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State Senate Leader Outlines Policy Priorities, How They Compare to Gov. Cuomo's

nysenate.gov

Capital Correspondent Karen DeWitt recently caught up with Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan on how he’s getting along with the governor, whether he might like to challenge Andrew Cuomo,  how he feels about imposing additional taxes on the rich, and  Cuomo’s proposal to pass a constitutional amendment enshrining the U.S.  Supreme Court’s 1973 abortion decision Roe v Wade into the state’s constitution.  

Cuomo announced his plan at a Planned Parenthood rally, but has so far offered no details. An effort to pass a law codifying the rights in Roe v Wade has stalled in the Senate for years.  Flanagan, who leads the Senate with a group of independent Democrats, says he hasn’t seen the newest proposals, so can’t directly comment, but he says he’s not worried about the landmark decision being overturned by President Trump’s picks to the court.

I don’t really see things changing in the state of New York,” Flanagan said in an interview with Karen DeWitt.

Flanagan says New York legalized abortion three years before Roe, and that law would still stand.

“There’s access, there’s safeguards,” said Flanagan. “And all of those things, regardless of  what one might think of abortion, or access to it,  those are things I think are very important.”

Credit Gov. Cuomo's flickr page
Gov. Cuomo addresses the crowd at the Planned Parenthood Day of Action Monday in Albany.

Abortion rights supporters say the 1970 New York law offers fewer protections than Roe, for instance after 24 weeks, abortion would only be permitted to save the life of the mother, the woman’s health considerations would not be taken into account. Flanagan says previous bills on abortion form the governor are “more radical” than Cuomo has let on.

FLANAGAN FOR GOVERNOR?

Senate Leader John Flanagan says he’s not running for governor right now, but, in an interview with public radio and TV he admits, he’s thought about it from time to time.

Senator Flanagan, a Republican from Long Island, says in “real life”, he’s occupied full time with leading the Senate, where Republicans rule in conjunction with several independent  Democrats.

That is my absolute , overarching number one priority,” Flanagan said.

But he says he won’t deny he’s thought about a run for governor, throughout his lengthy career as a state legislator.

Yes of course I have,” Flanagan said. “It’s like playing for the Yankees in the World Series.”

Flanagan, who has begun putting his public schedule out to reporters more often, says he had “nothing to do” with a Newsday story that said the Senate leader might be considering a run.

Flanagan’s relationship with Governor Cuomo has cooled in recent months, after Cuomo backed Democrats for some Senate seats in the 2016 elections, and the governor and legislative leaders had a falling out over a failed special session in December.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.