Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

State Legislature

State Legislature

  • Push for Online Voter Registration Bill as Coronavirus Prevents Registration Drives

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    Coronavirus complicates voter registration efforts & voting itself (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    A bill before the state Legislature expanding online voter registration in New York City has taken on particular urgency amid the coronavirus pandemic, its sponsors say, as in-person voter registration drives become impossible and New Yorkers are told to avoid leaving their homes but for essentials and emergencies.

    The New York City Board of Elections currently only allows an individual to register to vote online through the Department of

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  • State Budget Negotiations are Focused on the Wrong Priorities; We Need an Emergency Coronavirus Package

    Robert Carroll State Assembly

    Assemblymember Carroll, the author (photo: New York State Assembly)


    In a few days the New York State Legislature will pass a new state budget. In a normal year, this is the most consequential task the Legislature does. In a crisis year, it may be the last thing we do.

    What we do now could help New Yorkers weather the storm. Unfortunately the discussions we are having, which are few, are emphasizing the wrong issues.

    To understand New York’s politics, one must understand that New York’s budget is not just dollars and cents, but also a

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  • Prevailing Wage is Economic Stimulus - New York Should Expand It Now

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    Construction workers, and many others, can benefit from prevailing wage expansion (photo: governor's office)


    Massive unemployment following a period of slow recovery left 19 percent of Americans out of work. That was in 1938, when New York officially wrote the prevailing wage into the State Constitution, requiring projects that receive taxpayer funds to pay fair wages to their workers. Still deep into the Great Depression, New Yorkers understood that blue collar workers were the foundation of the economy and key to sustained economic growth.

    Fast

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  • The State Legislature in a State of Emergency

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    A near-empty chamber conducts Senate business (photo: NY Senate Media Services)


    As New York has become the country’s epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic, Governor Andrew Cuomo has stepped onto the national stage as New York's (and the region's) captain, coordinating the state's response to the outbreak with a profusion of executive orders and fireside chats from the State Capitol, streamed daily and with PowerPoint.

    The governor has signed 11 executive orders, suspending dozens of laws, as he, his top aides, and public health officials

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  • Coronavirus Crisis Spotlights Importance of Food Delivery Workers and Need to Legalize Their E-Bikes

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    The push for legalizing e-bikes continues (photo: @nily)


    Right now, our colleagues in Albany can deliver immediate justice and help keep New York fed and moving during a time of crisis. They must legalize electric-bikes in the state budget being finalized right now.

    As part of the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the de Blasio and Cuomo administrations announced this week that restaurants, bars, and cafes would close for dine-in customers, but that take-out and delivery would remain available. This move made it clear that New York City’s food delivery workers,

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  • Health and Housing are Inextricably Linked; My Patients Need Home Stability Support

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    A push for a new state homelessness-housing voucher continues (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    As a doctor in the hospital, I bear witness to some of the most severe downstream effects of health inequity in our community. In my field, I care for any person who presents to the emergency room and is then deemed too sick to be discharged. Through years of clinical service, I have come to appreciate housing as the most vital component of a person’s ability to stay well.

    More recently, research surrounding individuals experiencing homelessness has

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  • 'Open' Government Amid an Outbreak

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    Wrestling with government during a pandemic (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo suspended aspects of the state's Open Meetings Law with an executive order Friday, as officials grapple with how to keep government running during a pandemic without jeopardizing public health or sacrificing accountability.

    As state and city officials continue to prepare for the long haul of coronavirus (COVID-19) management, and as most public events are postponed to limit the virus’ reach, one emerging question is how government agencies will continue to hold

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  • Judge Strikes Down New State Campaign Finance Law

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    Big decisions to be made in the state capitol (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)


    A State Supreme Court judge in Niagara County struck down the state’s new campaign finance law which was based on the recommendations of a controversial state-created commission that took effect in December. The state Legislature could not give the commission the authority to make binding changes to state law, the judge

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  • A State Budget Necessity: Start-Up Funds for New Campaign Finance Program

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    State Legislators have an important decision to make (photo: NY Senate)


    In New York State, money doesn’t only talk, it decides who does the talking, who makes the laws, whose voices matter, and who gets left out. After years of grassroots activism, New York State is a big step closer to shifting the balance of power in Albany through a new public campaign financing program, moving away from big-monied interests and toward regular New

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  • Bail and Other Misguided Laws Started with Loss of Republican Senate

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    Gov. Cuomo and Long Island Democrats (photo: Governor's Office)


    Long Island residents are finding out the hard way, once again, why it was so important to keep a balance of power in New York State via a Republican-controlled Senate and Democrat-controlled Assembly.

    When Democrats took over the Senate after the 2008 election, it led to the horrendous MTA tax, which forced schools, nonprofits, and businesses throughout Long Island to pay a huge payroll tax to foot the bill for the city transit system. The bill was put over the top by two Democratic senators

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  • A Cruel Surrogacy Proposal That New York Must Reject

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    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

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

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    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

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  • With Marijuana Back on the Agenda, It's Time New York Lawmakers Get Serious About Social Equity

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    Rally to call for legalization of adult marijuana use (photo: @equityorg)


    Governor Cuomo's rollout of a reworked Cannabis Regulation and Taxation Act means this may finally be the year New Yorkers get access to legal weed. And while a similar legalization push floundered in the statehouse last year, many are optimistic about its odds during the 2020 legislative session. Not only are the vast ...

  • Health Care Reform New York Should Tackle Now: A Rational Payment System

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    (photo: Governor's Office)


    A New Yorker who suffers a heart attack is typically rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment. In a life-threatening emergency minutes matter, so the practice is sound public policy. Yet, if it turns out the hospital is not in the patient’s insurance network, the sigh of relief is short-lived. The bill for the care can top $100,000. Surprise!

    Unaffordable medical bills are the top financial concern of two-thirds of Americans. The crazy system we have created of public and private health insurers, in-and-out of network providers, and

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  • After Cuomo Veto, Uncertain Future for Civic Education Fund While State Task Force Moves Ahead

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    In response to several trends, including low voter turnout and civic knowledge, the past few years have seen a sporadic push for stronger civics education in New York and beyond.

    In the spring of 2018, New York City launched a ”Civics For All” Initiative, which “provides resources, programming, and professional learning to all NYC schools. The initiative focuses on education models

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  • To Protect New Yorkers’ Health, New Patient Protection Laws Must be Enforced

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    (photo: Governor's Office)


    When it comes to determining the proper course of care for a serious health issue, decisions should be made by a patient and their health care provider. But too often, health insurers have been undermining providers’ decisions in efforts to cut costs — forcing them to navigate burdensome bureaucratic roadblocks before agreeing to cover prescribed treatments and services. That can result in patients facing delays in care or going untreated altogether.

    To address this problem, New York lawmakers recently worked to

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  • 'Urgent' Bill to Enhance Census Language Translation Services Approved by Senate, Awaits Assembly Counterpart

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    State Senator Julia Salazar at a Census rally


    The U.S. Census Bureau will soon kick off the 2020 Census count by sending mail to households to inform them about filling out a questionnaire that lists their names, where they live and how many people live with them, their race and ethnicity, and other information. Self-response to the Census yields the most accurate information about households and given that New Yorkers speak more than 200 languages, Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar wants to take steps to ensure that as many people are guided toward participation in

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  • Bill Allowing Online Voter Registration in New York City Moves in State Senate, Stalls in Assembly

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    State Senator Myrie, middle, is pushing his online voter registration bill (photo: @SenatorMyrie)


    Last year, the New York City Board of Elections hobbled a City Council effort to create an online voter registration portal for city residents, claiming it conflicted with state law. But the state Legislature may take steps to correct that situation this year by clarifying the law and allowing an online portal that would act as a test case for a statewide system slated to launch next year.

    The New York City Council passed ...

  • In Albany, De Blasio Enlists Legislators' Help to Fight Cuomo Budget Proposals

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio made his annual trip to Albany on Monday to testify before the state Legislature on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive budget proposal, which is $178 billion for the 2021 fiscal year, and urged lawmakers to help prevent what he called nearly $1.4 billion in potential funding “cuts” to the city that could result largely from a proposed overhaul of the state Medicaid program.

    Testifying before the joint fiscal committees of the State Senate and Assembly over the course of

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  • Time for Public Power for New York

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    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    New York’s Public Service Commission recently approved another rate hike for Con Edison, as it does every three years. This hike will increase electric rates by 13% and gas rates by 22% over the next three years.

    Con Edison won. Like always, it requested and was granted its rate hike. It doesn't matter that New Yorkers already pay the second highest municipal rates in the country. Nor the $200 million for new fossil-fuel infrastructure baked into Con Ed's request. Despite this, state regulators are once

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  • After Court Rulings, Unclear Future for Push to Restrict State Legislators' Outside Income

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    Cuomo, center, with 2018 legislative majority leaders (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    After two years of legislative negotiations, commission reports, and lawsuits, parts of a planned salary increase for state officials remain up in the air, and the fate of long-sought restrictions on legislators’ outside income sits entirely with state lawmakers themselves.

    The raises and corresponding outside income limitations were made by a commission created by the governor and Legislature created to alter the laws dictating

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  • With Cuomo Promising Gig Economy Regulations, New York Leaders Consider Pros and Cons of California Model

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    (photo: Don Pollard/Office of the Governor)


    This year, more than 40% of New Yorkers will be employed in the so-called gig economy, Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his State of the State speech earlier this month. It was an acknowledgement that the nature of work is changing, or rather has changed, and also a concession that labor rules have not evolved to keep up. Gig economy workers lack the same benefits that full-time workers enjoy, which has helped billion-dollar companies make substantial profit on the backs of unprotected and often underpaid workers. And

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  • Cuomo Proposes $178 Billion Budget, Closing $6.1 Billion Gap and Funding Top Priorities

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    (photo: Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo released his 2021 executive budget proposal in Albany on Tuesday, presenting an $178 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, including $105.8 billion in state operational spending, a 1.9% increase over the current year, according to the governor’s budget documents.

    The governor proposed significant reforms to quickly-increasing state Medicaid spending and a radical rethinking of education aid to localities, the two largest parts of

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  • Cuomo's Missing Ethics Agenda

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    Cuomo in 2013 (photo: Governor's Office)


    The government ethics agenda put forth by Governor Andrew Cuomo in his 2020 State of the State is much shorter than those he’s proposed in years passed.

    In fact, it contains just one proposal: legislation mandating some state officials publish their tax returns. Meanwhile, it leaves out several of Cuomo’s past proposals that have yet to be accomplished, including major campaign finance reforms supported by one of his top allies.

    The heavily-truncated list comes after more than a year of controversy

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

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    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

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