The Remarks Of Speaker Sheldon Silver

Unveiling Of Assembly Majority Legislative Package
To Address Rising Fuel Prices

State Capitol, Speaker's Conference Room, Albany, NY
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Silver and Energy Committee Chair Kevin Cahill explain the Assembly’s energy package at a Capitol news conference. Especially troubled by rising home heating oil prices, Silver and Cahill were joined by other Assembly Majority members and concerned advocates, including the New York State Chapter of the American Association of Retired People, to advance measures aimed at providing needy families with more assistance to purchase home heating oil later this year. Oil Company Profits 2006 Tax Cap Didn’t Work Outrageous Energy Prices HEAP Assistance

I do not need to tell you what rising fuel prices are doing to our economy or to the budgets of working families throughout the State of New York.

While the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are devoting greater and greater proportions of their income to paying for fuel, the multi-millionaires who own and run "Big Oil" are raking in profits at a record-setting pace.

Chevron recorded profits of $18.7 billion in 2007, the fourth consecutive year of record profits for that company.

In 2007, Exxon Mobil had profits of $40.6 billion, reportedly the largest profit ever recorded by an American company.

More egregious than that is the fact that the oil companies are filling their coffers with the hard-earned dollars of working men and women and doing so with the blessing of the Republican administration sitting in the White House.

Unable or unwilling to craft a rational and comprehensive national policy, the Bush Energy Bill of 2005 - which has been roundly supported by Republican leaders here in this Capitol and across this state - actually gave $6 billion in tax breaks to Big Oil and exempted those companies from federal guidelines intended to protect the environment.

What the President claimed would be good for consumers has translated into very real "pain" for those New Yorkers with limited or fixed incomes; men and women who are now being forced to pay higher and higher costs for even "basic necessities" such as food, transportation and utilities.

In response to this pain, Republican leaders here, including our colleagues in the Assembly Minority, are calling for a "gas tax holiday."

Remember, in 2006, New York State enacted a gas tax cap which slams the lid on state gas taxes once the price of gasoline exceeds two dollars a gallon.

It was estimated that this cap should save New York motorists more than $250 million a year.

It was estimated that by 2009, the cap should produce $600 million in savings for New Yorkers.

Does anyone believe that the State has saved you money on your fuel purchases?

Of course not, because Big Oil and the oil-producing nations are taking the savings back from us in ever higher profits.

Let me also remind you that the same gas tax cap measure was offered to local governments as an option and 15 counties enacted that two-dollar gas tax cap.

So far, eight counties have repealed the cap. Why? Because it became clear that savings were not being passed on to motorists.

Let me quote Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, from the Syracuse Post Standard dated April 9th of this year, and I quote:

"It has not resulted in savings for our citizens at the pump. It was really idealistic and maybe naïve to believe oil companies, wholesalers and retailers would pass the savings on out of the goodness of their hearts."

I have similar quotes from other local leaders, but I think you get the point.

Overlooked in this crisis is the fact that the cost of heating oil, natural gas, propane and kerosene are all going up as well.

In fact, oil heating dealers are entering into contracts at $4.59 to $4.90 per gallon right now, up from $2.99 per gallon last year.

Already, we are hearing that less affluent New Yorkers are being forced to choose between driving and eating.

In a matter of months, they will be choosing between eating, driving and freezing.

The situation is outrageous and potentially dangerous.

It is time that this state took action before the temperature drops and the snow flies.

This afternoon, the Assembly Majority is unveiling an energy-related legislative package intended to help working families and those on fixed incomes afford the high cost of fuel.

This package of bills and resolutions was crafted with the leadership of the Chair of our Standing Committee on Energy, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, and he will speak to the elements of this package in a few moments.

As you can see, there are a number of Assembly Members standing here in support of this legislation.

We are also joined by a number of advocates who have come here to lend their support to our package:

• Blair Horner, the Legislative Director of NYPIRG;

• Barbara Bartoletti, the Legislative Director of the New York League of Women Voters.

• Trudi Renwick, Senior Economist from the Fiscal Policy Institute;

• John Eadie, Executive Director of the New York Statewide Senior Action Council;

• And, Bill Ferris, Kristin Legere and Joan Powell from New York State AARP - Ms. Powell will be addressing you in a few moments.

The primary goal of our legislative package is to increase state funding of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program - better known as HEAP - and to expand this program so that more New Yorkers can receive assistance in paying their heating bills.

We accomplish this by imposing a windfall recapture tax and a windfall profits tax on those oil companies that do business in New York State and directing a significant portion of those revenues into HEAP.

The legislation also contains prohibitions backed up by civil penalties, to prevent oil companies from passing along these additional costs to consumers.

We are backing up this measure with a legislative resolution calling upon Congress to provide additional funding for HEAP.

We have no choice.

We must provide more home energy assistance to those New Yorkers who need it before the cold weather arrives.

The situation is dire. That is why the advocates are joining us this afternoon.

So, I urge our colleagues in the Senate to study our plan and I want them to know that the Assembly Majority is ready, willing and able to return to Albany post-session if needed, to get this legislation done.

Our legislative package also includes a number of bills that enhance consumer protection and promote energy efficiency. They are listed in your news releases.

Let me close by once again acknowledging the efforts of our Energy Committee Chair, Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, for his leadership in crafting this package.

As I said at the beginning of this legislative session, the question is - and should be - how can this government ease the burden on working families and those on fixed incomes, in times of economic distress?

The Assembly Majority has offered a variety of measures during this session. Our energy package is yet another important step in helping New Yorkers deal with this difficult and painful economy.