On Oct. 21 Senator José Serrano, Chair of the Senate Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation, hosted a public meeting to discuss how the coronavirus has impacted cultural and arts organizations across the state. The members present for the hearing unanimously expressed their appreciation of the industry of the […]
Policy
Legislation proposed to combat long lines at polling locations
The “Make Voting Easy” Act was proposed this past weekend by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris to expand and generate early voting sites in order to prevent long lines in the next election that currently force voters to wait hours. Sen. Gianaris’ proposal requires one polling site for every 25,000 […]
NY’s draft vaccination plan prioritizes frontline workers and virus hotspots
In anticipation of a federally approved vaccine for COVID-19 coming this winter or spring, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has unveiled a draft plan for vetting and distributing the drug to New Yorkers. Given the many unknowns at this point in the vaccine development process, the draft New York State COVID-19 Vaccination […]
Overwhelmed nonprofits ask governor to release federal aid as a lifeline
On Oct. 21, several New York lawmakers and nonprofit groups held a virtual press conference asking Gov. Andrew Cuomo to release $2 billion in federal coronavirus aid that New York state received through the Coronavirus Relief Fund in the CARES Act. According to the groups, New York state received $5.1 […]
Cuomo signs law making Juneteenth a state holiday
On October 14, Andrew Cuomo signed legislation making Juneteenth an official state holiday. The designation will make June 19 a paid day of leave for state employees. Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, commemorates June 19, 1865, when the news of liberation came to Texas more than two years after […]
State will withhold funding for local governments and schools if they don’t enforce COVID rules
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that New York state will withhold funds for local governments and schools in COVID-19 cluster zones if they fail to enforce public health laws. The state Department of Health will send a letter warning local governments in cluster zones that they will lose state funding […]
Groups plea with Education Commissioner to suspend all school testing this year
On Sept. 30, the Alliance for Quality Education and two dozen other groups released a letter to the New York State Interim Commissioner of Education, Betty Rosa, asking that she consider suspending all forms of mandatory state testing for the 2020-2021 school year. The letter states that the focus for […]
Students react to two-week pause at Binghamton and Cortland campuses
A surge in COVID-19 cases caused SUNY Cortland and SUNY Binghamton to suspend in-person classes and activities and transition to remote learning for at least two weeks. These campuses join the two New York state colleges that have faced closures so far this year: SUNY Oswego, which just ended their […]