Blair Horner

The federal government’s slashing of domestic spending (while boosting tax cuts for the wealthy) has put states’ budgets at risk.The impact on New York’s budget is unquestionably significant.

While Election Day is still a couple of weeks away, voting has started here in New York. Over recent years, New York has taken steps to make it easier to vote. After all, under the state’s Constitution, citizens have a right to vote.

New York State has consistently blocked the construction of new pipelines to allow for the transportation of gas. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has rejected new gas pipeline construction on the grounds that it would harm water quality.

When it comes to government services, generally speaking there are two major categories: “rights” and “benefits.

New York’s ethics laws – those covering the actions of public officials and lobbyists – gets an annual airing at a public hearing convened by the state’s ethics watchdog.

This past weekend marked the start of Climate Week. Climate Week is an annual event dating back to 2009 and runs during the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting held in New York City.

Good campaigns rely on message control. Present your points in simple, understandable, and popular terms, recruit a range of “trusted” messengers, and relentlessly hammer home your message.

New York regulators have developed a draft of the state’s next energy plan and a public hearing process has begun. The Energy Law requires key state agencies to develop a plan to assess the state’s energy needs, energy supplies, climate impacts, and related issues and plan for at least the next decade. Not surprisingly, the draft energy plan is controversial: For example, the plan reflects the Hochul Administration’s embrace of the state’s aging nuclear power plants.

September brings the final days of summer and with it the early days of the fall semester. The excitement of attending college is at its peak: Students are glad to see friends, the weather is great, and the work hasn’t started. Not so much for college administrators, who are laboring to keep the roll-out going while dealing with increasing financial pressures.

It’s summertime and New Yorkers are paying more attention to swimming, barbeques, and picnics than they are to New York State policies.