Joseph Bruno
Joseph L. Bruno (born
April 8,
1929) is an American businessman and politician. He is the current majority leader of the
New York State Senate, elected to the Senate from the 43rd District. He is a member of the
Republican Party.
Senator Bruno, a businessman, was born in
Glens Falls, N.Y. and is a graduate of St. Mary's Academy in that city. Bruno holds a B.A. degree in
Business Administration from
Skidmore College and served in the
Korean War as an
infantry sergeant. He served as Vice-President of the New York State
Jaycees, and in 1964 was named by them as one of the five "Outstanding Young Men of the State."
Bruno and his wife, the former Barbara Frasier, have four children, Joseph, Susan, Kenneth and Catherine, and reside in the Town of
Brunswick, N.Y. in
Rensselaer County,
N.Y.Bruno was first elected to the New York State Senate in 1976 from a district composed of the counties of Rensselaer and
Saratoga. He was first elected Temporary President of the New York State Senate in January 1995 and re-elected to that position in 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005
In 1966, Bruno was on the campaign staff of Governor
Nelson Rockefeller and from 1969 to 1974 he served as Special Assistant to Speaker of the Assembly
Perry B. Duryea. From 1968 to 1969, he was President of the New York State Association of
Young Republicans. He also served as Chairman of the Rensselaer County Republican Committee from 1974 to 1977.
Bruno, along with Governor
George Pataki and Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver, was instrumental in bringing the return of the
death penalty to New York State in
1995. The bill they passed was ruled unconstitutional by the
New York State Court of Appeals (analogous to the Supreme Court in other states) when it turned out that the law gave jurors deadlocked between life without parole and execution no choice but to give eligibility for parole after 25 years. When faced between this possibility, the Court of Appeals feared that execution would seem unfairly preferable. In the 10 years since the law was passed, New York's crime rate plummeted without ever seeing an execution, perhaps weakening the public support for the death penalty. Silver let the law die in
2005 without much debate.
According to an
editorial in
The Buffalo News, Bruno forced a bill through the Senate on
June 27,
1995, that would have forced girls under 16 to get consent from both parents for an abortion. It never passed the New York State Assembly.
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.
As the Temporary President of the Senate, Bruno is Chairman of the Rules Committee and an
ex officio member of all Senate standing committees and statutory commissions.
The minor league baseball stadium in
Troy, New York is named after the Senator
Criticism
As the chief officer of one house of a state legislature known for its political inertia (the 2005 New York State budget was the first in 20 years to pass both houses on time), Bruno has often been criticized as characteristic of the inside
power structure of
New York State government. He is one of the so-called "three men in a room" who exercise nearly all control over government business in the state. The other two are Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver and
Governor George Pataki.
During the budget process in
1995, Bruno, 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. In an editorial,
The Buffalo News quoted Bruno as saying:
"It is the low-income people. It's the blacks, the Hispanics, and I only say that because look at the numbers.... Ninety percent of those people support [
Sheldon Silver].... Why? Because they are the people that got their hand out. They are the ones fighting for welfare."
The paper also noted pointed out that other politicians distanced themselves from Bruno, and wrote:
Welfare is not the province of one or two race or ethnic groups. More that half of the 602,000 New York households receiving welfare are white, according to the 1990 U.S. Census–and in a polyglot state, the rest include many groups other than blacks and Hispanics.
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." The comments caused a public spat with Al Sharpton and the
Democratic leaders of the State Assembly. Sharpton told Bruno he should remove himself from that year's budget negotiations. 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.
Fiscal conservative pundits originally were very supportive of Bruno's agenda in the State Senate as an improvement over his moderate predecessor as leader,
Ralph Marino. In recent years they have expressed concern over his willingness to cooperate with Assembly Speaker
Sheldon Silver on budgets they deem excessive, endorsements he has received from state employee labor unions, including health care union
Local 1199, and recruiting former Democrats as "Republicans" to campaign for swing seats in the Senate, such as districts in Syracuse and the Bronx.
Bruno is notorious for having at least one building named for himself in each of the fourteen towns and two cities that comprise Rensselaer County. In addition, the Houston Astros A short-season affiliate "Tri-City Valleycats" play in Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, situated on the Troy-North Greenbush Border.
Joe Bruno's clout in
Rensselaer County has made him the de-facto boss of the Republican Party in the region. Bruno has dominated politics in the County, experiencing only two major defeats; when Democratic Judge Patrick McGrath won re-election as County Court Judge by 69% in 2003, and when East Greenbush Town Justice Bob Jacon defeated District Attorney Patricia DeAngelis for an additional County Judgeship that was created by the State Senate specifically for DeAngelis in 2005. Otherwise, Republicans dominate Rensselaer County politics, even in the City of
Troy, which has a majority of registered Democrats to Republicans. When Bruno is no longer in power, it is likely that much of the money he has channeled to the Capital District will return to Downstate areas, including the New York metro area, and Long Island.
Brian Premo, an attorney who was formerly (and still registered) a Republican, is challenging Bruno for his seat in the 2006 election. Premo has little chance of success against the Majority Leader, who will probably serve in the Senate until he chooses to retire or dies. Bruno has promised to move out of New York, should Democrats gain a majority in the Senate. This is possible within the next two or three election cycles.
Mr. Bruno has in early February 2005 stated America, instead of battling insurgents, should declare victory and "get the troops out of there." [
1]
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List of New York State Senators# "Capital Punishment,
1995-2005."
The New York Daily News, editorial.
April 13,
2005.# "Pregnant Teens Need Support, Not Pressure,"
The Buffalo News, editorial,
August 4,
1995.# "
Fast Trains in NY: Slashing Travel Time is Key to Accelerating Upstate Economy" by Joseph Bruno# "Bruno's Slip of the Brain; Can't he Think Beyond Dumb Stereotypes?"
The Buffalo News, editorial, April 11, 1995.# Bliven, Luther F., "Senate Leader Assailed for Racial Remark,"
Syracuse Post-Standard,
April 8,
1995.# Lipman, Harvy. "Sharpton demands Bruno withdraw from budget talks,"
Albany Times-Union,
April 12,
1995.
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Official Web site New York State Senator Joseph L. Bruno
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Legislative Report Card
