Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Liz Krueger

Liz Krueger

  • A Key Step New York Must Take to Stop Right-Wing Extremists

    The Statue of Liberty (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    On January 6, 2021, Americans watched in horror as right-wing extremists tried to violently overthrow our government and pull down the foundations of our democracy. To anyone who saw those shameful events unfold it should come as no surprise that the same anti-democratic forces that stirred up the insurrection on January 6 now have their sights set on the United States Constitution. They hope to do the Constitution the same violence they perpetrated on the U.S. Capitol, with the goal of rolling back women’s

    ...
  • Hochul Gambled On A Late Budget; Did It Pay Off?

    Gov. Hochul meets with legislative leaders (photo: @GovKathyHochul)


    The dust is beginning to settle on the $229 billion New York state budget, which was approved last week after a month of delay that saw Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature make major compromises on spending and policy measures.

    Hochul has expressed no regret for delaying the budget for the second time in two years, after she managed to convince the Legislature to support her top priority and change the state’s bail laws yet again. She won other priorities, too, but came up empty on her biggest proposal for the

    ...
  • 'Those are the Things That Keep States Strong': Senator Krueger on Top Priorities and Budget Negotiations

    Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)


    Lawmakers in Albany are in the midst of crafting a new budget, with negotiations now stretching beyond the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and the two houses of the State Legislature, both with Democratic supermajorities, are likely to pass a budget “extender” so the state can pay its bills, especially payroll, as they continue negotiations this week.

    State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who leads the Senate’s finance committee, has been at the center of the budget process, co-chairing weeks of legislative hearings on

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on State Budget Negotiations

    State Senator Liz Krueger, center-right, with other state leaders (photo: NYS Senate)


    March 20, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on State Budget Negotiations

    State Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the Senate finance committee, joined the show to discuss state budget negotiations with under two weeks before the April 1 deadline for a new spending plan.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

    ...
  • Could 2023 Finally See Movement on New York City Property Tax Reform?

    Housing (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)


    It’s been well over a year since Mayor Eric Adams promised, on the campaign trail, to “immediately” form a committee to "come up with real solutions" to make New York's property tax system more fair and equitable. But Adams never formed the committee and he has not made property tax reform a priority in his first 13 months as mayor.

    After 40 years of lawsuits, commissions, and half-hearted efforts at property tax reform, there is limited optimism for wholesale change,

    ...
  • After Second Legislative Passage, New York State Equal Rights Amendment To Go Before Voters in 2024

    Gov. Hochul signs abortion rights legislation (photo: Governor's Office)


    Voters in the fall of 2024 will have a chance to enshrine civil rights protections for women, LGBTQ people, and abortion access into the state constitution after lawmakers on Tuesday pass the New York State Equal Rights Amendment for the second time.

    If approved by voters, the state constitution will for the first time prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, disability, and sex, "including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes,

    ...
  • Passed by Senate, NYC Board of Elections Reform Shelved by Assembly

    Board of Elections reform on the table (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    A package of reforms to the way elections are run in New York State all but died last week when the Assembly adjourned without bringing the legislation to a floor vote after they passed the Senate. That includes a sweeping bill to restructure the membership and executive leadership of the New York City Board of Elections, which has been plagued by political patronage, nepotism, and mismanagement year after year.

    While legislators

    ...
  • As End of Albany Session Approaches, Legislators Near Consensus on New York Equal Rights Amendment Including Abortion Protections

    A rally for reproductive rights (photo: Don Pollard / Governor’s Office)


    Momentum is building behind an Equal Rights Amendment to the New York State Constitution that would enshrine reproductive rights and a range of anti-discrimination protections into the state's highest governing document.

    Versions of the amendment have circulated in the Legislature for years without being reconciled among the two chambers, the Senate and Assembly. But it has gained new urgency with the expected U.S. Supreme Court demise of Roe v. Wade, as states look to shore up their own abortion

    ...
  • Explainer: New York Abortion Rights and Proposals for Additional Pro-Choice Actions

     

    Gov. Hochul speaks at an "abortion justice" event (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)


    A draft majority opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, which was leaked and reported on by Politico on Monday, would strike down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that granted a federal constitutional right to an abortion. Though the opinion — on Dobbs v. Jackson

    ...
  • What's The [Data] Point? $220 Billion, with Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger

    State Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate Media Services)


    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 117 -- $220 Billion, with State Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger [You can find What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

    $220 billion is the reported size of the New York State fiscal year 2023 budget that the Governor and Legislature adopted on April 10. The budget includes a property tax rebate and a tax holiday, and increases State spending about $14 billion, with more money for education aid, day care, rent relief, health care, and a new

    ...
  • Legislators to Introduce Bill to Reform New York City Board of Elections

    Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

    Voting in NYC (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    State lawmakers are amending a bill that could change the make-up and management structure of the New York City Board of Elections in an attempt to make the troubled agency more effective and accountable.

    "We've been working with both the State Board of Election for guidance, many election lawyers, many people familiar with the problems that the city has had forever with their

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on Assessing the Governor's Budget and Top 2022 Priorities

    sen liz kru 600

    State Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)


    January 19, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on Assessing the Governor's Budget and Other 2022 Priorities

    State Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the Senate's finance committee, joined the show to discuss Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Budget and the hearings Krueger will soon hold on it, as well as other priorities for the Manhattan Democrat including ethics and elections reforms, implementation of the state's marijuana legalization, and more.

    Listen to

    ...
  • Failure of Ballot Questions Halts New York's Three-Year Expansion of Voting

    47995517668 3812aa2cc1 c

    An Albany rally for voting reform (photo: Senator Michael Gianaris)


    When New Yorkers voted down two state constitutional amendments this fall that would make it easier to vote they put a stunning stop to a three-year deluge of major statewide election reform.

    Voting rights advocates and Democratic state lawmakers are licking their wounds and looking ahead to the next legislative session, beginning in January, with a list of changes to election rules and operations, including some of the measures that just failed.

    Had

    ...
  • What to Watch for as Hochul's 45-Day Transition Period Ends

    2 what watch hochul

    Governor Kathy Hochul (photo: Darren McGee/Office of the Governor)


    Governor Kathy Hochul's self-imposed transition period ends Friday. Hochul has already made a number of changes to the executive chamber and state policy -- but with the end of the 45-day interval she may reveal some key remaining personnel and policy decisions she has promised over the first weeks of her governorship.

    Hochul, a Democrat, asked the public for patience to build her administration over the seven-week window amid an ongoing purge of officials implicated in the

    ...
  • Major State Ethics and Governance Reforms Hoped for Under Hochul

    gov cuomo outlined

    Then-Gov. Cuomo with current Gov. Hochul (photo: Governor's Office)


    With the abrupt end of the ten-year reign of Governor Andrew Cuomo, reformers inside and outside of state government are looking for change. Unspooling their wishlist has been a kind of inaugural red carpet for Governor Kathy Hochul, who took office last month after Cuomo resigned amid a flurry of scandal -- almost all connected, in some way, to government ethics, transparency, and the erosion of checks and balances.

    Hochul immediately pledged to take steps to undo Cuomo's

    ...
  • How Kathryn Garcia Defied the Odds But Came Up Just Short

    7 absentee votes to win

    Kathryn Garcia (photo: @KGforNYC)


    When the New York City Board of Elections certified the results of the 2021 Democratic primary for mayor on Tuesday, it showed Kathryn Garcia losing to Eric Adams by just 7,197 votes. In the first citywide election using ranked-choice voting, the primary likely to determine the next mayor was decided by a difference of only 0.8%, with just over 942,000 Democratic votes cast.

    Garcia conceded the race two weeks prior, on July 7, congratulating Eric Adams for his win after she had defied virtually all

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on Her Bill to Reform the Board of Elections

    Seantor Liz Krueger, center (photo: New York State Senate)


    June 30, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on Reforming the Board of Elections

    State Senator Liz Krueger has a bill to professionalize the New York City Board of Elections and joined the show in the wake of another BOE debacle to discuss its provisions and its chances of passage.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below

    ...
  • What's The [Data] Point? $209 Billion, Examining The New York State Budget

    whats the data point


    What's The [Data] Point? Episode 108 -- $209 Billion, Examining The New York State Budget [You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

    $209 billion is the total amount to be spent this state fiscal year according to New York State's Enacted Budget for Fiscal Year 2022. That massive budget, adopted in early April, was bolstered by immense federal aid and higher than expected tax revenues as New York comes out of the devastation of the covid

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: State Senator Liz Krueger on New York’s Finances

    Gotham Gazette:

    Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)


    January 20, 2021 - Max & Murphy Podcast: State Senator Liz Krueger on New York’s Finances

    State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who chairs the Senate's finance committee, joined the show to discuss the state's fiscal picture, the governor's new executive budget plan, aid from Washginton, and more.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMaxand @JarrettMurphy. You

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: State Senator Liz Krueger on Next Steps in the Covid Fight

    4 st kru

    Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)


    November 18, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: State Senator Liz Krueger on Next Steps in the Covid Fight

    State Senator Liz Krueger joined the show to discuss the next steps in New York's fight against the coronavirus.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think -- we're on Twitter @TweetBenMaxand @JarrettMurphy. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

    ...
  • Coronavirus Crash Prompts Renewed Calls for New York Divestment from Fossil Fuels, But Comptroller Stands Pat

    divest ny fos

    A protest to push for New York pension system divestment from fossil fuel stocks (photo: @350)


    The oil and gas industries are experiencing significant upheaval as the coronavirus pandemic decimates economies across the globe. The price of crude oil in the United States temporarily fell below $0 per barrel for the first time ever last month, prompting renewed energy among activists and elected officials in New York who want to rid the state pension fund of all investments in the fossil fuel industry.

    But the one person they must convince, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli,

    ...
  • A Cruel Surrogacy Proposal That New York Must Reject

    gov cuomo rally

    There are competing proposals to legalize surrogacy in NY (photo: Governor's Office)


    Imagine having a baby but then being told you have to wait eight days before securing custody of your child. It’s bizarre and cruel, yet it’s an idea that’s actually being floated in Albany right now as a “compromise” to finally end New York State’s outdated ban on gestational surrogacy.

    As a three-time cancer survivor in my thirties who went through three rounds of fertility preservation before treatment, this is heartbreaking. I choose to live in New York for many

    ...
  • Let's Legalize Surrogacy In New York The Right Way

    state senator krueger during alb

    State Senator Liz Krueger, the author (photo: NY Senate)


    Advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART), including intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg and sperm donation, and surrogacy, have created remarkable new family-building options in the last several decades. As someone who is unable to have my own biological children, I support New Yorkers being able to use ART, including surrogacy, to build the families they want.

    Yet these relatively new technologies bring with them complex

    ...
  • As Cuomo Proposes Expansive Equal Rights Amendment Favored in Senate, Assembly Again Passes Narrow Version

    wash wom rights

    Gov. Cuomo with Assemblymember Seawright, center, & others (photo: Governor's Office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo is promoting a more expansive version of a New York State equal rights amendment than he did last year, tipping the balance between the discrepant Assembly and Senate bills in the direction of inclusivity, favored by the Senate.

    Despite Cuomo’s new support for a broader set of protections, the Assembly on Monday passed a narrower expansion for the second year in a row, renewing uncertainty about the amendment’s future.

    In 1938, New York

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Cuomo's State of the State & What's Next, with Senator Liz Krueger

    jan wbai krueger600

    Seantor Liz Krueger, center (photo: New York State Senate)


    January 8, 2020 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Cuomo's State of the State & What's Next, with Senator Liz Krueger

    jan wbai krueger250State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the Senate finance committee, joined the show to give her reactions to Governor Cuomo's State of the State speech,

    ...