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 […]
Carl McCall, Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees announced this week that he would be retiring from the position in order to pursue other interests. McCall did not elaborate on what other interests he planned to pursue. McCall said in his announcement: “After ten years of service, I have decided to retire as the […]
City & State NY’s weekly Winners & Losers here. Listen to Governor Cuomo’s radio interview with Alan Chartock. La’Ron Singletary appointed as next Rochester police chief. IRS planning to change W-4 form. REBNY Watch: New York’s energy infrastructure threatens long-term growth.
The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on April 18th. The Senate Committees on Agriculture and Labor will hold several public hearings on the Farmworkers Fair Labor Act on April 25th, April 26th, and May 2nd. JCOPE will hold its next meeting on April 30th. Senate Finance Committee will hold a public hearing […]
Early on Sunday, March 31, Governor Cuomo and the Legislature reached an agreement on a new state budget, just prior to the April 1 budget deadline. Legislators completed voting on budget legislation later in the day. The 2019-2020 state budget totals $175.5 billion, maintains a 2% spending cap for the ninth year, and eliminates a […]
This week, the Senate acted on a measure that would raise the age to legally purchase tobacco and vapor products. The bill has already passed the Assembly and now awaits delivery by the Assembly to the Governor for signature or veto. The bill would ban the sale, statewide, of all tobacco and vapor products to anyone […]
Substantial changes to the STAR rebate program were included in the budget this year, altering how some recipients will receive their rebate going forward. The program, as originally designed, allowed those who were income eligible to receive a reduction in the amount of school taxes they would be required to pay. In recent years, changes have been […]