Covering the politics, policies and people of New York State government.
In one of its final acts of the legislative session, the state Senate and Assembly passed a package of 10 bills that further restricts gun ownership in New York, bans the sale of body armor to civilians and places new responsibilities on social media platforms to identify “hateful conduct” online. […]
Let’s face it. A good deal of the way politics are practiced in New York is, at the very least, morally corrupt. Some of the people we have come to depend on to be honorable are anything but. The system is fixed. It has been fixed by the very people […]
You gotta’ like Tom Suozzi. I know that I do. He really wants to be governor of New York. If he were on a Little League team, he would be the kid described as having “a lot of heart.” He gets up there and really swings away. It’s interesting — […]
To the editor: Too many incumbent elected officials at all levels of government follow the infamous Rose Garden strategy of ignoring their respective challengers, by refusing to participate in as few public debates as possible. As a sitting governor, Kathy Hochul starts out with many advantages not available to her […]
In light of near-record inflation, and a desire for families to shed the “doldrums of the pandemic,” two state lawmakers have introduced a bill to give New Yorkers a 50 percent discount on admission fees for all state parks, historic sites and recreational facilities during the 2022 season. The legislation […]
The social activist group Citizen Action of New York has called the 2023 state budget “a betrayal of everyday New Yorkers,” and vowed to keep fighting for their priority programs and legislation until the end of session. “The budget is a moral document, because it is the clearest statement of […]
After the Clean Slate Act (S1553C/A6399B) was left out of the FY2023 budget, the Senate Codes Committee narrowly passed the bill on April 25, by a vote of 7-6, sending it to the Finance Committee for further consideration. It will be one of the more closely watched bills in the […]
The Senate Health Committee passed a bill that would create a temporary state commission with subpoena power to study the more than 15,000 deaths of New York state nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill (S.8285), sponsored by Sen. James Tedisco, R-Glenville, moved out of the Senate Health […]
