Covering the politics, policies and people of New York State government.
Senate Republican Conference Leader John Flanagan, R-East Northport, has appointed four new committee chairs to fill the vacancies created by the disbanding of the Independent Democratic Conference. Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the IDC would rejoin the mainline Senate Democrats in an effort to create a unified and […]
The United States Supreme Court is expected to rule on a decision this spring that could have far reaching implications for the future of politics in New York state. The case Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is threatening to weaken public labor unions across the […]
Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered a deal between mainline Senate Democrats and the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference Wednesday, to create a unified Democratic Senate. Cuomo said the move will help to “protect against Washington’s attack on New York and continue New York’s bold, progressive path forward.” The IDC was founded in […]
Despite months of lobbying by voting reform activists, local and county officials and good government groups, lawmakers in Albany failed to include funding for early voting in the final version of the 2018-2019 budget. The completed spending plan, which was finalized early Saturday morning ahead of the start of […]
Geoff Berman, executive director of the New York State Democratic Committee, issued the following statement on the 2018-2019 budget, blaming the failure of many progressive policy goals on the Independent Democratic Conference — a group of eight senators who were elected as Democrats but often vote with Republicans — and […]
State legislators finished approving the 2019 state spending plan in the early hours of Saturday morning, achieving an on-time budget ahead of the new fiscal year which began on Sunday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said “the budget hit the priorities that we had set out” despite a $4.4 billion deficit. “When […]
In her first appearance in the Capital since announcing her campaign, gubernatorial-hopeful Cynthia Nixon took the opportunity to bash Gov. Andrew Cuomo on “legalized bribery and corruption,” and the values that the “old boys’ club” will be “upholding in [the governor’s] mansion” ahead of the budget vote. In a half-hour […]
The Senate passed a new bill this week that would further digitize legislative and state agency paperwork, potentially saving taxpayers millions of dollars while supporting the environment. The bill (S.4149-a) would implement the “Legislative Online Paperwork Reduction Act,” with the goal of ending unnecessary printing by making bills, reports, audits […]