Politics

Politics

The state of state budget talks: ‘the middle of the middle’

The state’s spending plan is due in a day, but everyone’s given up passing it on time.

Policy

Policy

Rank-and-file Assembly Dems insist bail changes will not be tolerated in budget talks

After news broke Wednesday that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie could be open to removing the “least restrictive means” language from the law, his conference expressed confidence that their leader won’t cave on bail reform.

Budget

Opinion

Opinion: Real public safety starts with funding public goods, not police

We can tax the rich and use that money to invest in affordable housing, public transit, free childcare and higher education, and alternatives to incarceration.

Policy

Policy

Legal experts warn Hochul’s proposal would change definition of bail

Could New York be on the brink of upending decades of law around pretrial detention?

Policy

Policy

Dueling approaches on the impact of charter schools

Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed lifting the regional charter school cap. The dueling rallies – led by prominent Black leaders – offered a look into the intraparty divide over charter schools as both sides argued its impact.

Heard Around Town

Policy

Unions join chorus of ‘good cause’ backers

Over a dozen labor groups are calling on state leaders to include the tenant protections in the budget.

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion: Safety means investments, not oppression

The governor’s proposal to weaken bail reform will harm our communities. We can’t accept it.

Heard Around Town

Policy

Adams: funding for migrants is top priority in Albany

The New York City Mayor visited the Capitol monday to lobby for his budget asks

Policy

Policy

Ahead of the final budget deadline, the push to tax the wealthy heats up

Lawmakers and advocates denounced the governor’s proposals for increased payroll mobility tax and tuition hikes – instead calling for more taxes for the wealthiest New Yorkers.

Politics

Policy

Hochul refuses to budge on bail in closed-door talks

The governor’s insistence on coming to an agreement on bail reform rollbacks before discussing the rest of the budget briefly derailed negotiations over the weekend

Heard Around Town

Politics

Senate Judiciary chair: Rowan Wilson or Shirley Troutman could be chief judge

If Gov. Hochul nominates either of the two Court of Appeals associate judges to be chief judge, they will likely have a smooth path to state Senate confirmation.

Politics

Politics

New chief judge shortlist features three current Court of Appeals judges, no Latinos

Gov. Kathy Hochul must select a nominee to send to the state Legislature by the end of April.

Budget

Policy

The little-known upstate version of 421-a is … also unpopular with the Legislature

The New York state Senate and Assembly simply don’t want to give developers tax breaks, not in the city and not elsewhere.

Opinion

Opinion

Opinion: New York must invest in training nursing assistants

We need to scale an equity-focused model to address New York’s senior care staffing crisis

Heard Around Town

Politics

Sixth time’s the charm?

With criminal charges against Donald Trump looming, lawmakers kick the former president while he’s down with a reignited push to remove his name from a state park.

Budget

Politics

What does Kathy Hochul need $5 million in promotional content for?

Support from outside funders urging people to support the governor’s budget priorities has raised eyebrows about her negotiating position.