The bipartisan coalition governing the Senate has held together. This coalition faces a major test as we head toward the close of the Legislature’s session in June; therefore, now is a good time to assess how it has worked so far. Back in January, I wrote that a coalition government is easier to form than it is to maintain, and that the key to the success of this one would be legislative productivity. The gun control debate was divisive in… [More]

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]

“Being powerful is like being a lady,” mused the late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” In Albany, as in every political arena, bluster is often mistaken for true power. Of course, even the perception that one has influence can yield genuine authority, but more often that not, those with true power in government are not the grandstanders but those who work dutifully, quietly and shrewdly behind the scenes to achieve their… [More]

New Roosevelt, a good-government group led by progressive entrepreneur Bill Samuels, is launching another reform into the mix: a dedicated Legislature.… [More]

The ink is barely dry on this year’s state budget, but we can already glimpse two issues that will absorb media ink in next year’s budget: school aid and the DREAM Act. School aid formulas in Albany, to borrow from Winston Churchill, are a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. The riddle is how the state’s school aid formulas came to be. The mystery is how—despite being ruled unconstitutional in the landmark Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit—school… [More]

When I asked Malcolm Smith nine months ago whether, despite the years of accusations against him, he could say unequivocally that he had never done anything dishonest as an elected official, he replied without hesitation: “Absolutely. 100 percent. Never.” At the time I wrote in response, “So there you have it. Either Malcolm Smith is one of the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned politicians in New York State or he’s a bald-faced liar.” The sensational developments of late appear to… [More]

  The state budget did not go into overtime, but there were a number of buzzer beaters this week. Top-seeded Gov. Andrew Cuomo outpaced 16th-seeded David Paterson’s legacy in the first round, but trailed eighth-seeded gun rights advocates at halftime due to sloppy turnovers. The ninth-seeded minimum wage hike ran away from the eighth-seeded small business employers, who sought to limit its scoring to under $9 an hour, and barely slipped by top-seeded Senate Republicans, who forced the wage’s restaurant workers to foul out. But 420th-seed Assemblyman… [More]

Legislators were told to extend their hotel reservations through the weekend as a budget deal has been delayed by non-fiscal complications. Lawmakers are debating education aid for New York City, the minimum wage and other measures, and also looking at tweaking the new gun regulations that go into effect April 15. “This is the time, whether you do it in the budget or alongside the budget, it’s not clear,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. “I think it’s everybody’s idea that some change… [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]

The Assembly overwhelmingly passed legislation yesterday to raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour, but it may not gain traction in the Senate. “With approximately half of minimum wage earners between the ages of 16 and 24, I worry that the Assembly’s legislation would hurt those young workers most,” Senate Majority Co-Leader Dean Skelos said in a statement. Senate Majority Co-Leader Jeff Klein “strongly supports a minimum wage increase,” a spokesman said, and he expects it to be included in the budget. State… [More]