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]

In mid-December City & State hosted a weekend retreat at the Baruch College School of Public Affairs for the 2013 class of new state senators and Assembly members with the goal of teaching the incoming freshmen how to be effective legislators in Albany. About half the 32 newly elected legislators came to the orientation, which was co-sponsored by Baruch, Time Warner and Con Edison, for a series of panel discussions and conversations with former and current members of the two… [More]

By Laura Nahmias and Andrew J. Hawkins In our new issue’s cover story, Laura Nahmias considers whether the Legislature is finally pushing back against Gov. Andrew Cuomo in this year’s budget: It was a Senate Rules Committee meeting like most others: about a dozen Republican senators well past middle age, sitting around a conference table in suits and ties, ready to bring a bill to the Senate floor. But it was 3 a.m., Wednesday had bled into Thursday, and they… [More]

With additional reporting by Andrew J. Hawkins   It was a Senate Rules Committee meeting like most others: about a dozen Republican senators well past middle age, sitting around a conference table in suits and ties, ready to bring a bill to the Senate floor. But it was 3 a.m., Wednesday had bled into Thursday, and they were working because Gov. Andrew Cuomo had put their continued survival in the majority on the line. If they stayed awake long enough… [More]

Elizabeth Benjamin Host, Capital Tonight; Editor, State of Politics Liz Benjamin grew up taking New York politics for granted—so when she got out of college, it never occurred to her to pursue it. “I fell into this by mistake. I didn’t even read the newspaper,” said the woman who became one of the state’s preeminent political journalists. “I was waiting tables at the New Paltz diner.” Benjamin’s father, a political science professor at SUNY New Paltz, is a renowned expert… [More]

As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration probes oversized salaries for nonprofit executives whose organizations receive state funds, one group with a special relationship to the governor no longer has its highly paid chief executive – who is married to Cuomo’s cousin. Laurence Belinsky, the CEO and president of HELP USA, resigned from the homeless housing and services organization last month “to pursue private housing development,” spokesman Lawrence Cann said. Belinsky received more than $500,000 a year in compensation in 2008 and… [More]