-arms if not confiscate all handguns. No property tax relief, rent control, higher restraints on small business...on down the list.
Every other state in the union is going away from Liberl, Democrat policies and our idiots are going to increase spending.
No more Assembly Dems, no Senate Dem leadership (that's you Darrel).
It's a shame the state doesn't have the authority to do this, and the Census can (and should) throw the request in the garbage as invalid. So you want to park your refuse up here? We want them counted as living here. You want them counted down there? House them in prisons down there. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
the downstate prison system treats us as bad as the wind companies do
TRADE OFF-
A) You can keep your prison open.
B) Your farms don't have to pay overtime or give days off
We get to count the prisoners.
You can't get everything you want. But atleast he is working to somethings in return.
"The premise of the Census is to reflect where people live on April 1 of the decennial year....This law distorts that." I don't agree. I've always thought it was somewhat dishonest to count these prisoners as residents, just to bulk up our numbers. The overwhelming majority of these prisoners are not true residents of this area, and I have never understood why they should be counted as such. They are here on a temporary basis, against their will. It isn't as though they chose to move here, find a job, raise a family etc. As to the comment about moving all the prisons downstate, that is just plain stupid, given the jobs the prisons provide up here. Talk about biting off your nose to spite your face. Remember the uproar at the idea of closing OCF.
If cons can't vote then at least there last physical non incarcerate presence should count for there right to government services. Counting heads to empower communities that have no social bearing on a cons family and neighbor is a theft of communities tax payer dollars. Put the money and the power into the neighborhoods that need it and you will have less cons and consequently less social problems and ultimately a better society.
If we can count people from their last known address, then we will be able to count the millions of NYers who have fled to other states to make a living. We can pretend we're still a viable part of the country to live in. That'll help the more liberal failure states like NY, NY, CN, MA, CA, IL etc. Count people from where they USED to live. Brilliant.
4:35,
You have a pretty low standard for a trade off. How about instead of expecting our state lawmakers minimize the damage they do to our region we expect them to make this place a better place to live? Is that asking too much? I don't blame Aubertine and Russell as NYC runs the show.
4:51,
The purpose of the Census is to count people where the live at the time of the Census- not where they might live 10 years in the future or where they lived 10 years ago. The same standard is used for college students, those staying at a hotel, nursing home residents, etc. Also some prisoners are from other state, wil die in prison, or will not return to their original communities upon being released. How do we account for that?
5:33,
Really? NYC is very wealthy, they don't need anymore of our tax dollars.
All of this about one thing: increasing NYC's political power. I thought they already ran the show down in Albany and we pay the price for their fumbling.
Anon 7:32 If you are that angry at NYC, that seems like a personal problem of yours that may never go away. Perhaps another state would interest you. But do you really think we should count people in hotel rooms as part of an accurate snapshot of our population? That seems rather ridiculous. With regard to your questionable remarks related to state prison inmates, let me assure you, very few are from another state, very few die while in prison, and almost ALL go back to where they came from. The ones that don't are statistically insignificant. This idea that the ex-con decides he wants to stay in Malone or Ogdensburg is just another urban myth promoted by those who don't know any better.
7:54,
That's how the Census counts people, whether it's accurate or not. Could you substantiate your claims with data?
Whether its accurate or not? Is that any way to run a census?
It's the law. The question is are we going to be consistent or are we going to make exceptions to favor one region over another?
How about them Fresh Air kids ? Dammit, I want a full count!
Jeez, I thought we were all one state
We are, but downstate lawmakers keep pushing policies that hurt this region. Policies that would benefit the area seldom make it to a vote in the Assembly.
Downstate lawmakers keep pushing policies that hurt not only this region, but the whole state.
7:54 Its true that most leave. But the numbers that stay would surprise you. I am not trying to blame anyone, but here goes. Increasingly, our social services system AND our northern way of life presents a viable alternative for many of these gentlemen. Even if they have no intentions of working we are an improving market for drug sales. They also tend to have their fair share of children, who also tend to be supported by taxpayers. For some reason they don't keep up with child support payments. Most have more than one baby mother as they are in continuing struggle to find themselves. This is otherwise known as between bids. This population has financially stressed our community, as they often represent struggling families with young children they can barely afford to feed. And Sir, respectfully, many do stay in our community. It will hurt us now that these people cannot be counted as residents, as we need all the help we can get to keep the support money flowing. Again, this is not to blame anyone for the situation. This is just the way I see it. An entire generation has been taught that working is not all that its cut out to be. Who can blame them for abstaining.
The upstate/downstate divide can be boiled down to this:
businesses are willing to accept the high cost of doing business in NYC, but they are not willing to accept that cost in upstate NY.
Some of the regulations and taxes pushed by downstate lawmakers may not negatively effect their economy but do negatively effect our economy. The Farm Labor bill, for example, is being pushed by NYC lawmakers who do not have any farms in their districts.
Upstate needs more flexibility with regard to some of the laws- such as the Scaffold Law- favored by downstate but that harm upstate.
We have seen changes in tax policy that for now, at least, benefit downstate. Removing the Empire Zones while substantially increasing the film tax credit is one example. And of course, there is the failure approve SUNY empowerment which would have created thousands of jobs upstate without costing taxpayers a dime.
Fine with me...it just takes away votes for the Dems in our area. It could cost Owens the race this November. [Snicker]Or do you think most of those inmates would vote for Hoffman???
11:34 You really are stupid. People in NYS jails are not allowed to vote.
That would be ignorant not stupid, if what you say is true.
But according to the blog, this is about prison inmates not the jail inmates you speak of. Which is also not a stupid mistake...just ignorant. oh wait, since the information you mistook was right on this blog, maybe it is a stupid mistake.
I did not know that inmates could not vote. I am shocked to hear the democrats have not changed that yet if it is the case. I did know that most people think that convicted felons cannot vote but they really can in this state and many others.
It seems like anyone who is incarcerated for a misdemeanor would have the constitutional right to vote.
This is NYC taking the few crumbs left in NNY. This is the same as not including your kids when they are away in college.
I have one child in college and they are counted in the county they go to school in.
The point is the inmates are here and when they leave they are replaced, except for the dorms shut down in NNY, the inmates change but the numbers stay constant.
Time to get the Senate back.
How are soldiers counted?? Fort Drum or where they lived prior??
8:22 The Senate will be Democrat controlled for your lifetime. Too many have an interest in keeping things as they are. Teachers, state employees, welfare bums, illegals, silver spooners, the last thing they want is change.
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