The Capitol Pressroom’s host, Susan Arbetter, recaps recent highlights of her one-hour public radio show broadcast live from the State Capitol. Arbetter is the news and public affairs director for WCNY in Syracuse. There wasn’t much about this year’s legislative spring break that could be considered break-like. Even legislators who have done nothing more than wish for better weather in conversation with Assemblyman Nelson Castro are edgier now than they were during budget negotiations. For years rank-and-file lawmakers have wanted… [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]

Tom DiNapoli New York State Comptroller Q: Your concerns about the governor’s plan to smooth out pension costs led to changes. What made the proposal more acceptable? TD: My responsibility, as the fiduciary of the [state’s pension] fund, is to ensure that the pension system is properly funded so that benefits can be paid to retirees. That’s why I recommended a variation of the existing program that was enacted in 2010. This program has given local governments flexibility while continuing… [More]

  One contestant is a surly 46-year-old speaker who refused to give member items out of spite but just agreed to pass paid sick leave. Another is an embattled 77-year-old district attorney who is starring in his own reality show but has trouble training his prosecutors to follow the law. And a third is a back-stabbing 55-year-old newsman who earned America’s ire for forcing a rival out of her job, thus causing his ratings to drop like an anchor. Who’s… [More]

Who comes to Albany and flips off a reporter? Someone with enough money and chutzpah not to care.… [More]

  What does Mayor Michael Bloomberg do on his birthday, which also happens to be Valentine’s Day and the day he addressed the city in his 12th and final State of the City talk? Does he put on a tuxedo and throw himself a classy yet staid black tie party at the Waldorf Astoria like Jack Donaghy did once? Does he pop a copy of Annie Hall into his 90-inch television and curl up on his animal print sofa with… [More]

A press release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo on mandate relief, annotated.… [More]

  I like big budgets and I cannot lie! The perfect budget is a lot like the perfect posterior: it is well-rounded and isn’t growing at an unsustainable rate. Mayor Michael Bloomberg should know. His ample $70 billion budget proposal sheds some pounds in the form of teaching jobs and early education programs. A proposal in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s considerably larger budget lets municipalities borrow against projected savings, but some mayors and the comptroller want him to back that baby… [More]

A parade of mayors visited the state Legislature on Monday to share their concerns about rising pension costs and balancing their own city’s finances with lawmakers. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg avoided directly criticizing Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s pension rate plan for local governments, which would reduce near-term employer payments but require higher contributions in later years, but said the city doesn’t postpone pension costs as a general policy. “Postponing down the road, with expenses that you have every year,… [More]

  Many public officials found something to cheer for in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposal, which, besides closing a $1.3 billion deficit, includes a minimum wage hike, some mandate relief, more money for environmental programs and increased funding for schools. But this isn’t a cheerocracy, it’s a democracy. Legislators, mayors and all sorts of special interests will have a say in what gets cut. Also this week, George Amedore got cut as Cecilia Tkaczyk won a state Senate race whose… [More]