James H. Donovan (November 12, 1923 – August 31, 1990) was an American businessman and politician from New York.
Biography
He was born on November 12, 1923, in Holland Patent, Oneida County, New York. He grew up on a farm in Marcy. During World War II he served in the U.S. Marine Corps. He engaged in the contracting business in Washington Mills. He married Esther Moretti, and they had seven children.
He was a New Hartford Town Councilman in 1962 and 1963; and Supervisor of the Town of New Hartford in 1964 and 1965. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1966 until his death in 1990, sitting in the 176th, 177th, 178th, 179th, 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th and 188th New York State Legislatures. He was Chairman of the Committee on Education from 1977 to 1990.
He died on August 31, 1990, at his home in Chadwicks, a hamlet in the Town of New Hartford, New York, of colon cancer.
Legacy
The visible legacy of Sen. James H. Donovan demonstrates the aggressive influence he brought to Albany on behalf of the people of Oneida County. But having his name memorialized – on a college building, a school, and a baseball stadium – is only a steel-and-brick manifestation of a public record that might never be equaled.
That record actually began before Donovan went to Albany. He was recognized by Newsweek magazine for (with attorney Phil Rayhill) leading the effort to create one of the first multi-government sewer districts in the nation. . Sen. Donovan was then the New Hartford town supervisor.
From 1966 until his death August 31, 1990, Donovan affected state and local issues with a vigor rarely seen in the state capital. His first chairmanship, of the Committee on Roads and Public Works (later the Transportation Committee) produced the “Donovan Plan, which reworked the state-wide plan for rural farm-to-market roads.
In his next chairmanship, of the Committee on Mental Hygiene and Addiction Control (and concomitantly, of the Select committee and Mental and Physical Handicap), his laws improved regulations of Family Care Homes, lessened considerably the politics in appointments to Boards of Visitors at state mental health centers, and improved vigilance against patient abuse at such centers.
His law established Independent Living Centers to help the handicapped live as independently as possible, and the center in Utica became a statewide model. The Donovan legislation was the result of visits to mental health facilities and public hearings he held from Erie County to Suffolk County.
Senate Education Committee
Donovan’s last chairmanship was of the Senate Education Committee, which is where perhaps he made his biggest mark. As a boy, he started learning in a one-room schoolhouse. As a senator, he was instrumental in bringing computers and computerized teaching programs to the schools in his district and beyond.
He initiated Science and Technology Fairs that encouraged students from throughout the state to develop projects that were displayed in Albany. He created the Parents as Reading Partners program, which vastly increased the number of parents all over the state who read with their children at least 15 minutes a day.
Donovan came away from his visits to New York City schools often saddened by conditions there. He understood the need for building aid to improve them, but he never flinched from what he considered his “sworn duty” to ensure that Upstate schools got their fair share of education operating aid. He lent his considerable force to prevent New York City from getting a better-than fair share of state education aid. And although it is not commonly understood, it was this education standoff that sometimes delayed adoption of a state budget. Donovan risked criticism for the budget delays, thinking it better to hold out for Upstate's fair share.
In 1982, when taxpayers in Levittown tried to force the state to provide significantly more education aid to “poor districts,” Donovan was denied the opportunity to oppose the “Levittown” plaintiffs as a friend of the court. However, he continued to argue that if the state equalized per capita aid to all schools, it would require the doubling of the state sales tax or the equivalent to pay for it. The state's highest court recently reversed that holding, but the tax bill has yet to be determined.