Blair Horner

Governor Hochul presented her State of the State address last week. The State of the State is an effort by governors to set the policy priorities of the upcoming legislative session. Usually, the speech focuses on topics that are sure to resonate with the voting public and with this year being one in which the governor faces the voters, it did not disappoint.

Reporting to New Yorkers on the “State of the State” is a job requirement for every governor. The state Constitution commands that “The governor shall communicate by message to the legislature at every session the condition of the state and recommend such matters to it as he or she shall judge expedient.”

As New Yorkers rang in the New Year, Albany’s budgeteers were developing a fiscal proposal for Governor Hochul. As directed by the state Constitution, the governor must unveil her budget plan within a few weeks and with it her policy priorities for the upcoming legislative session.

While many New Yorkers are enjoying the holidays, members of the Hochul Administration are busying themselves for the upcoming session.

State lawmakers wrapped up the legislative session in mid-June.All in all, during the 2025 legislative session, 856 bills passed both houses.Those bills have been (or will soon be) sent to the governor for her consideration – approval or veto.

Now that leaf blowers are being stored for the season, snow blowers are getting cranked up. Though windows will be closed and most of us will be sheltering inside, the pollution caused by gas powered landscaping equipment of all kinds – including snow blowers – was the subject of debate last week.

It all started innocently enough: When we asked where our stored electronic information went, we were told “the cloud. ”Sounds nice. Information stored in a puffy white setting.

New York spends billions of dollars on programs to spur economic activities. Yet the spending is hard to track because there is no standard definition of economic-development spending.

We all are familiar with New York’s Bottle Bill. That’s the law that requires a nickel deposit on some beverage containers – soda, beer, and water. It’s been on the books for over 40 years.

The big news last week was the election results. By and large, it was a good election day for Democrats across the nation. Here in New York, Democrats won in many parts of the state. For example, Democrats picked up control of the Onondaga County Legislature, a feat that they have not accomplished in almost half a century.