On Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, state legislators joined student advocates outside the state Senate chamber to show support for a bill that would create public banks in the state of New York. “I am here with the best people money can’t buy,” said Sen. James Sanders Jr., D-Queens, who chairs […]
Policy
‘Love Your SUNY’ Albany Rally Planned for Valentines Day
On Valentine’s Day, United University Professions leaders and supporters will be in Albany for a day-long lobbying effort called “Love Your SUNY.” SUNY professors, students, staff and supporters are calling for a “fully-invested” SUNY fund in the 2024 FY budget. “The Executive Budget, if enacted, would be a flat budget […]
Hochul Details Her Plan to Overhaul Mental Health System
On Thursday, Feb. 2 — 24 hours after unveiling her 2024 FY budget — Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, breaking down her $1 billion plan to set an adequate standard of mental health care in New York state. “This is the […]
Standing Up For Recovery: Delgado Highlights Budget Funding for Treatment Programs
Earlier today at the Convention Center in Albany, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado was the keynote speaker at the fourteenth annual Stand Up For Recovery Day. This was the first in-person Albany lobbying and advocacy day that Friends Of Recovery – New York have hosted since the pandemic. Stand Up For […]
Bill would expand judicial diversion courts, promoting treatment instead of jail time
Echoing through the Million Dollar Staircase in the State Capitol on Tuesday, passers-by heard only one thing; “WHAT DO WE WANT? TREATMENT NOT JAIL! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!” The rallying cries expressed passionate support for a bill introduced by Sen. Jessica Ramos; the Treatment Not Jail Bill […]
Hochul unveils $227B Executive Budget, legislative hearings begin Monday
Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a $227 billion budget proposal on Wednesday that she says follows through on her pledge to not raise income taxes in the 2024 fiscal year. All-funds spending is $227 billion, an increase of $5.4 billion over the current budget. State operating funds are projected to be $125.2 […]
Housing, Public Safety, Mental Health Among Hochul’s Priorities For Upcoming Session
Below is Gov. Kathy Hochul’s first State of the State Address as an elected governor, delivered before the full Legislature on January 10, 2022 in the Assembly Chamber in the New York State Capitol, Albany: My fellow elected officials, it is an honor to be back in this Chamber finally […]
New York awards first 36 dispensary licenses; dozens more on hold
The New York state Cannabis Control Board has approved the first 36 Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary licenses out of 900 applications so far. Twenty-eight of these licenses were awarded to a person previously convicted of a marijuana-related infraction and eight went to by nonprofits with a focus on helping former […]