Gov. Andrew Cuomo will have the final say over whether hydraulic fracturing is allowed in New York—but some hydrofracking opponents are shifting their focus to lawmakers to pass a two-year moratorium on the controversial method of drilling for natural gas. Drilling foes see a potential for a breakthrough in the state Senate, which has traditionally been more supportive of hydrofracking but where state Sen. Jeff Klein and his breakaway Independent Democratic Conference could be in a position to play a… [More]

State Sen. Malcolm Smith woke up to FBI agents pounding on his door in Queens on Tuesday morning—and his colleagues in the Independent Democratic Conference woke up to a pounding headache. Federal prosecutors charged Smith with bribing New York City political officials in a quixotic bid to run for mayor on the Republican ballot, the latest in a steady stream of corruption cases flowing out of Albany. The elaborate alleged conspiracy and extortion plot also ensnared Queens Councilman Dan Halloran, two… [More]

At a press conference announcing federal corruption charges against Democratic state Senator Malcom Smith and New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicated that while the investigation is still ongoing, there is no evidence that state Sen. David Carlucci is in any way involved, as an earlier report had discussed. The criminal complaint says that Smith had been speaking to an undercover FBI agent posing as a wealthy real estate developer. Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and… [More]

State disability providers got back one-quarter of the funding slashed from the budget when lawmakers announced over the weekend that they will restore $30 million in state funds and another $30 million in federal funds to the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities. The office faces $240 million in cuts, and it remains unclear how the pain will be divvied out. State Sen. David Carlucci said he was “disappointed” with the restoration and would work to get additional funding, perhaps by utilizing… [More]

  Country clubs and dollar bills, Bloomberg’s got more money, soda shots you can get refills, but he’s got more money. The soda ban’s popularity is going down in recent polls, and he’s still got more money. At four o’clock Bloomberg vowed to appeal the court’s decision, and he still got more money. Sugar makes the world go around, soda bans make Pepsi’s lobbyists frown, lot more campaign cash where that came from, the look in your eyes I know… [More]

This year’s budget could wind up the smoothest in 30 years, cruising to passage before the session breaks for Passover and Easter holidays at the end of the month.… [More]

By Gerald Benjamin   The brief dustup in the Judiciary Committee regarding the nomination of Jenny Rivera for the Court of Appeals is just the latest piece of evidence that Republicans, with their Independent Democrat coalition partners, are presiding in the Senate but not governing through it. The Committee is comprised of 12 Republicans, 9 Democrats and 2 Independent Democrats; unlike the Senate as a whole, it has a Republican majority. The committee chair, John Bonacic, and some GOP members… [More]

At Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State Address, a construction project was used as a symbol for the state’s economic resurgence. The logo for the speech was emblazoned with the slogan “NY Rising,” complete with an illustration of the new design for the Tappan Zee Bridge, symbolizing, in the words of the governor, a bridge to “divide from yesterday to tomorrow; from what was to what can be; from dysfunction to performance; from cynicism to trust; from gridlock to… [More]

A divided state Senate spent its first day of session debating the merits of a package of new gun laws that would tighten restrictions on assault weapons, before passing it late Monday night in a 43-18 vote. It was the first bill passed under the body’s new power sharing agreement, though it was unclear to some lawmakers who was actually in charge. “It doesn’t matter,” said Temporary Co-President Jeff Klein, a Democrat who shares control of the Senate with Republican… [More]

Logic would dictate that even if the Amedore-Tkaczyk contest goes Republican, the Democrats would still hold a 32–31 majority and we would all be on our merry way. Not so fast.… [More]