Photo courtesy of Sen. Jim Tedisco’s Office From left, Assemblyman John McDonald, D-Cohoes, Senator Jim Tedisco, R-Ballston Lake, Mary Lyall of Ballston Spa, co-founder of the Center for Hope, and Assemblyman Phil Steck, D-Colonie. This week, Craig Ross Jr. will receive sentencing for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 9-year old girl from Moreau State Park in Saratoga County last fall. Ross faces 47 years to life in prison after pleading guilty back in February.  Senator Jim Tedisco, R-Ballston Lake, and Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, D-Rotterdam, are currently sponsoring legislation ..read more

Legislative Gazette photos by Jeremy Sodergren A recent anti-fracking bill, S.8357/A.8866, has now passed in both the Senate and Assembly. The bill would add carbon dioxide fracking to the statewide hydraulic fracking ban codified in the 2020-21 state budget. The proposed legislation adds two words to the original law that banned fracking. The new bill will add the words “and carbon dioxide” to include the use of CO2 for mining operations in the ban.  Typically, fracking is done with water but after the state banned hydraulic fracking with the environmental conservation law in the 2020-21 ..read more

Legislative Gazette photo Assemblyman Will Barclay stands at the podium joined by Assemblyman Ed Ra (left) and Assemblyman Josh Jensen (right) in support of legislation that would bolster childcare access and affordability in New York State. On Monday March 11, Assembly Republicans introduced an “Affordable Blueprint for Childcare.”  The proposed legislation would expand access to early childcare education, create more affordability, increase the number of childcare providers, and increase tax incentives for childcare providers and families.  The Republican Conference stressed they b ..read more

Legislative Gazette photo by Quintin Fisher Chief Judge Rowan Wilson spoke in the chamber of the New York State Court of Appeals to call for the legislature to include funding for the state’s problem-solving courts in this session’s budget. The state court system will be putting a heavy emphasis on more specialized courts this coming year, including drug treatment courts, veteran courts and alternative-to-incarceration courts. Chief Judge Rowan Wilson outlined his goals for the court system in his State of the Judiciary address last month. He used the word, unorthodox, to explain his vision fo ..read more

Legislative Gazette file photo On Feb. 15, more than 100 local newspapers across New York state launched The Empire State News Coalition in an effort to approve a legislative package that several news organizations say would bring relief to the struggling local journalism field. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act, S625B/A2958C, would provide tax credits to local news outlets for the employment of local news journalists. Local print and online newspapers with 100 employees or less would receive a 50% tax credit against the first $50,000 of each employee’s salary, with a maximum of $200,000 ..read more

Legislative Gazette file photos A coalition of good-government groups is applauding the Senate and Assembly for including $114.5 million for the New York State Public Campaign Finance Program in their one-house budget bills, matching the governor’s budget allocation. The funds would cover $14.5 million in administrative costs and $100 million for public matching funds for qualified candidates. Only individual small donations qualify for matching and there’s a maximum for how much they can claim. The Fair Elections for NY coalition issued a statement in response. “New York state is now poised t ..read more

Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office Gov. Kathy Hochul today initiated an assessment of the Office of Cannabis Management to identify opportunities for improvement and begin implementation of a strategic plan for the long-term success of the legal cannabis rollout. Commissioner for the Office of General Services Jeanette Moy will serve as lead and executive sponsor of the effort, supported by experienced state government leaders. Moy will embed in the Office of Cannabis Management for at least 30 days to assess the agency’s organization. As part of the plan, several goals have been identifi ..read more

Legislative Gazette photo by Dylan Murphy New York state legislators and members of the Labor Religion Coalition held a rally in the Capitol building’s War Room on March 4 to push for investments prioritizing low-income New Yorkers as the Legislature begins to turn their attention to finalizing the budget. Speakers at the event included Assembly members, senators, clergy members and advocates protesting the rising rates of poverty amongst New Yorkers while demanding a “moral” budget that will hold New York’s wealthiest accountable and provide relief to poor and working-class constituents. “New ..read more

Legislative Gazette photo by Jeremy Sodergren Assemblymember Deborah Glick, chair of the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee, discusses a set of bills that would track, regulate and begin to eliminate per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in many common household products. These “forever chemicals” are found in water supplies, and can cause neurological development issues, cancer and other health issues. On Tuesday Feb. 6 legislators and the PFAS-free New York coalition held a press conference at the Million Dollar Staircase advocating for a package of bills that work to elimi ..read more

Photo courtesy of Tom Suozzi, via facebook.com/tom.suozzi Tom Suozzi casts his ballot during early voting on February 9. He defeated Mazi Pilip by 8 points in a special election held to replace disgraced Congressman George Santos. Democrat Tom Suozzi defeated Republican candidate Mazi Pilip on Tuesday, Feb. 13 in a special election triggered by George Santos’s ouster, narrowing an already-thin GOP House majority. Voters in New York’s Third Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Queens and Nassau County, braved a snowstorm to cast their ballots that gave the former congressman the e ..read more