NIAGARA FALLS —
While the state Democrats claim the Executive Mansion — Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new home for four years — the Republicans have a razor-thin edge in the Senate.
Enter Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, the vice president pro tempore, the third highest post in the Senate which the Republicans control, 32-30.
His appointment was announced Wednesday by Senate President Pro Tempore Dean Skelos, R- Rockville Center, who emphasized that with Maziarz in that post the GOP is showing its commitment to Western New York and upstate.
In addition to his base Senate salary of $79,500, Maziarz will receive $34,000 for serving as the vice president. Add the extra pay for chairing the Senate Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, and it pushes his overall salary well beyond the $100,000 mark.
The senator from Newfane will soon be even better known to Capitol Hill observers. (Previously he was generally perceived as representing Niagara Falls when, in fact, that was Antoine Thompson’s district although it’s hard to tell with all the missing files.)
Maziarz has been involved in politics for more than 30 years, starting as at age 25, when he was appointed city clerk in North Tonawanda.
When former Gov. George Pataki named the late Sen. John B. Daly of Lewiston as the state Commissioner of Transportation, Maziarz captured the vacant seat in a close election. (Perhaps as a good omen, the freshman lawmaker ended up with the same desk former Sen. Pataki had in the chamber.)
As mentioned earlier, Maziarz now occupies the highest post in state government that any Western New Yorker has held since Earl W. Brydges was majority leader in Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s administration in the mid-1960s.
The rise in the ranks also puts pressure on Maziarz. He’s part of that inner circle, the GOP hierarchy that has been promising to work closely with the new governor and to help shape an agenda addressing fiscal restraint, job creation, economic development and tax relief.
It should be interesting to see how long it takes for that cooperative spirit to unfold.
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IN OTHER ACTION: Those so-called “breakaway Democrats” who said they wanted to caucus separately from their party have already been rewarded for their turncoat strategy. They’ve been named to legislative panels with an extra $12,500 in annual stipends.
The four malcontents include Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, named to a committee on family and children’s issues; Sen. David Valesky, D-Syracuse, chair of the aging committee; Sen. David Carlucci, D-Rockland County; and Sen. Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, will head a new committee on alcohol and substance abuse.
It seems the breakaway lawmakers are getting their way too.
When the other Democrats walked into the chamber earlier last week, they were upset to discover that their chairs had been moved. It was explained that the breakaway senators wanted to sit together.
One irate senator voiced strong objections, saying it was insulting “to walk around the room, from one chair to another, trying to find where your seat is now.”
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CRAMPED QUARTERS: Overheard in Murphy’s Cafe, Third Street: “My husband said he needed more space. So I locked him outside.”
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