Friday evening, my brother, after a two hour WFP leadership conference call, told me "Cuomo caved" the previous night and agreed to support for real a whole platform of major progressive legislation. NYC's progressive Mayor Bill DiBlasio played a crucial intermediary role in making the deal.
The package includes a serious increase in the minimum wage, strong public financing of campaigns statewide based on the successful NYC model, the DREAM Act to educate undocumented students, a women's equality package, marijuana decriminalization and changes in state education funding to provide more money to districts that actually need it.
The progressive bills were blocked by the GOP minority in the NY State Senate in coalition with a faction of renegade Democrats, the so-called Independent Democratic Conference (IDC). Cuomo is widely believed to have tacitly supported the IDC defection to enable continuing Republican control of the Senate after 33 of 63 Senators were elected as Democrats.
I responded to my brother that the deal was acceptable only if WFP has high confidence that Cuomo would not renege and find some excuse not to enact what he agreed to.
The deal was reportedly completed late Saturday evening by the WFP State Committee in Albany (I am in NYC for a major reunion.)
Jump for the WFP News release