In a bombshell announcement on Wednesday the State Senate’s 7-year long feud between the “mainline” Senate Democratic Conference and the rogue Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) has ended (at least for now) as the warring factions announced their reunification at the apparent direct intercession of Governor Cuomo. The arrangement would keep Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins as Democratic […]
After a week of feverish (and mostly closed-door) budget negotiations, Gov. Cuomo and state lawmakers reached a final agreement on the state’s 2018-19 budget last week. Lawmakers gave final approval to the budget bills in the early morning hours last Saturday. (Read Unshackle Upstate’s statement on the budget agreement here.) The Good: Thanks to Unshackle […]
On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that he will lead a multistate lawsuit challenging the federal government’s decision to bring back a question asking about citizenship status in the 2020 Census “to preserve a fair and accurate Census.” The Trump Administration announced on Monday that 2020 census will ask respondents whether they are United […]
Updated U.S. Census Bureau data shows that since 2010, only 16 of 62 counties in New York have grown in population. And among the top 10 counties in growth, just two – Saratoga and Tompkins — are Upstate. 45 of the state’s 62 counties lost population between 2010 and 2017. Three Upstate counties — Chenango, […]
A Siena College Research Institute poll released last week shows Gov. Cuomo with a commanding lead over his potential Democratic primary opponent as well as his potential Republican opponents in the general election. [Read the poll crosstabs here.] The poll shows Gov. Cuomo leading actor/activist Cynthia Nixon 66-19 percent. It also shows him leading two […]
The state Board of Regents holds its next meeting on April 9 and 10. Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Albany on April 16. The Public Service Commission (PSC) holds its next meeting on April 19. The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) holds its next meeting on April 24. May 5 is ‘I Love […]
Eighteen business and taxpayer groups from across New York State expressed their universal and unified opposition to any expansion of New York State’s wildly expensive and antiquated “prevailing wage” mandate to private development projects. According to a 2017 report published by the Empire Center, New York’s prevailing wage mandate increases the costs of construction projects […]
Last Wednesday, the Assembly and Senate approved their respective one-house budget resolutions that stake out their 2018-19 state budget priorities. Budget conference committees then began meeting, and are expected to continue meeting this week. The Assembly’s one-house budget resolution would increase state spending to about $170 billion, and includes a $1.5 billion funding increase for […]
Last week, the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce released its 2018 Business Advocacy Agenda. Their annual agenda reflects the public policy issues that have been identified by the Chamber’s members as priorities for the Greater Rochester/Finger Lakers Region and the state as a whole. Key issues identified by the Chamber include supporting Finger Lakes Regional […]
The Buffalo Niagara Partnership (BNP) is pushing for a much-needed upgrades to the state’s aging power grid and for developing the state’s natural gas transmission system as part of its 2018 Advocacy Agenda. New York’s residential and commercial customers paid nearly 40% more than the national average for electricity in 2016, in part due to […]