Legislative leaders won't budge on support for Israel

With help from Shawn Ness

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Hundreds of protesters gathered in Albany today, chanting “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.”

But Legislative leadership is paying no mind.

In the state with the largest Jewish population in the nation, leadership in the state Assembly and Senate refuse to even consider a bill being pushed by Democratic-Socialist lawmakers that would crack down on charities that they say “reinforce and further Israeli war crimes.”

“It’s a non-starter and the speaker’s position has not changed,” Mike Whyland, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, wrote in an email to POLITICO.

It’s the latest indication of how the war in Gaza continues to divide Democrats, exposing a rift between left-of-center lawmakers and establishment politicians that has only grown since the onset of the conflict.

Today’s renewed focus on the war has done little to move the needle on the issue in Albany, where Leadership and high ranking Democrats, many of whom are Jewish, simply won’t budge in their support for Israel. That includes avoiding bills critical of the Israeli regime.

“Jewish legislators are feeling that the whole world has turned against them to a large degree, as Jews, not as legislators,” said Assemblymember Amy Paulin, a Jewish Democrat from Westchester. “We don't feel it here. We don't feel it in the conference; we work together as colleagues. Those kinds of divisive issues rarely come up.”

Playbook then asked Paulin whether she senses the opposition to Israel growing in the legislative body.

“I don't know, because we don't talk about it,” she replied.

In a contrast to that characterization, hours earlier Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and state Sen. Jabari Brisport hosted the raucous rally for the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York funding of Israeli settler violence act.”

The measure would strip New York charities of their tax deductible status if they fund organizations that the lawmakers allege are engaged in violations of the Geneva convention. It secured the support last week of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who stood beside Mamdani at a Bronx rally for the measure.

“It meant the world to me, because it showcased that though there may be attempts to characterize this as a marginal position, in fact, this is the majority position,” Mamdani said of AOC’s support. “It is just not reflected accurately in the halls of power.”

Brisport feels the same way, and told Playbook he has heard from fellow Democrats who said they agree with his bill but are wary of crossing their party and drawing opposition.

“I will not share names, but I have had legislators tell me, ‘Obviously I support the cause, but I’m not going to [support the bill] at the moment.’”

In the meantime the bill remains just as much of an impossibility in Albany as it did last year, when Heastie and Senate Majority Leader-Stewart Cousins both said they were committed to killing it.

“It was just brought up for inflammatory reasons, and I don't think the sponsor ever thought it was gonna go anywhere anyway,” Assemblymember David Weprin — co-president of the National Association of Jewish Legislators — said of the Mamdani-Brisport bill.

“He's just bringing it up to cause tension,” Weprin added. “I'm hoping people don’t fall into that trap.” — Jason Beeferman

UNION PERSUASION: New York Building Trades Council President Gary LaBarbera acknowledged labor leaders will have a tough time persuading some of their members to vote for President Joe Biden.

“This is a very unique set of circumstances with Donald Trump,” LaBarbera told Playbook in an interview. “There are people who are not going to change their minds.”

LaBarbera was in Albany today to boost apprenticeship programs following a $7 million state budget allocation to strengthen workforce training. The funding includes support for direct-entry and pre-apprentice programs and will bolster efforts underway for high school students, veterans and people who have faced prior legal trouble.

With a little over four months until the nail-biter of a presidential election, organized labor is well-positioned to leverage its political power — especially in New York, which has one of the highest unionized workforces in the country, second only to Hawaii.

That has given labor leaders expanded clout in New York, a blue state where Trump has nevertheless eaten into Biden’s lead, per recent polls. LaBarbera's international union endorsed Biden’s reelection bid, offering him support from a key demographic that has underpinned Trump’s political movement.

Trump has heavily courted working class voters across the country, potentially putting this slice of the labor vote up for grabs. He even made a brief campaign stop at a union construction site in Manhattan last month.

Union leaders are planning a persuasion campaign for the — potentially small — subset of voters who have yet to commit to either man.

LaBarbera ticked off a series of Biden’s accomplishments, including infrastructure spending and pension protections.

“Look, there are going to be members we recognize are never going to be convinced that Joe Biden should be the next president,” LaBabera said. “They have to look at what this president has done for organized labor.” — Nick Reisman

RASPBERRY BLOWS OFF QUESTIONS: New York Mayor Eric Adams’ top intergovernmental affairs aide stood up and walked out of a City Council hearing without taking questions on a controversial bill to expand its powers — underlining the strained relations between the mayor and the council.

“This, to me, illustrates a contempt for this council, which we have all witnessed with great clarity,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said, as the mayor’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Tiffany Raspberry left the council chamber.

The mayoral administration had initially refused to testify on the bill, which would give the council a vote on mayoral appointments to lead 21 agencies. But two hours into the hearing, Raspberry agreed to read a prepared statement, but not take questions — explaining that she had not been “formally invited.”

Council Member Lincoln Restler, who chaired the hearing, bristled at the claim, saying the council had made clear going back to Thursday last week that they would like somebody from the Adams administration to speak.

Delivering her statement, Raspberry said the bill would delay appointments, and that confirmation hearings “would be weaponized to score cheap political points.”

The mayor’s Charter Revision Commission also met for the first time today, in a pro forma affair. Another top Adams intergovernmental affairs aide, Diane Savino, was named executive director. — Jeff Coltin

WON’T GIVE UP: Paulin’s proposal to address a key issue raised by the state’s top court when Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes conviction was overturned is dead for this year in the Assembly.

But the lawmaker said she’s not giving up.

“I will be here as long as it’s needed to pass this,” Paulin told reporters today.

Her legislation is intended to address the issues surrounding the use of so-called Molineux evidence, which is meant to undergird sex crime charges by establishing a pattern of behavior for the defendant.

In the Weinstein case, prosecutors had been allowed to call witnesses who had accused the former Hollywood mogul of sexual assault and misconduct, but the allegations were not part of the criminal charges he faced.

The measure was approved earlier this month in the Senate.

But legislators in the Assembly had raised concerns with the implications of the bill, which was aimed at strengthening the ability of prosecutors to use Molineux evidence in sex crimes cases.

“I was devastated, because I believe that without this change serial rapists will not be convicted in New York as easily as they should be, causing a problem primarily for women,” Paulin said.

Lawmakers pointed to the potential impact on the rights of defendants in less high-profile cases.

Paulin said there was “a group (of lawmakers) that absolutely didn’t want to do it and then the group that said bring it back with the amendments.” — Nick Reisman

NO SENATE ACTION AGAINST PARKER: Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she’s not planning any actions against Kevin Parker — a fellow Democrat in her conference — following allegations that he shoved advocate Michael Carey at the Capitol two weeks ago.

“I just never heard exactly what happened, to be honest,” Stewart-Cousins said. “There were investigations, the state police looked at it, and nobody had come back with any sort of official report. And now it’s a nonissue, because the charges have been dropped.”

Carey said after the incident that he and Parker “worked things out” and that he had told the police he doesn’t want to pursue charges.

Stewart-Cousins was questioned on the incident after an event to announce legislative plans to help EMS workers. The package includes a bill to let ambulance companies receive Medicaid payments for delivering patients to places like urgent care facilities, and one to increase the tax credit for volunteer firefighters from $200 to $800. — Bill Mahoney

More from the Empire State:

— Experts say the job market is finally showing signs of returning to pre-pandemic levels. (State of Politics)

— Mayor Eric Adams is still considering revoking Sean “Diddy” Combs’ key to the city as he faces sexual assault and domestic violence allegations. (Daily News)

— It is still unclear if congestion pricing will make good on the state’s promise to reduce greenhouse emissions by the desired amount. (The New York Times)