Redistricting Update
On Thursday, a panel of federal judges said that the new election district lines drawn by the State Senate and Assembly majorities will be used in the fall elections. The decision is a significant...
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Republican Wins State Senate Race The Senate’s Majority Republican Conference will grow by one member next week, as Republican David Storobin has emerged as the winner of the March 20 special election...
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State Senate Update The biggest question in Albany these days is which party will control the State Senate in January. The Senate will increase to a 63-member body in January, so 32 votes are needed...
View ArticleAssembly Approves Minimum Wage Increase
Last Tuesday, the Assembly approved legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour, and to automatically increase it annually by tying it to increases in inflation. Gov. Cuomo has...
View ArticleAssembly Approves Moratorium on Hydraulic Fracturing
As if that wasn’t enough, last Wednesday, the Assembly approved legislation that would impose a two year moratorium on hydraulic fracturing. Enough is enough. New York’s Department of Environmental...
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Brown Leads in Buffalo Mayor’s Race According to a Buffalo News/WGRZ poll conducted by the Siena College Research Institute, two-thirds of Democratic voters have a favorable opinion of Brown, and 60...
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Last Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo announced that the state has awarded $54 million for 79 large-scale solar projects throughout the state under his NY-Sun initiative, which will add 64 megawatts to the state’s...
View ArticleMoreland Commission Releases Preliminary Report
Last Monday, the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption released its preliminary report. (Read the Commission’s press release, and the full report.) The Commission’s report presents a...
View ArticleAssembly Democrats Want to Raise the Minimum Wage – Again!
A bill introduced last Thursday by Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver would increase the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour a full year ahead of schedule. The bill would also tie future wage...
View ArticleUpdate on the State Budget Process
The Legislature returned to Albany last after a week-long mid-winter break. The two houses are scheduled to work four-day weeks through March as they move toward getting a state budget in place by...
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