Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco will unveil his “Summer Gas Tax Holiday” petition at 11:30 a.m. Sunday at Campus Mobil in Albany.

Tedisco will encourage area residents to sign the petition, which calls on the Assembly Majority Democrats to pass legislation eliminating the state sales tax on gasoline and diesel fuel from Memorial Day to Labor Day, providing all New Yorkers with real relief at the pumps.

The legislation passed in the Senate but is opposed by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Gov. David Paterson.

Obama has picked up 5 superdelegates and a union endorsement, while Clinton picked up one new superdelegate.

Obama now has 267 superdelegates, just a few behind Clinton’s 271.5.

Here’s the link to an AP story.

The Republican National Committee put up a new Web site devoted to Barack Obama, which is sure to help fuel perception that Hillary Clinton is less and less looking like the eventual Democratic nominee. 

The skeptic, of course, would ask: or is that what they want you to think?

A group of unions raised $14,000 for Albany County District Attorney David Soares at a breakfast this morning, bringing his labor support so far to almost $50,000, according to the Working Families Party.

The WFP and union leaders at the breakfast at the Desmond say the show of support is unusual this early in the year, coming before some unions have yet to even make any formal endorsements.

“For all of us to get together like this, so early in the year, really shows how committed we are to District Attorney Soares’ re-election.  He’s been a dedicated, independent fighter on behalf of Albany’s working families, and we want to make sure he sees this overwhelming support,” said Teamsters Local 294 President John Bulgaro in a news release.

Also at the breakfast were a number of key political players from the union camp including Sam Fresina, business manager for the Eastern New York Laborers District Council and Patricia Lippold from SEIU 1199 Heath Care Workers East. The 14 unions represented at the event also included the Public Employees Federation, Albany County Central Federation of Labor, and New York State United Teachers.

Do you know of no-show positions in the state agencies, executive or in the legislature?

I want to know! Send me an email if you have bonafide tips. Thanks!

Here’s a sampling of this week’s dinged comments:

1. Its friday and I havn’t got time for this but [deleted] you are an idiot.Carter was one of the worst Presidents of all time.First of all he is the GodFather of terrorism.You probably have never owned a home or paid taxes but interest rates were never higher during the peanut farmers four years and he is a known Jew hater.Can you get any further left?

Obama is done,hey [deleted] how come your so silent on the reverend wright issue? humm interesting.

2. # [deleted] …. translation = dead issue at his aryan nation meeting

3. [deleted] …in which case you’ll have simply reconfirmed that you’re a hateful, hypocritical bigot.

4. “Wow, are you a moron.”

Sorry guys, I forgot today was Friday. So here’s the open thread.

Do you think Hillary Clinton should stay in the race? Why or why not?  What will it do to the party?

And keep it civil, guys. Please.

Good morning, guys and gals. Here are the headlines.

State Public Service Commissioner Maureen Harris has agreed to pay a $50,000 settlement as part of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s ongoing investigation into state pension system padding.

A study conducted by good-government groups says dozens of corporations with business before the Legislature may have exceeded the legal limit in 2007 on how much they can legally contribute to candidates.

Buffalo community leaders spent the past few days trying to make ends meet on $9.25 a day, in solidarity with the 29.9 percent of Buffalo residents the U.S. Census Bureau says are living in poverty _ well over the 13.3 percent national rate.

The CIA must let a New York judge view a 2002 memo purportedly including waterboarding among interrogation methods to be used on prisoners in U.S. custody so he can decide if it should be made public.

In contrast to their bosses, about 6,000 state court employees are in line for cost-of-living pay raises over four years under a tentative contract agreement.

Upstate business groups are calling on Gov. David Paterson to retain an upstate economic development chairman and not put the position under one statewide economic leader.

Nervous state Power Authority officials have hired a $400-an-hour private lawyer to handle Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s probe of the destruction of e-mails and other records relating to Daniel Wiese, the authority’s suspended inspector general, The Post has learned.

Governor Paterson yesterday praised the hundreds of protesters who were arrested on Wednesday for the manner in which they inconvenienced thousands of commuters by shutting down major city bridges and tunnels during rush hour. He announced he supports drug and alcohol testing for police after shootings.

Governor Paterson announced $109 million in funding for stem cell research yesterday as part of a $600 million initiative approved in last year’s budget.

Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny yesterday called on faculty and students to protest a new round of budget cuts that she said could amount to $15 million for the coming school year.

In Decision ‘08 news:

Obama plays a game of Taboo with reporters…and won. Race over or not, he takes a victory lap. He said McCain is “losing his bearings” for repeatedly saying Hamas has endorsed him. McCain hits back. He vows to ensure security of Israel. Opens possibility of Clinton as a running mate. He seeks to unify party for November.

McCain visits a NYC fire station and hands out pizza. His wife, Cindy, says she’ll never release her tax returns. McCain’s campaign is at war with Arianna Huffington over accusation he didn’t vote for Bush in 2000. He pushed a land swap that benefits land developer.

Organized labor is paying more attention to Republican John McCain as Democrat Barack Obama solidifies his status as the front-runner in the Democratic contest against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton misplays the race card while Obama raises roof in Congress. What drives Clinton to go on. Short of cash, she’s forced to cut spending. Her aide names June when race will end. But she won’t quit until superdelegates decide.

Movie mogul and Clinton backer Harvey Weinstein told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi he would stop fund-raising for Democrats if she refused to support new primary elections in Florida and Michigan, it was reported yesterday.

Judicious court employees might not want to gloat in the courthouse about this, but while judges battle with the state over their stagnant pay, the Civil Services Employees Association announced proposed raises today for some 6,000 employees of the Unified Court System.

The four-year agreement, retroactive to April 1, 2007, calls for annual increases of 3 percent in years one through three, and 4 percent in 2010, or a flat dollar raise of $950, $975, $1,000, and $1,025, whichever is greater.

The Public Employees Federation  today announced a way for the state to save $765 million over the next three years today without a hiring freeze as proposed by Gov. David Paterson.

Based on PEF’s analysis of state contracts, the state could save a lot by easing back on its reliance on consultants to let state employees do tasks.

PEF said it found from the Comptroller’s Office that more than 23,000 private consultants are employed by state agencies at an estimated cost of $704 million in 2006-07.

“Compounded over three years, our plan, which calls for eliminating about half of all consultants, would save state taxpayers $765 million,” said PEF President Ken Brynien said.  The biggest savings is in the information technology, engineering and architectural consultanting areas.

Paterson needs to close $21.5 billion in budget gaps over the next three years, his aides say.

“Our audits of 1990 and 1998 on the use of consultants in the state Department of Transportation (DOT) found that the state could have saved money by having state employees do that work,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said. “Going forward, we should continue to look closely at the use of outside consultants to maximize those savings.”

A year after it sent the state Board of Elections evidence that dozens of corportions violated the limits on campaign contributions, the New York Public Interest Research Group said the matter is still apparently under investigation.

NYPIRG also released a fresh crop of 118 apparent violations of the law that allows corporations in New York to give no more than $5,000 to political committees. That’s an aggregate limit, not $5,000 per campaign. The overages NYPIRG found total $469,077 for 2007.

The 2006 total was $147,309 among 61 companies.

NYPIRG released correspondence with the state board, which is supposed to enforce the law, showing it sent last year’s list to the state on May 8.  The board send a note back that very day saying the matter was being referred to the enforcement counsel unit. A month later, the unit said it “is presently undertaking a review of data gleaned from our campaign filing database for the purpose of determining potential corporate over-contributors for calendar year 2006.”

In a February 8 letter to NYPIRG, the board said it is “in the midst of a complete review of filings reporting 2006 political contributions.”

“They still haven’t done anything about it,” said NYPIRG’s legislative director, Blair Horner. He said it’s another argument for campaign finance reform.  ”The system doesn’t work. The law is written badly and it isn’t enforced.”

Here’s NYPIRG’s full list.

According to NYPIRG’s list, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s relection committee picked up 10 excessive donations. Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Democratic Minority Leader Malcolm Smith had five overages each. Assembly Minority Leader Jim Tedisco had three, while Speaker Sheldon Silver had none.

Bob Brehm, a spokesman for the board, said the 2006 filings are still under review, but added that the process has become more time in the last several years. Starting in 2006, local campaign committees all had to file electronic reports with the state, increasing the number of filers from about 1,700 to some 10,000. Depending on the election cycle, some file as many as six reports a year. The board has hired three auditors.

“There’s a lot more data to sort,” he said, noting that not all the apparent excessive donations really turn out to be violations. In many cases, he said, it’s a matter of improper record keeping by campaign treasurers. “Each one is fact-based. You can’t just take a broad brush.”

The board last November finally finished up its 2005 review, which found 14 corporations had contributed over the limit. The cases are referred back to local district attorneys for consideration.

“We do take the enforcement very seriously,” he said.

Incidentally, if you’re a campaign treasurer (or dream of being one someday), the state does training seminars on campaign finance. Sessions start next week. Here’s the schedule and other info.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo just announced his first big pension case settlement upstate: Public Service Commission Maureen Harris, who billed  to the Hamilton Fulton Montgomery BOCES for a year while she worked the Girvin & Ferlazzo law firm.

Harris will pay $50,000 and agree to be stripped of her BOCES pension credits.

Harris was paid $30,000 for her supposed work for the HFM BOCES but she didn’t actually do any BOCES work. She nonetheless got BOCES money and pension credits, said Special Deputy AG Ellen Biben. That arrangement, said Biben, was considered a partnership perk at Girvin & Ferlazzo.

“Most important, I want to stop the practice once and for all,” Cuomo said, repeating his earlier observation that there are thousands of arrangements statewide in which lawyers  working part time for government agencies are in the pension system.

Political competition note: just yesterday, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced that Harris was losing her BOCES credits so Cuomo’s announcement regarding Harris’s pension is a bit redundant. As has been the case, Cuomo is doing it with a bit more flair, holding a press conference at the Capitol and going on at length about the pension abuses that he sees.

Also settling is the western NY firm of Hodgson Russ. That firm, but no individual, will also pay $50,000 but Biben stressed that they didn’t appear to be participating as much in the pension scam. They agreed to have lawyers listed on five western New York BOCES payrolls since under the state education funding system, up until now at least, such lawyers in some instances could bring state reimbursement to those BOCES and member school districts. 

Cuomo also exhibited a bit of humor Thursday, when asked about all the various pension and other scams he’s investigating he alluded to “multiple simultaneous probe syndrome.”

Update: In a written statement, Hodgson Russ said the firm admitted no wrongdoing and the $50,000 is not a fine or a penalty. “That payment is being made by Hodgson Russ as consideration for the Attorney General’s discontinuing his investigation. ”

He said the firms attorneys never received any pension, health insurance or other public benefits while they were on the payrolls of the five BOCES. “When the practice of placing attorneys on the payrolls of BOCES was started many years ago, Hodgson Russ affirmatively decided not to accept any public benefits,” he said.

From the statement:

“Hodgson Russ’s situation is in stark contrast to the allegations that attorneys at other firms received, while serving as employees of school districts and BOCES, benefits to which they might not have been entitled.  Those attorneys have been identified as the primary targets of the Attorney General’s investigation.

“We maintain that this firm’s relationships with the five BOCES have been absolutely proper in every respect.  Any characterization of those relationships as anything less than completely legal and ethical would be, in our opinion, incorrect.”

“At the same time, we support the Attorney General’s efforts to safeguard the taxpayers of this state.  We are, therefore, willing to modify how those relationships are structured by no longer permitting our attorneys to be placed on the payrolls of any BOCES and rendering legal services only as independent contractors.”

Update #2 Cuomo staffers, ever-vigilant, note that today’s settlement isn’t totally redundant with DiNapoli’s stripping of pension benefits. They note that the $50,000 payments are new and that the lawyers and law firms have agreed to halt the practice.

Here is the interview, in two parts:

Good morning. Here are the headlines.

An FBI investigation of Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno is focusing on several opinions he received more than a decade ago from the Legislative Ethics Commission that relate to his personal business ventures, including real estate development and horse breeding.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli expanded his statewide crackdown on pension abuse Wednesday, saying he stripped three more lawyers of their retirement system membership and took away credits from two others including Public Service Commissioner Maureen Harris.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is sending out letters to 2,700 not-for-profit groups and community organizations asking why they haven’t claimed their cut of $78 million for needs lawmakers considered critically important.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is turning up the heat in his investigation of possible political interference by the State Police — demanding that the New York Power Authority tell him who deleted e-mails belonging to former police Col. Daniel Wiese, the authority’s now-suspended inspector general.

The state Assembly passed legislation Wednesday to impose a one-year delay on foreclosures when New York homeowners default on mortgage payments, while the Senate was poised to consider a related measure backed by Gov. David Paterson.

The New York Senate has passed legislation to suspend state gasoline taxes for the summer, but the initiative has little traction because of opposition from the Assembly and Gov. David Paterson.

The Senate GOP wants spending cuts and sunshine.

The New York Racing Association is considering replacing dirt with synthetic surfaces at its three tracks, including historic Saratoga Race Course.

Gov. David Paterson says $25 million in grants will go toward building and renovating 396 units of affordable housing in New York City and the western part of the state.

CUNY students and faculty protest budget cuts.

Backers of family leave lobby at the capitol.

In Decision ‘08 news:

New York superdelegates stick with Clinton.

McCain goes on the Daily Show.

Obama picks up superdelegates following NC win and close race in IN.

Clinton vows to press on, worrying some Democrats. She’s loaned her campaign $6.4 since April 11. She’s hoping for a late comeback.

Did Rush Limbaugh tilt results in Indiana?

Michigan settles on a delegate seating plan for the Democratic National Convention.

The Obama camp keeps tactics close to the vest.

McCain pushes priorities that resonate with conservatives, including championing religious freedom. He’s backing incentives to boost offshore oil.

TV pundits say “it’s over” for the Democratic primary.  There are signs of a changing of the guard.

Republicans are focusing on Obama as the candidate in the fall.

Gov. David Paterson has made up his mind to discontinue the co-chairmanship structure, with one upstate and one downstate head of Empire State Development Corp.

A panel of downstaters and out-of-staters, including some of the titans of corporate America such as Jeff Immelt of GE, advised Paterson that the struture Gov. Eliot Spitzer erected should be scrapped. Paterson agreed, said his spokesman, Errol Cockfield, who previously said the advisory group was only looking at trying to replace the downstate chairman.

Paterson told reporters in New York City that the duo chairman system “sent the wrong message” and didn’t work. He said “this is one state”. Cockfield said Dan Gundersen, the upstate chairman, is staying on and that the Buffalo upstate office is not closing but that a list of candidates for the overall head of ESDC is now being pursued.

Avi Schick is also sticking around as the acting downstate chair following Co-Chairman Patrick Foye’s departure.