Nancy Larraine Hoffmann said it took 20 years in the state Senate and a party switch from Democrat to Republican to amass the clout that allowed her to bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in member items to her constituents.

But that clout, as some 49th Senate District residents can attest, disappeared almost instantly when Hoffmann, a Republican from Fabius, lost her re-election bid in November to Democrat David Valesky. Shortly thereafter, the Republican majority conference and its leader, Sen. Joseph Bruno, yanked everything from Hoffmann's member item pot that wasn't bound by a legal contract.

The same thing happened in the two downstate districts where Republicans lost seats. It raised the ire of community groups, municipalities and legislative watchdog groups throughout the state. They argue a project's validity is irrelevant to party affiliation.

"It shows how partisan considerations grotesquely impact the budget process," said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "Republicans are trying to punish districts. They are trying to show a district why they should vote Republican. It's nothing more than power politics."

Downstate, Republican Olga Mendez' promised member items, nearly $100,000 for nonprofit groups in East Harlem and the South Bronx, which vanished when 28th Senate District residents elected Democrat Jose Serrano to her seat.

"Anyone with any sense can see this is a Republican ploy," Serrano said. "And it's creating tremendous anxiety for these agencies."

In the 34th District, Democrat Jeff Klein has learned his predecessor, embattled Republican Guy Vallela, long ago set up his own nonprofit corporation to administer member item grants, sometimes to questionable entities, Klein said.

Vallela went to jail on bribery charges and the district fell into the majority conference's black hole, with money running out for the corporation and the programs it funded.

"It's horrible," said Klein, who was a state assemblyman - in that house's majority - before becoming a senator. "I've been in government all my adult life and I have never seen anything like this."

The Senate majority conference is unrepentant.

"The minority conference can pay," was the initial response from Bruno spokesman Mark Hanson. And yet, the minority Senate Democrats have one-tenth of the member item funds compared to their majority counterparts.

Hanson later backpedaled, and said all of the items in question in the three districts were under review. He could not, however, elaborate on how long the review would take or what criteria would be used to determine if projects would be funded.

"It's dirty politics, it's retribution and it violates a promise," said Donald Richardson, president of the Sterling Historical Society. Hoffmann had secured $20,000 to help the town move a historic railway signal tower to Sterling Heritage Park.

Richardson, who has been working on the project for several years, said the tower isn't going anywhere now. The experience, which went from a congratulatory letter from the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to a phone call from an OPRHP representative saying the grant had been rescinded, is a clear signal that something is wrong in Albany, according to Richardson.

Hoffmann said she fought that battle for 14 years as a Democrat and changed parties so her district had a better shot at getting its fair share of money to pay for local projects. She said she's called Bruno's office and asked him to free up the money to make good on her promises.

"The funds were put in the (2004-05) budget and I've done everything I could to make sure they will keep flowing," Hoffmann said. "There is no reason the funds that I was able to obtain should not be allowed to flow to those agencies."

Valesky has been arguing for funding as well, but so far, has received little attention from Bruno's office for projects that include a water line in Sennett, bathrooms for the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, and money for a museum for the Civic Heritage Society in northern Cayuga County.

"It's important that other majority senators weigh in on behalf of the projects," Hoffmann said.

Republican senators Michael Nozzolio and John DeFrancisco, whose districts border the 49th, said they are lobbying for Hoffmann's projects. But neither one would criticize the system which distributes more money to the majority party.

"For 20 years now, I've fought for projects that impact the region, even if they are not part of my district," Nozzolio, R-Fayette, said. "I've pledged to help, to aggressively pursue the money Nancy Larraine Hoffmann promised. I've been working behind the scenes and I will continue to do so, but I can't promise the money will be distributed."

DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, who is working to have the Senate majority conference make good on Hoffmann's promises in Onondaga County, said the money may have already been absorbed into what remains of the 2004-05 state budget and reallocated.

"If it wasn't spent by the end of the year, especially with the deficit, the accounts might have been swept into the general fund," he said.

DeFransciso said the exercise points out the realities of government in New York.

"As in every government, including Congress, the majority party provides for majority members," DeFransciso said. "I'm not expressing the merits; it's just a fact of life. Right, wrong or indifferent, the Republicans can keep the pressure on certain priorities and they get dealt with. That's just the way it works."

But Horner said it doesn't work, and that's evidenced by the groups that lost funding after the election.

"Funding should be based on need and not left to the whim of a political majority," he said.

Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net