Blog

The first report from the New York State Suicide Prevention Task Force was released this week. Established by the Governor in November 2017, the Task Force is designed to increase awareness of and access to supportive services with a special focus on high-risk groups including veterans, Latina adolescents, and members of the LGBTQ community. Recommendations from the […]

The New York City Charter Commission released its preliminary staff report which outlines recommendations for topics the Charter Commission should consider in more detail before making final determinations. The Charter of the City of New York (the Charter) serves as the local constitution and establishes the structure of City government. It sets forth the key institutions and […]

City & State NY’s weekly Winners & Losers here. Rochester Drug Co-Operative CEO faces criminal charges related to distribution of opioids. Change the way you receive STAR rebate and you could get a bigger return. Federal Real ID requirements approaching, NY driver’s license soon invalid for domestic flights. Cuomo Op-Ed in Washington Post. New York’s public schools ranked by average SAT score.

JCOPE will hold its next meeting on April 30th. Senate Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the issue of divesting the NYS Common Retirement Fund from fossil fuels as outlined in S.2126 / A.1536 at 10:00am on April 30 in Albany (Hearing Room A, LOB). The Senate Committees on Agriculture and Labor will hold several public hearings on the […]

Having finalized a budget deal earlier this month, the Legislature is set to take a two week break after session ends today. When they return at the end of April, they’ll have eight more weeks remaining with a lot of unfinished business. As we mentioned in our budget statement, efforts to prevent the expansion of prevailing wage […]

The legislature passed a bill this week that would raise the sales and compensating use tax in Westchester County by an additional 1%. Currently, Westchester County is allowed to collect 3% sales tax on items purchased within the county. This bill will increase that percentage from 3% to 4%. The vote in the Senate was […]

The New York City Council passed a bill this week to ban pre-employment testing for marijuana usage. The bill specifically prohibits employers from requiring a prospective employee to submit to testing as a condition of employment. The bill does contain exceptions for security-sensitive jobs and those tied to federal or state regulations, contracts, or grants. […]

This week the Comptroller released his findings of an audit conducted by his office aimed at reviewing the State Education Department’s (SED) oversight of school safety planning. The SAVE Act, enacted in 2000, aims to prevent school violence and increase the safety of students and teachers in New York’s public schools. The act requires school […]

The Nassau County legislature voted to officially opt-out of recreational marijuana sales in the event the legislature indeed passes a bill that would legalize recreational marijuana. This comes after Nassau County Executive Laura Curran suggested last month that she would prefer if Nassau were to opt-out of any program that would allow for recreational sales […]