New York Capitol Brief:
May 02, 2025
NYS Budget Update
On Thursday, the Legislature passed a tenth budget extender (A.8115/S.7707) allowing for emergency appropriations through Wednesday, May 7. Assembly Ways and Means Chair Gary Pretlow indicated this should be the last budget extender before a final budget is passed. Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger reiterated that she really hopes budget bills are printed and ready to be voted on by Monday of next week or shortly then after, but could not confirm for certain.
Despite Governor Hochul’s announcement on Monday that a general budget agreement had been reached, a handful of issues still need to be ironed out including school aid, several housing issues, the question of whether the State’s unemployment insurance debt owed to the federal government will be paid off, and DOCCS reform. The DOCCS reforms being negotiated include expanding early releases based on merit time and lowering the age a correctional officer can work from 21 to 18 to address the shortage of workers after the weekslong strikes. Additionally, the Governor is now seeking the authority to cut up to $2 billion in state spending without legislative approval to be able to respond swiftly to emergency situations like increased costs caused by tariffs and federal cuts to s...
New York Capital Brief
April 18, 2025
NYC Mayoral Race Update
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to hold a commanding lead in the polls for NYC mayor with 34% of voters supporting him followed by Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani with 16% of voters supporting the Assemblymember. The rest of the contenders all polled in the single digits. Cuomo’s lead comes despite a technical error denying him millions in public matching funds, which has since been addressed. Mamdani raked in $4 million in matching funds, the largest amount any mayoral candidate has received during this election cycle.
Cuomo faced another setback this week after AI software, ChatGPT, was cited in a section of his housing plan and incoherent text was found throughout the plan, leading his rivals to criticize his use of the AI software on one of the most important policy issues NYC faces. A spokesperson for Cuomo affirmed ChatGPT was not used to craft actual policy, but instead for grammar and spelling, defending the use of ...
New York Capital Brief:
April 04, 2025
Budget Update
Yesterday the Legislature passed a second budget extender (A7635/S7156) allowing for emergency appropriations through Monday, April 7 as the April 3 deadline for the first budget extender was not met. Governor Hochul’s policy priorities are holding up the budget process as parties are still dug in on issues like discovery reform, involuntary commitment, as well as a potential mask ban in cases where one is masked while threatening violence, which was not included in the Governor’s initial budget proposal. Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger recently expressed frustration with policy taking up all the air with negotiations as she told Politico “We’re not even discussing numbers. She’s obsessed with her policy, and she doesn’t even want to talk about the other stuff. It’s frustrating.”
Next week will be the last chance to wrap up the budget before the scheduled two-week legislative break to observe Passover and Easter. While it is still possible the budget will be voted on before the break, there is a chance these negotiations could be extended further.
We will continue to keep you updated as negotiations procee...
New York Capitol Brief
October 31, 2024
2024 General Election State Primer
NYS Senate
Leadership
- Andrea Stewart-Cousins (Westchester) is not being challenged.
Key Chair Positions
- Senate Health Chair Gustavo Rivera (Bronx) did not face a primary challenger and is expected to retain his seat.
- Senate Insurance Chair Neil Breslin (Albany) is retiring. Current Assembly Member Fahy is running unopposed to take the seat. The next Chair of Senate Insurance will be chosen in January.
- Senate Consumer Affairs Chair Kevin Thomas (Nassau) is resigning. The next Chair of Senate Consumer Affairs will be chosen in January.
- Senate Disabilities Chair John Mannion (Onondaga/Oswego) is running for Congress. The next Chair of Senate Disabilities will be chosen in January.
- Senate Transportation Chair Tim Kennedy (Erie) was elected to Congress via special election. The Chair of Senate Transportation was chosen to be Senator Jeremy Cooney.
Close Ra...
New York Capital Brief
July 26, 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mission for Marcus
June 27, 2024
Hodes & Landy is proud to be the platinum sponsor for the Rotary Club of Delmar’s Mission for Marcus Fundraiser! Mission for Marcus is a Capital Region-based organization working to remove the stigma from substance use disorder. Representing H&L is Michele O’Connor, Matt Landy, and friends.
New York Capital Brief
June 14, 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New York Capital brief:
March 29, 2024
|
|
New York Capitol Brief:
March 01, 2024
New York State Advances Congressional Redistricting
The process of redistricting New York State’s Congressional boundaries reached a conclusion this week, after years of court challenges and deliberations by multiple bodies. District lines that had initially been drafted by State legislators, challenged in court, redrawn by an appointed “Special Master”, challenged in court, redrawn by the bi-partisan Independent Redistricting Commission, rejected by the NYS Legislature, and redrawn by the NYS Legislature, were approved by both chambers this week.
The three-piece legislative package was swiftly delivered to Governor Hochul, who signed the bills into law effective immediately. Political observers have cautioned that the newest districts may again be challenged in court. Regardless, the petitioning period for the NYS con...
New York Capital Brief:
February 09, 2024
NYS Budget Update
On January 17, 2024 Governor Hochul released her Executive Budget Proposal. The Governor has statutory authority to release 21-day and 30-day amendments to her proposal. Though the window for 21-day amendments has passed, our team expects 30-day amendments to be released on or before February 15, 2024. The NYS Legislature has continued the budget process by holding Joint Budget Subcommittees on each section of the Budget. Halfway through that process, the hearings have yielded testimony from government agencies and stakeholders. With the Governor’s call to keep spending flat, many of the testimonies given focused on maintaining funding, with very few agencies expecting an increase for programming this year. Once testimony is gathered from all subcommittees, both Houses of the Legislature prepare their one-house budget proposals. We expect the one-house budget to be released sometime in early to mid-March. |
|