The Safe Harbor bill, which allows commercial fisherman operating under out-of-state permits to dock in New York harbors during emergency situations, was signed into law by Governor Cuomo on August 21. The law (S.4051-a/A.4289-a) will keep commercial fisherman out of the courtroom if presented with a high risk situation on […]
Month: August 2017
MTA apnea testing “matter of life and death”
Assemblywoman Sandy Galef is supporting the MTA/Metro North’s initiative requiring that all train engineers undergo testing for sleep apnea, despite the federal government no longer making them mandatory. Sleep apnea has been the cause of several train accidents, including a crash in Spuyten Duyvil in 2013 that resulted in four […]
Hoosick Falls questionnaire seeks more data on PFOA contamination
Former EPA administrator Judith Enck is leading an effort to identify the effects of chemically contaminated drinking water. At a press conference Tuesday, Enck, who also served as Secretary of the Environment under Eliot Spitzer, pointed to the fluorine containing chemical, PFOA or perfluorooctanoic acid, that has been produced by […]
Governor signs CPR re-certification bill into law
Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill known as Briana’s Law that requires New York police officers to be retrained in CPR every two years. The bill was written after an 11-year-old Brooklyn girl died when an officer could not administer CPR while she was suffering from a severe asthma attack. […]
NYSUT collecting donations for Harvey victims
New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta announced a fund raising effort to help schools and communities hit by Hurricane Harvey on the gulf coast of Texas. Houston and surrounding areas were slammed with more than 50 inches of rainfall after Hurricane Harvey made landfall and the recovery is […]
Women’s group pushing for ConCon as way to protect abortion rights
A group that evolved from Women’s March NYC is now urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to help push for a constitutional convention in New York as a way to guarantee abortion rights. Forward March New York, formerly Women’s March NYC, announced Monday, in a letter to Cuomo, their support for a […]
Conservation voters score legislators
Twenty-two state legislators earned perfect scores while 36 received failing marks in a first-ever environmental scorecard issued by the League of Conservation Voters. The scorecard highlights the performance of every state legislator on this year’s key environmental issues. The League of Conservation Voters issued memos on more than 30 bills […]
Sucking the air out of state government
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, has sucked all the air out of state government. What we have now is all Trump, all the time. If you are a player in state government and want to get into the news cycle, you would be well advised to say […]