Johns Calls Pay Commission ‘Backdoor’ Way Of Getting A Raise
A Rochester-area State Assemblyman says if his colleagues want a pay raise they should draft legislation and vote on it. Webster Republican Mark Johns not only criticized the way the pay raise...
View ArticleEducation Matters
The conversation on education reform in the state Budget appears to have shifted. Sources say last night Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Gov. Andrew Cuomo had a long talk about some of the governor’s...
View ArticleStrength In Numbers
ICYMI from the Morning Memo today: Upstate Democrats’ numbers have been steadily increasing in the Assembly majority conference, but they remain outnumbered by the downstate members, who continue to...
View ArticleWho Blinks First?
Today is March 4. Gov. Andrew Cuomo released his 30-day budget amendments, which jammed the Legislature by stuffing ever more policy (particularly ethics reforms) into appropriations bills, on Feb. 21...
View ArticleStewart-Cousins: Ahem, What About Me? (Updated)
Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is (not surprisingly) displeased by the fact that she and her fellow minority leader, Assembly Republican Leader Brian Kolb, are being left out of the...
View ArticleCuomo To Legislature: Pass Ethics Reform In Budget Or Shut Down Gov’t (Updated)
Delivering his first significant speech since the corruption scandal that took down soon-to-be-former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today laid out a reform agenda and delivered an...
View ArticleWhere Will Cuomo Cut?
From the Morning Memo: Gov. Andrew Cuomo will propose his fifth state budget today, and sources say he plans to once keep spending under a 2 percent increase from last year. The self-imposed spending...
View ArticleAdd Valesky To ‘Syracuse Billion’ Push
Sen. David Valesky of Oneida is joining the push for a “Syracuse Billion.” The Independent Democratic Conference member on Monday said in a statement he backed the plan as proposed by Syracuse Mayor...
View ArticleSkelos: Property Tax Package ‘A Critical Component’
Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos called the property-tax rebate program designed to nudge local governments on cutting costs a “critical component” of the agreed-to spending plan. In an interview,...
View ArticleStatewide Pre-K Pegged At $340M
State officials are closing in on an agreement that would fund statewide pre-kindergarten programs at $340 million in the coming 2014-15 budget. Under the agreement, $300 million would be set aside for...
View ArticleDREAM Act (By Another Name) Lives?
Cardinal Timothy Dolan released a carefully worded statement this afternoon that seemed to suggest some form of the DREAM Act is very much alive as legislative leaders and the governor continue to try...
View ArticlePushing for Parks
And item No. 3: Advocates for the state parks were among those disappointed by the one-house budget resolution passed in the wee hours of the morning by the state Senate last week. Deep in the Senate’s...
View ArticleAssembly Dems To Include Med-Mar In Budget Bill
The one-house budget bill submitted by the Assembly Democrats next week will include a revised version of the Compassionate Care Act, which would legalize marijuana for medical use. Assemblyman Dick...
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Megna: Tax Cuts For 2014-15 ‘Under Discussion’
There has been much speculation as to whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo will propose tax cuts in his 2014-15 executive budget – a pledge he reportedly made at a fundraiser on Long Island this summer at which...
View ArticleCeretto Wants Better Representation On NYPA Board
Just hours after the Comptroller’s office shed new light on the financial practices of the New York Power Authority, a Western New York Assemblyman is calling for new representation on NYPA’s Board of...
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Cuomo Mails On Budget
First came the TV ads praising the 2013-14 state budget, paid for by the state Democratic Committee (since the Committee to Save NY appears to be sitting this session out entirely). Next came Gov....
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Bloomberg: Senate GOP To Blame For Next NYC Speeding Death (Updated)
Mayor Bloomberg today lit into the Senate Republicans for refusing to authorize installing up to 40 cameras in school zones to catch speeding drivers. The Assembly supported a plan to fine speeders $25...
View ArticleHow They Voted Last Night/This Morning
Last night’s budget vote was, at the end, rather anti-climatic even if work concluded at 4:30 a.m. The mainline Senate Democrats mustered their conference to uniformly vote “no” against one bill: The...
View ArticleWhy Is Tomorrow Night Different From All Other Nights? (Updated)
The Senate’s seven eight Jewish members have very different approaches when it comes to tomorrow night’s session, which falls on the second night of Passover. Sen. Simcha Felder, an Orthodox Jew, will...
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Schneiderman: SAFE Act Was Rushed, But Legal
An excerpt from today’s Morning Memo: Ultimately, it will fall to the state’s legal defender – Attorney General Eric Schneiderman – to defend the SAFE Act in court. That’s ironic, since Schneiderman is...
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