Assembly upstaters restless

Insider
Crains New York Business, May 16, 1997

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's efforts to link rent control to the governor's proposed property tax cuts is placing upstate and suburban Assembly Democrats in a political box, insiders say. Mr. Silver is holding off backing a property tax reduction in order to force Republicans to agree to renew rent regulations in their current form. But that means many non-city Democrats are being forced to defend a New York City position with which many of their constituents disagree (rent control) while holding back their support of a proposal many of those same voters are clamoring for (property tax cuts).