Capitol Pressroom Interview With Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: 6/27/14

SA: Joining us with her thoughts on all of the above is the Leader of the mainstream Democrats, State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Great to talk to you. Leader: It is always wonderful to speak with you too. SA: I have to ask. Were you part of the negotiating here? Were you told before Wednesday’s press release about the IDC’s decision to realign? How did it go? Leader: Well, it began with a conversation with Senator Klein and the Governor two weeks ago regarding this new coalition. The conversation was about the IDC and mainstream Democrats coming together. It was a conversation that I then continued with my conference afterwards. The conversation continued about the session and how we have this unprecedented alliance of groups and forces and people who wanted to see Democrats united, working together for the people of New York. On the run up we continued to have some conversations, and yes, I did know prior to the release of the statement. In fact, Senator Klein himself called me to talk about that, and here we are. We will be meeting next week to continue the conversation. We will be meeting next week to continue the conversation. We are in a good place in terms of the coalition, the people of New York both Upstate and Downstate, and yes, Western New York. I think it will be a very positive outcome for what has been a difficult scenario amongst Democrats. SA: Alright, so, when you first broached the topic of the IDC rejoining with the mainstream Democrats how did you conference react? Was it universally “Oh joy!” or not? Leader: One of the things that I continue to say is that my conference is a conference of really great people focused on serving the people of New York State, and we have proven that on and on throughout the past two years and beyond that. We are talking about the two year period where this other coalition existed. I think we have been very clear that we are about the issues. We are about the people, and serving our folks. It looked like this would be the best way to look at the things we want to do for New York, the progressive values that we have and moving those forward, and really giving the voters back their franchise. They voted for a majority of Democrats to govern the chamber and… SA: They did, and for the last two years the IDC group has enabled Republicans to control the chamber, so there must be some hard feelings. Leader: Sure, but people are here for the bigger picture. Those hard feelings existed. I would be Pollyannaish to say that they didn’t, but the point is that those hard feelings existed, and yet we served, and yet we did the right thing for the people. We were part of that bipartisan effort to move the economy, to create jobs, to try and strengthen New York’s position. The biggest obstacles were to the progressive things we wanted to see happen like ethics reform, campaign finance reform, the Women’s Equality Act, raising the minimum wage, the Dream Act, and yet we still served. Those things happened; bad feelings were there, but the people of New York

took precedent. They will continue to take precedent, and of course, when we are in the majority, those things will not change. Hopefully people will in general feel better about each other. Within our Democratic conferences we can work collectively as Democrats. SA: Let’s talk about whether or not the Democrats controlling both houses is good or bad for Upstate. Dean Skelos of the Republican Party says that thanks to the Working Families Party, which influences the Democrats, we can see higher taxes and more regulation, two things that Upstate does not need because the economy is still so sluggish. How do you respond to that? Leader: Senator Skelos has always felt that Democrats should not be part of the Senate leadership. There is always something that happens in order to keep Republicans in charge. It seems like they are really afraid, and having this politics of fear doesn’t help anyone. For 50 plus years the Republicans have been in charge in the Senate and it hasn’t helped Upstate all that much. So give us this opportunity to continue the good work that the Governor and all of us working to bolster all regions of New York State have been doing. That will continue. That will not go away. SA: I want to ask you about some specifics. In my view the key difference between Upstate and Downstate is one of economic realities. What may work in the city because it is a strong economic engine may not work in Upstate, NY. I’m talking about things like the scaffold laws. Upstate needs every advantage because it can’t play on the same playing field, the same level as the city. Is that something you would consider if you were in charge. Leader: Of course. I mean first of all, I’m not a New York City Senator. I am a Senator that is in Westchester County and my district is extremely diverse. I have some of the poorest parts of Yonkers, which is one of the biggest cities in the state. I have Scarsdale, which is arguably the richest zip code in the country. So, I am not a New York City Senator. I am the first Leader that has been outside of NYC in almost a hundred years. I am somebody who has always listened and understood the different dynamics that galvanize growth in various places. It is how I’ve been able to work within my district. By the way, this coalition will have 11 senators outside of New York. We will be working in corporation with the Governor & Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul. I mean, people who understand how important these things are. We’ve always listened. We’ve always been responsive and it is never going to be in our conference an Upstate vs. Downstate battle because we know that New York is best when we celebrate the differences that are within our state. We try to do the things that work best for the various localities and regions. So it’s not an issue for us. Obviously, there are differences and we will certainly work with everyone to make sure those differences are not exaggerated, but the benefits that derive from those differences are realized. SA: Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, when it comes to policy objectives, do you see yourself completely aligning with the Working Family Party (WFP)? If not, where do they divert? Leader: Again, I’m not a part of the working families party. So I couldn’t tell you what all of their values but I know that they became concerned when our policy objectives that were articulated by the IDC, by the Governor, by the mainstream Democrats and by the Assembly were unable to be accomplished. Whether its ethics reform, raising minimum wage, women’s

equality or campaign finance. All of these things were articulated by a majority of both houses the legislator and the Governor and yet they couldn’t be done. So I think that it is not about aligning with the WFP or not. It’s about the issues that everybody espoused yet were not being accomplished or even moved forward in a meaningful way. SA: Okay. Alright…. Leader: I Think that they decided, what’s the stumbling blocks and it’s the Senate Republican coalition. They (WFP) articulated the need for change. I think because the voters had voted for Senate Democrats to be in charge anyway, it wasn’t so hard to see why that was important to happen. SA: We have 2 more minutes. I have a couple more questions regarding primaries. Yesterday, Senator Jeff Klein explained to us that there would be a litmus test of supporting the progressive agenda when it comes to whether or not the IDC will support a primary against Senator Tim Kennedy. What do you say to that? Leader: I think that Senator Kennedy is an excellent senator and will certainly pass any litmus test, in terms of progressive values. We all talking about people coming and being democrats and working together and if that’s the litmus test then Senator Kennedy has more than passed. SA: Will the mainstream Democrats continue to support people like, Oliver Koppell, in primaries against IDC members or is that dependant on them not deciding to primary any mainstream Democrats? Leader: This is day 2 of our coalition. I think that all these people in primaries have their own decisions to make. We are continuing conversations. As I said before, Senator Klein and I will meet next week. Again, we want to sit with people who want to make sure that we can work together and move the state forward in all areas, including the progressive values that we espouse as Democrats and I think that is the big ‘litmus test.” I think we’ll see what happens. SA: We have 30 seconds and it still doesn’t sound like that there is a great deal of trust between the mainstream democrats and the IDC. What does that (can’t make out) for a productive relationship? Leader: I think that we trust the people. Anything short of that is frankly unacceptable. The people asked for a democratic majority. They will again. I think that all the members of the different conferences will be attuned to what the people of NYS need and want. I’m sure the trust will build as we continue to work towards those very important pieces that will make New York continue to be the great state. Along with the Governor and our partners across the aisle who will also be focused on the same issues. I’m so that we will be able to build trust and we will not disappoint the New Yorkers that sent us there and expect us to do the right things for them. SA: Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on the possibilities on the IDC conferences with them in January. It was a pleasure speaking with you.

Leader: Thank you so much, Susan.