[By Chris Bragg for City Hall News]

For the past five years,  lobbyists for Agudath Israel, the state’s most powerful Jewish social service organization, traveled from New York City to Albany to urge lawmakers to allow rabbinical college students to receive state-funded tuition assistance grants. And year after year, they went home empty-handed.

Agudath’s prospects for securing the grants looked especially bleak this legislative session, with the state facing a $10 billion deficit and public colleges and universities facing 10 percent cuts. But then, Agudath found a powerful champion: Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos.

In the final days of budget negotiations, Skelos insisted that any deal with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Gov. Andrew Cuomo include $18 million in recurring, new Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) funding for rabbinical students. Neither Cuomo nor Silver had this funding in their budget resolutions, yet Skelos got it through. And though Senate Repblicans also approved the funding when they held the majority in 2008, the majority leader made a particular effort this year.

In a conference call last Friday morning with the about 50 of the organization’s supporters, Skelos was described by Schmuel Lefkowitz, Agudath’s top Albany lobbyist, as the key figure in securing the money.

“He said, ‘I’m going to make this happen for you guys.’” Lefkowitz recalled. “Without the three men in a room agreeing, this wouldn’t have happened. But it was Dean Skelos that put it in.”

But education funding has not been the only recent topic of conversation between Skelos and Agudath Israel officials.

Days before the budget was passed, Skelos met with Lefkowitz and other Agudath Israel officials to discuss the final push for tuition assistance funding, which was facing some resistance in the Assembly.

At the same meeting, Agudath officials also agreed to support the Republican candidate in a prospective special election to replace indicted State Sen. Carl Kruger, if and when Kruger vacates his Brooklyn Senate seat, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting. Fred Kriezman, who works for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Community Assistance Unit, has been discussed as a potential Republican candidate, the sources said.

Senate Republican spokesman Scott Reif did not deny that the meeting took place, or that Kruger’s Senate seat was discussed. But in a statement, Reif did dispute the idea that Skelos’ insistence on securing the funding had anything to do with political support.

“This has been a longstanding priority for both Senator Skelos and the conference,” Reif stated.  “In fact, Senator Skelos introduced legislation in 2008 to include rabbinical colleges in the TAP program, and the bill was approved by the full Senate. The decision to include this funding in the budget was made on the merits.”

As a non-profit, Agudath Israel cannot legally endorse candidates for office. But behind the scenes, the organization often plays a key role in south Brooklyn elections, with endorsements by leading member seen as tacit support by Agudath. Leaders of the organization, who have extremely close ties with powerful Democratic Assembly Member Dov Hikind, often hold fundraisers for favored candidates.

Lefkowitz did not return a phone call seeking comment. David Zwiebel, the executive vice president for government and public affairs for Agudath Israel, said he was unaware of any meeting with Skelos.

New York City Council Member Lew Fidler is seen as the most likely Democratic candidate for Kruger’s seat, if and when it becomes vacant. But Fidler is a supporter of gay marriage, which would give the socially conservative Agudath leadership a reason to instead back a Republican.

The support of a Republican for Kruger’s seat would be a change, since a number of leaders of Agudath Israel worked to try and keep Senate Democrats in the majority last year. Senate Democrats endeared themselves to Agudath by passing a budget last year that contained funding for rabbinical college student aid. The funding was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. David Paterson.

Late last October, just a week before the election, a number of people closely associated with Agudath, including Hikind, gave heavily at a Renaissance Ballroom fundraiser for Democratic conference leader John Sampson. Sampson raked in nearly $115,000, but it was Skelos who ultimately delivered the funding.

To celebrate the inclusion of the new funding stream in the budget, Skelos appeared as a guest on Hikind’s AM radio show Saturday evening, which is heavily listened to in the Orthodox community. Hikind heaped praise on the Senate Republican leader.

Skelos, meanwhile, spoke about how the good relationship he has developed with Agudath’s top lobbyists, Lefkowitz and Shiya Ostreicher, helped pave the way to a deal.

“Fortunately, with their strong advocacy, this became a reality,” Skelos said.

(Source: CityHallNews)