New York City's new mayor is learning the hard facts about running a city that depends on the state for so many of its needs and functions. Two of his major proposals, one for a tax on people earning $500,000 or more to pay for universal pre-K, the other that the city be allowed to raise the minimum wage, have been shot down by the governor and the Senate majority leader.
Mayor Bill de Blasio may huff and puff, but he can't blow the statehouse down. The City of New York is chartered by the state and granted numerous powers, but they come with many restrictions. While the state constitution gives municipalities the authority to act by local law with respect to its "property, affairs or government," that doesn't mean the city has unlimited powers to do just about anything it wants to do.
A study by the Local Government Education Committee, an upstate resource for municipalities, says it all. In a 2004 case, Mayor of New York vs. Council of New York, the Supreme Court found that certain things are matters of "state concern," including taxation, debt, education, water supply, highways and transportation, health, parks, social services and even residency by local officials.
De Blasio's desire to raise the minimum wage is no doubt in the city's best interests, but history took care of that issue long ago. In the 1960s, according to the LGEC, the city unsuccessfully tried to set its own minimum wage by local law, only to have it struck down in court for being in conflict with state law in 1963.
The court's reasoning was this: Once the state has passed a law on a subject, any activity not prohibited by the state is protected, and any local law on the subject that is not a mere duplication of the state would be pre-empted.
Those of us who served in the Legislature in the 1960s recall when the state gave the city a whole new menu of powers, including the right to charge motorists to park on the city streets. While many of them never were adopted by New York City, it sent a clear message that the state was the boss on a whole raft of issues.
If the city is frustrated with the state of the law and the leaders in Albany, it at least has company. Over the past 10 years, 22 municipalities around the state have asked for the authority to increase their portion of the state sales tax and have been rebuffed by the Legislature.
While it is no consolation to de Blasio, Washington, D.C, is an even tougher city to govern. Even the most mundane activities, such as providing for trash collection, must get the approval of Congress when it authorizes the city's budget. A 1910 law there further imposes stringent restrictions on property development. That city is unable to raise one nickel of tax revenue without the approval of a majority of Congress.
De Blasio in the years ahead will find out what many of his predecessors have learned. If you think you are master of your destiny, check with Albany first.
Arthur "Jerry" Kremer served in the state Assembly from 1967 to 1989, including 12 years as chairman of the Ways & Means Committee. He is chairman of Empire Government Strategies and author of, "Winning Albany — Untold Stories About the Famous and Not So Famous."