'State of Long Island' measure is largely symbolic

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New York State and Suffolk County lawmakers are angry, and they want others in Albany to know it.

Fed up with state spending habits that favor urban areas, namely New York City, at the expense of the suburbs, State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle are calling for the formation of a task force to explore the creation of a new State of Long Island, which would be made up of Suffolk and Nassau counties. In support of the proposed state legislation, filed earlier this year, the Suffolk County Legislature on May 12 passed a measure introduced by Presiding Officer William Lindsay in support of the task force.

At issue, lawmakers said, is a $3 billion disparity between the taxes Long Island residents pay to Albany and the state aid Long Island receives. Lawmakers have taken issue with a recent payroll tax adopted by their brethren in the State Legislature to bankroll a bailout plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The new tax will cost Suffolk County businesses, schools and municipalities an estimated $500 million this year, they said.

“The time has come to send a message that we are not a cash cow for the rest of the state,” Mr. LaValle said. “The MTA payroll tax was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The state legislation proposes that Nassau and Suffolk counties form a commission to study the feasibility of forming a new state, though even Mr. Thiele acknowledges the move is a quixotic effort.

Still, secession rhetoric is not new in New York.

The idea that Nassau and Suffolk counties should splinter from the rest of New York was first raised in 1991 by then State Assemblyman Joseph Sawicki Jr., now the Suffolk County comptroller. The new legislation proposed by Mr. Thiele and Mr. LaValle copies the language of the 1991 proposal.

“This bill is nothing new,” Mr. Thiele said. “This is basically [Mr. Sawicki’s] brainchild.”

The last state to be formed from an existing state was West Virginia and that happened in 1863.

If Nassau and Suffolk were to combine into a new state, it would be the 32nd most populated state.

Other lawmakers are also exploring secession ideas, including State Senator Joseph Robach of Rochester, who proposed a referendum on the question: “Do you support the division of New York into two separate states?” Also, State Senator Andrew Lanza of Staten Island, according to an aide, is currently drafting legislation that will call for Staten Island to break from New York City.

In order to become a state, secession must be approved of by the U.S. Congress and the State Legislature. Nassau County would also need to be on board with the proposal. Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi did not return calls for comment this week and the Nassau
County Legislature, as of Wednesday, had not considered adopting a home rule message in support of the secessionist legislation.

Most lawmakers see the proposed legislation as symbolic of Long Island’s disapproval of the status quo, not an actual first step in it seceding from New York State. Many officials have voiced doubts that Long Island could separate from New York.

Suffolk County Legislator Edward P. Romaine of Center Moriches, who nonetheless voted in favor of Mr. Lindsay’s home rule message, said the State Legislature would not allow Long Island to secede. “I don’t think this is going to happen,” he said.

Dan Aug, a spokesman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, said in a written statement that the county has no interest in funding a study group to examine a secession.

“I hope that advocates of this plan are not asking for taxpayer money to fund a ‘study to nowhere,’ when we are looking at potential cutbacks in the county,” Mr. Aug said in the statement.

If Long Island were to form a state, it would have to reimburse the State of New York for state-owned property, including roadways, parks and buildings, said Jim LaCarrubba, chief of staff for State Senator Brian X. Foley—who broke with other Long Island lawmakers and voted to support the MTA payroll tax.

“I don’t think it’s realistic,” Mr. LaCarrubba said. “I think it was just some people looking for a little press, looking to sensationalize it.”

Making a splash by broaching the idea of secession was exactly the intention of introducing the legislation, Mr. Thiele said.

And since the County Legislature passed the home rule message in support of his legislation, Mr. Thiele said, his office phone has been “ringing off the hook” with people calling in with questions about the idea.

“I’ve received phone calls from throughout the state, even ‘The Daily Show,’ which I stayed away from,” the assemblyman said. “This has brought a lot more attention to the needs of Long Island and its importance in the state than if I sent out a press release about school aid.”