Covering the politics, policies and people of New York State government.
The 2017 legislative session saw a decline in the number of “same-as” bills passed by both houses, according to a new analysis by the New York Public Interest Research Group. For the period from January through June of this year, 606 bills passed both houses of the Legislature and the […]
Urges “no” vote on constitutional; convention; “yes” vote on pension forfeiture and forest preserve land bank The New York State Conservative Party’s Executive Committee met Wednesday to decide how to vote on the three statewide ballot questions on November 7. The Conservative Party is urging its members and the wider […]
As the dust settles on primary day 2017, some of the state legislators with an eye on a job outside the state Capitol are a step closer to knowing their political futures. Eight state lawmakers were involved in primary races on Tuesday that, should they win in November, will likely […]
Assembly Speaker Heastie has opined that Andrew Cuomo is indeed running for president in 2020 to which I say, “Does a bear walk in the woods?” To know the ambitious Andrew is to understand that he will run for several reasons. The first is that he thinks it will be […]
Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Susan Collins introduced an amendment Monday that would prevent the removal of transgender service members from the Armed Forces. The bipartisan amendment would prohibit the Department of Defense from discharging members of the military based entirely on their gender identity. The amendment to the National Defense […]
A bill providing unlimited sick leave to a larger group of 9/11 first responders was signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the 16th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. Under the bill (S.6398-a/A.7901-a), public employees suffering from illness as a result of the rescue, recovery and clean-up […]
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is leading a multi-state lawsuit against the federal government after President Donald Trump’s move on Tuesday to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Schneiderman is suing for violation of due process rights and the equal protection clause, being that 78 percent of […]
New Yorkers do not have a constitutional right to “aid-in-dying” drugs and procedures, according to a decision by the state’s highest court released Thursday. The New York State Court of Appeals has rejected a plaintiff’s argument that a person has a fundamental constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide in New York […]