On June 23^rd, the scheduled last day of the legislative session, the Capitol was rocked by the stunning announced resignation of Senator Joseph Bruno as Majority Leader. With work still left to be done to finish the session, the news created confusion in Albany as to who would be the new leader and what impact these events may have on the upcoming elections. Within twenty-four hours of Bruno stepping-down, Senator Dean Skelos (Nassau County, Long Island) was elected by the Republican Conference as the new Majority Leader and Senator Thomas Libous (Binghamton) as Skelos’ top deputy. Senator Libous has been and will continue to be the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, at least for now. Subsequently on July 15^th, Bruno announced his retirement prior to the end of his term leaving a slim 31-30 seat Republican margin in the Senate

Today, Governor David Patterson announced that the budget deficit for this year has grown to $6.4 billion. He called for an emergency session with legislators on August 19^th to address the financial issues the State is facing at this time.

On the aviation side, a few activities are worth noting:

Airports are economic engines fueling growth in the communities they serve. The economic benefits of New York State Airports are impressive. Over $35 billion in annual economic activity of New York State businesses and institutions is attributable to aviation and almost 350,000 state residents work directly or indirectly in aviation. As a result of this, more than $2.8 billion in State and local taxes are generated from aviation activities. On a typical day, about 230,000 people board and deplane commercial aircraft in this state and it is estimated that 40,000 visitors arrive at New York airports. However, the efficacy of this powerful economic engine and its benefits to New York’s citizens is threatened by a critical lack of infrastructure investment, competition from other states and a sagging state and national economy.

Lawmakers have passed the remaining budget bills, nine days after the April 1 deadline. NYAMA's efforts to beat back an ill-conceived anti-aviation proposal by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer were successful and the "charter plane tax" is NOT part of the final budget.

The New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Astrid Glynn has scheduled a series of public outreach forums to prepare for federal reauthorization of transportation funding. DOT is currently developing a 20 Year Needs Assessment addressing the transportation challenges facing New York State during the next several decades as well as recommendations for new capital investment policies and strategies to better meet these challenges.