Karen Dewitt

The Legislative Ethics Commission released its report on the sexual harassment allegations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez.  It’s conclusions have New York’s  National Organization for Women calling for a vote of no confidence against the still serving Assemblyman, and the Republicans calling for Silver to resign.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined his proposal for a new local government restructuring board to help financially distressed communities deal with long term budget problems.

The state ethics commission report on the Assemblyman Vito Lopez sexual harassment scandal might finally be made public later this month.
 
The Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE, issued a report on its investigation into sexual harassment charges against Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez back in February. The report was also to address how Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his aides handled the matter.

New York Governor Cuomo outlined the details of his plan to site three gambling casinos upstate.

Cuomo, joined by union and business leaders, and representatives from county governments, offered more details of a plan to build three new gambling casinos. Cuomo says he wants to limit the locations to upstate regions for now, to prop up the failing economy.  The governor says upstate needs jobs like it needs “oxygen.” And he says having a downstate location would devalue the upstate centers.

Eight more names of lawmakers  and others potentially involved in corruption were made public Wednesday, when a judge ordered prosecutors in the case of convicted ex- Senator Shirley Huntley to make public the names of  her colleagues that she secretly recorded.  WAMC's Capitol Correspondent Karen Dewitt reports.

A hearing by Senate Republicans on New York City’s public campaign financing system was overshadowed by protests, as government reform groups and other members of the public were denied entry, and noisy protests ensued.

The Senate GOP sent out notices that there would be a public hearing on what the Republicans say are the “abuses” in New York City’s public campaign finance system.

Former Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson turned himself in to federal authorities Monday, after being accused in a nine count indictment of embezzling nearly half a million dollars from mortgage foreclosure accounts,  and then trying to cover it up. 

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders tried to jumpstart negotiations over siting several new gambling casinos in New York. But they also conceded that the plans might be delayed for another year.

Legislative leaders and Governor Cuomo met for the first time together in over a month, and they focused on an issue they had originally hoped to settle in the budget, the expansion of gambling in New York.

Opponents of hydro fracking are charging there’s a potential conflict of interest with a consultant to Governor Cuomo’s environmental agency. They are asking that the years-long review of fracking in New York be restarted. The controversy caused the consultant in question to sever all ties with a gas industry lobby group.

On Earth Day lobby day at the capitol, whether or not to allow hydrofracking in New York continues to be the dominant issue.

The Senate and Assembly Environmental Committee Chairs both take a dim view of the controversial gas drilling process, but they differ over what’s the next step.

Assembly Environmental Chair Bob Sweeney believes in a clearly legislated moratorium. In fact, the Assembly has already passed one.

“I think it is pretty clear that this is a bad deal not only environmentally,” said Sweeney. “But it’s a bad deal economically too.”