Sheldon Silver - Political Career

Political Career

Silver was first elected to the Assembly in 1976, and became Speaker on February 11, 1994. He replaced Saul Weprin, who had recently suffered a stroke and whose sons David and Mark currently serve in the New York State Assembly and in the New York City Council respectively. He represents the 65th Assembly District, comprising much of lower Manhattan, notably the former World Trade Center site. He has a reputation as a liberal of the Lyndon Johnson mold.

In 1987, Silver, as an attorney, represented residents who sued to stop the City of New York from housing inmates on a former military barge that had last been used by the British in the Falklands War. The residents, concerned that the barge would be disruptive to the neighborhood, argued that New York City had not followed required procedures in approving the plan. New York City argued in response that it was struggling with an overcrowded jail capacity and was therefore entitled to use the "emergency" exemption from the normal requirements. On February 26, 1988 an appeals court ruled that the inmates could be housed on the barge.

In the past, Silver has been critical of state fiscal policy. He was the chairman of the Assembly's Ways and Means Committee from 1992 to 1994, selected after Weprin replaced former Speaker Mel Miller. In December 1993, he criticized then New York City Mayor-Elect Rudy Giuliani's appointment for budget director, Abraham M. Lackman, as "a person whose primary function has been to limit the benefits for New York City."

Silver was instrumental in the reinstatement of the death penalty in New York State in 1995. The bill passed was ruled unconstitutional by the New York State Court of Appeals (see People v. LaValle), as the law stipulated that if jurors were deadlocked between sentences of life without parole and execution, the court would sentence the defendant to life imprisonment with parole eligibility after serving 20 to 25 years. The Court ruled that in such a case, execution would seem unfairly preferable to the jury. New York's crime rate had dropped significantly in the 10 years since the law was passed, without seeing an execution. Silver let the law expire in 2005 without much debate. In December 2005, after two New York City police officers were killed in as many months, Pataki called for reinstatement of the death penalty. The New York Times quoted Silver's spokesman Charles Carrier as saying, "He no longer supports because Assembly hearings have shown it is not the most effective way to improve public safety.”

In 1999, Silver was instrumental in the repeal of New York City's commuter tax, which taxed non-resident workers similarly to city residents. This was a great benefit to those commuting to work in the city from surrounding areas, but came at a tremendous cost to his own NYC constituents. Silver was criticized by city leaders for removing the tax, and though after 9/11 he has suggested he would support reinstating it, he has taken no steps to do so.

In 2000, Silver faced an attempted coup in the Assembly as members, primarily from Upstate New York, tried to overthrow him. Michael Bragman, one of the leaders of the backlash, lost his position as majority leader of the Assembly

On June 7, 2005, Silver blocked the proposal to build the West Side Stadium in the area of Hell's Kitchen. This project was heavily promoted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who claimed that it was crucial to New York's failed bid to host the 2012 Olympics. He was also involved in blocking the proposed Moynihan Station, a project which would have replaced Manhattan's aging Penn Station, as well as legislation that would stop city employees from collecting potentially-fraudulent duplicate retirement payments from multiple sources. In July 2007, Silver was a key voice of opposition to Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing program and when a meeting of the Democratic Assembly Conference indicated the proposal lacked support, Silver declined to schedule a vote on the measure and it died. Although Silver personally stated that he would have "probably would have voted for the bill" on congestion pricing, a majority of his conference strongly opposed the proposed plan. Proponents argued it would reduce traffic congestion and vehicle emissions, lead to less crowded streets, and raise much-needed funds for public transportation, while opponents objected to the notion of a new driving tax.

In 2008, he had his first Democratic primary in over two decades beating his challengers, Paul Newell and Luke Henry, winning 7,037 votes. Newell and Henry received 2,401 and 891 votes respectively. He was reelected on November 4 with 27,632 votes overwhelming his Republican challenger, Danniel Maio, who received 7,387 votes.