Joseph Bruno

Bruno was a member of the New York State Senate from 1977 to 2008, sitting in the 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, 194th, 195th, 196th and 197th New York State Legislatures. He was elected Temporary President of the New York State Senate on November 25, 1994, ousting the incumbent Ralph J. Marino.[4]

Bruno, along with Governor George Pataki and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was instrumental in passing a death penalty law in New York State in 1995.[5][6] The New York Court of Appeals (the highest state court in New York) later found the law to be unconstitutional because it gave jurors deadlocked between life without parole and execution no choice but to give eligibility for parole after 25 years; the Court of Appeals feared that jurors faced with this choice would unfairly lean toward a death sentence.[7] In the 10 years after the law was passed, New York's crime rate plummeted without ever seeing an execution, perhaps weakening public support for the death penalty.[8] Silver let the law die in 2005 without much debate.[9]

During the budget process in 1995, Bruno, who was new to the Majority Leader role at the time, made a comment about Blacks and Hispanics who "got their hands out" pressuring the legislature to avoid cuts to social services.[10][11] According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Bruno said he was referring to the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, which is a major force in the Democratic majority in the Assembly."[12] Bruno's defense was that he was referring to political caucuses, not all blacks and Hispanics; he offered a blanket apology for offending some people, but refused to take his words back.[13]

According to an editorial in The Buffalo News, Bruno pushed a bill through the Senate on June 27, 1995 that would have required girls under 16 to get consent from both parents for an abortion. The bill never passed the New York State Assembly.

After SONDA, a gay rights bill, languished in the state Senate for many years as a result of Bruno's opposition,[14] Bruno and his caucus were put on the spot for their support of a socially conservative agenda.[15] LGBT people and groups pushed very hard for SONDA,[16] and in late 2002, Bruno finally gave in;[17] the bill passed the Senate and was signed into law by Governor Pataki.[18]

In 2005, Bruno proposed research into high-speed rail development in New York State as part of a plan to boost Upstate New York's economy.

In February 2005, Bruno stated that America, instead of battling insurgents in Iraq, should declare victory and "get the troops out of there."[19]

In December 2006, Bruno disclosed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been looking into business associates of Bruno's who had received state grants.[20] The FBI investigation appeared to lead Bruno to end one of his long-time consulting jobs in 2007.[21]

Fiscal conservative pundits originally were very supportive of Bruno's agenda in the State Senate.[22] In later years, they expressed concern over Bruno's willingness to cooperate with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on budgets deemed to be excessive, over endorsements Bruno received from state employee labor unions, including health care union Local 1199, and over Bruno's recruitment of former Democrats to run as Republicans for swing Senate districts in Syracuse and the Bronx.[23][24]

As of 2009, there was at least one building named for Bruno in each of the fourteen towns and two cities that comprise Rensselaer County, New York. In addition, the Tri-City ValleyCats—a short-season minor-league affiliate of the Houston Astros—play in Joseph L. Bruno Stadium situated on the Troy-North Greenbush border.[25]

Entering 2007, Bruno's hold on Senate control appeared more tenuous than in prior years, as the Republicans lost the seat formerly held by Nicholas Spano, failed to regain a Republican-leaning seat in Syracuse and—with a caucus diminished to 33 members—had to defend the open seat of Michael Balboni in Nassau County; the latter seat was lost to Democrat Craig Johnson, Nassau County Legislator in a February 6, 2007 special election.[26] The electoral reverses and the ongoing FBI investigation led some Republicans to suggest Bruno might step down as Majority Leader.[27] There were also rumors some Republican senators might cross the aisle to throw control of the Senate to the Democrats.[26]

In April 2007, Bruno also appeared to hold veto power over two other Spitzer initiatives: gay marriage[28] and campaign finance reform.[29] Bruno challenged Spitzer to restore the state's death penalty law.[30] Bruno also criticized the Governor's plan to issue driver licenses to illegal immigrants, claiming it was aimed at stuffing the ballot box with Democratic voters.[31]

Bruno's position became more tenuous in February 2008 after the special election loss of the heavily Republican 48th District in Watertown, which had formerly been held by Sen. James W. Wright. This loss diminished the Republican Senate majority to a single seat, and press speculation centered on whether the remaining GOP senate caucus would cause Bruno to step down.[32]

On July 23, 2007, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo admonished Governor Eliot Spitzer's administration for ordering the State Police to track Bruno's travel records, particularly his use of a state helicopter.[33] At the direction of top officials of the Spitzer administration, the New York State Police created documents meant to cause political damage to Bruno.[34] The governor's staff had stated they were responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA or FOIL) request from The Times-Union of Albany in late June.[33][35] On May 23, Spitzer's Communications Director Darren Dopp wrote Rich Baum, a senior Spitzer adviser, that "records exist going way back"[36] about Bruno's use of state aircraft, and that "Also, I think there is a new and different way to proceed re media. Will explain tomorrow."[35] Dopp later wrote another e-mail to Baum after a story ran in the Times-Union about a federal grand jury investigation of Bruno's investments in thoroughbred racing horses, and wrote: "Think travel story would fit nicely in the mix."[35][36]

A 57-page report issued by the Attorney General's office[37] concluded that Spitzer aides attempted to create negative media coverage concerning Bruno's travel before any FOIA request was made.[38] The investigation looked into both Bruno's travel and the senate leader's allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him.[39] The Spitzer administration and the State Police provided far more details about Bruno than about other officials to the Times-Union, including records to reply to a request under the state's Freedom of Information laws, though no such request had even been made.[40] No other officials were subject to the same scrutiny as Bruno, and in some cases, the reports created by State Police were pieced together long after the trips, sometimes based on the memory of the police escorts involved.[41] The report cleared Bruno of any legal violations in his use of the state's air fleet.[34][42][43][44] The report criticized Spitzer's office for using State Police resources to gather information about Bruno's travel and releasing the information to the media.[43]

Spitzer responded at a July 23 press conference that "As governor, I am accountable for what goes on in the executive branch and I accept responsibility for the actions of my office"[33] and that his administration had "grossly mishandled"[33] the situation.[44] Spitzer issued an apology to Bruno and stated that "I apologized to Senator Bruno and I did so personally this morning."[33]

On March 29, 2008, The Buffalo News reported that "former Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer lied to prosecutors" about his role in Troopergate, but added that "the Albany County district attorney said he will not pursue any criminal charges against the already disgraced ex-governor."[45]

On March 17, 2008, Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson succeeded to the governor's office. Bruno - as Temporary President of the Senate - became Acting Lieutenant Governor, and was next-in-line to become Acting Governor of New York in case of a vacancy.

On June 23, 2008, Bruno confirmed that he would not seek re-election in the fall of 2008.[46] On June 24, 2008, Bruno stepped down as "temporary president of the senate" and as Senate Majority Leader.[47] On July 18, 2008, Bruno resigned his New York State Senate seat.[48] On November 4, 2008, he was replaced by his "hand-picked" successor, Roy McDonald, in the general election.[49]

Almost one year after stepping down from being Senate Majority Leader, Bruno announced that he supported same-sex marriage - a position that in the past he had never taken publicly.[50] In 2009, Bruno was asked by Governor David Paterson to speak out for same-sex marriage in Albany.[51] Bruno also admitted in 2009 that he personally favored same-sex marriage but never brought it to the floor of the State Senate because the majority of his conference was against it, stating "[this] is America, and we have inalienable rights... Life is short, and we should all be afforded the same opportunities and rights to enjoy it."[52] Same-sex marriage legislation was passed in New York in 2011.