Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

There are only a couple of weeks to go before the New York state budget is due, and Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislature have a lot of decisions to make, including how much more to spend on schools, and whether to impose new taxes on the wealthy. Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie spoke with Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt about some related items that may be part of the budget, including the public financing of political campaigns and the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Evolving attitudes about marijuana are resonating among some elected officials in New York.

The New York legislative session is due to end in three weeks, and some state lawmakers believe they will accomplish so little in that time, that they are talking about leaving a week early. 

A top lawmaker in New York says that if the state legalizes recreational marijuana it should also consider expunging marijuana-related criminal records that can make it harder for many people to find jobs or housing.

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced plans for an open interview process for the legislature to appoint a new state Attorney General, now that Eric Schneiderman has resigned over domestic violence allegations.  

The state Legislature's most powerful Democrat is planning to take another tour across New York state.

Advocates for DACA recipients, DREAMers, rallied in Albany today —  one day after the state Assembly passed "The DREAM Act" for the eighth year in a row.

The national movement to revive the Poor People’s Campaign launched half a century ago by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to the state capitol in Albany Monday. 

Lawmakers in New York and Connecticut are pushing to ban the sale and possession of  “bump stocks,” devices that convert semiautomatic weapons into automatic firearms. 

Part two of a new Siena Research Institute poll released this week finds Governor Andrew Cuomo enjoying his best favorability rating in years. The poll also measured New Yorkers' feelings about the new tax law. 

Officials in several states are calling for the removal of statues and monuments along with the renaming of buildings and streets associated with the Confederate States of America. 

The often reticent New York state Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie, showed a different side of himself when the lifelong Star Trek fan visited a museum in New York’s North Country that replicates the fictional Starship Enterprise.

On Wednesday New York state lawmakers gathered in Albany to kick off the 2017 session.

The New York state Assembly Speaker confirms that federal investigators are looking into some of his actions while he was head of the Bronx Democratic Party, but he says he’s done nothing wrong.

Legislative leaders in Albany say they hope to have final agreements on the state budget by evening, and print bills Tuesday night, to begin voting on Thursday.

Senate Republicans say their version of the state budget will include a 9 year phase of tax cuts that would eventually total a 25 percent reduction for middle class taxpayers.

 The state’s  legislative leaders crossed paths literally this week, when both scheduled a stroll at the same time along the walkway over the Hudson River. In addition to taking in the view, they had a lot to say about priority issues, including raising the minimum wage and funding public transit and road and bridge repairs. 

The state’s Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Bronx native, has spent a portion of the summer touring upstate New York. The Speaker replaced Sheldon Silver who was arrested on corruption charges earlier this year.

Heastie has been to Buffalo, Binghamton, Syracuse and Utica and surrounding areas as part of a listening tour to familiarize himself with issues that might not be front and center in New York City. 

“I’m used to cement,” said, Heastie who said says he’s “gained an appreciation” of the beauty of upstate regions.

Nearly one week after the New York State legislative session was supposed to end, Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have announced a deal on all major end of session issues, including renewal of New York City’s rent laws and a related property tax cap, as well as a new tax rebate program for property owners.

Talks between Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders continued Tuesday over the renewal of New York City’s rent laws, and other related issues, including the continuation of a property tax cap and sales tax increases for counties, as they faced another expiration deadline.  

The New York state legislature is due to adjourn later this week, but there’s still no agreement by Assembly Democrats on an education tax credit sought by Governor Andrew Cuomo that would allow donors a tax credit when they give up to a million dollars for private school scholarships and some public school programs.

The Speaker of the Assembly is defending himself against a newspaper report that he profited from his late mother’s embezzlement crimes.

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has assembled a small group of Democratic lawmakers to study ways to make state government more transparent. The Bronx Democrat announced the appointments to the 12-member panel Friday.

Heastie says the panel, led by  Assembly members J. Gary Pretlow of Mount Vernon and Brian Kavanagh of Manhattan, will recommend changes to encourage more openness and public participation in the legislative process, while looking for ways to better harness technology, including improvements to the Assembly's website.

The recently completed state budget was the first real test of the new New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s leadership, who became the leader of that house in early February.  

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie gave his first broadcast interview to public radio and television. In it, he expressed his frustrations over New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision to link numerous unrelated items to the state budget.

  The next step in the state budget dance, both houses have released their versions of a state spending plan. The Senate and Assembly each increase education well above Governor Cuomo’s proposed level, and each leave key elements of the governor’s plan out.

Both the Assembly and the Senate significantly increase school aid spending from Governor Cuomo’s budget, with the Assembly recommending a $1.8 billion increase, and the Senate prosing $1.9 billion more.