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In January, 17 new State Senators and 21 new Assemblymembers will take office. Some of the new members who will be representing Upstate communities include: Democrat Peter Harckham, who defeated two-term incumbent Republican Terrence Murphy in the 40th Senate District, which includes parts of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Harckham previously served in the Westchester County […]

Each week, City & State New York publishes a list of the week’s political “winners” and “losers.”  Read last week’s list here.

On December 5, the Assembly Higher Education Committee is holding a public hearing in Albany “to examine the current maintenance of effort provisions for SUNY and CUNY and the potential expansion of such maintenance of effort provisions.” On December 7, the Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce holds an Eggs & Issues event on the region’s […]

Last Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo announced that Amazon will establish a new corporate headquarters in Long Island City, Queens, where it expects to eventually employ at least 25,000 people. Amazon is promising to invest $2.5 billion in Long Island City in the coming decade, and up to $3.6 billion when ancillary community projects are counted over […]

The state Division of Budget (DOB) released its mid-year budget update.  DOB projects a state budget deficit of $3.1 billion for the state’s upcoming fiscal year.  But if lawmakers stick to the planned 2 percent cap on state spending increases – as they have done in each year that Gov. Cuomo has been in office […]

The 2018 New York State Compensation Committee, which has been tasked with recommending whether state legislators and state agency heads should get a pay raise in 2019, held its first meeting on Tuesday. The committee members are state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli; former State Comptroller Carl McCall; New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer; and former New […]

On Wednesday, national transportation group TRIP released a report which finds that roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost New York drivers $24.8 billion per year – as much as $2,768 per driver – due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. The group reports […]

Earlier today, the members of the Senate Republican Conference met behind closed doors in Albany and re-elected Long Island Senator John Flanagan as their conference leader.  According to one Senator who was present for the vote, Flanagan received 14 votes, while Senator Catherine Young of Cattaraugus County received 9 votes. The Senate Republicans will be […]

On Wednesday, the state Department of Health (DOH) issued its second two-year report on the state’s medical marijuana program. The report recommends changes to increase patient access and further improve the state’s Medical Marijuana Program, including allowing practitioners to certify patients who previously did not qualify for medical marijuana; permitting all practitioners who can prescribe […]

In January, 17 new State Senators and 21 new Assemblymembers will take office. Some of the new members who will be representing Upstate communities include: Democrat Rachel May in the 53rd Senate District in Central New York. May will replace incumbent David Valesky, whom she defeated in the Democratic primary. May, an educator who has taught […]