New York State Legislature

With state lawmakers back in Albany, a new Siena Poll shows half of New Yorkers view the governor and the legislature favorably, but pay raises are another story.

The Democratic-led New York State legislature is set for a big week. Action is planned Monday to implement early voting in the state, and on Tuesday to grant more civil rights to transgender New Yorkers. Also on Tuesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo will release his budget proposal.

With the legislature returning to Albany tomorrow, good-government groups are promoting legislation they say would fight corruption in state contracting.

Former U.S. Secretary of State and presidential nominee Hillary Clinton joined New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday to promote plans to codify abortion rights in state law in the new legislative session.

November’s elections are behind us, and Wednesday, their consequences will be felt when the full state legislature convenes in Albany.

Democratic New York state legislators are beginning the New Year with some resentment towards Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo over a deal that gives them a big raise – but comes with several strings attached.

With Gov. Andrew Cuomo promising an aggressive agenda during the first 100 days of his third term, it figures to be a busy session when the full state legislature convenes in Albany January 9.

On January 9, Democrats will officially take over the New York state Senate for just the third time in more than a century. They expect to act quickly on a number of measures that have been bottled up in the chamber for years, but there could be some friction between them and the state’s Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo.

It looks like New York's 213 state lawmakers are getting a pay raise despite some last-minute hopes the package could be modified.

A government reform group has filed a lawsuit to stop a pay raise granted to New York state lawmakers by a compensation commission. The conservative-leaning Government Justice Center says the salary increase is unconstitutional, because it also “radically change the rules surrounding serving in the state Legislature.” The group filed papers in State Supreme Court in Albany Friday morning. Some lawmakers are also angry over the commission’s recommended restrictions on their outside income and stipends.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he backs a pay commission’s recommendation that he and the legislature receive a more than 60 percent pay increase over the next three years. The move would make the Democrat the highest paid governor in the nation.

A pay commission for New York’s statewide elected officials recommends a hefty increase to the salaries of the governor, state Senators, and Assemblymembers, but there are some strings attached. 

Democrats who will run the state Senate in January say a top priority will be to expand access to voting in New York. Advocates say there are several steps they can take.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called into WAMC's Roundtable program on Friday and spoke with Dr. Alan Chartock about a variety of issues, including: Amazon, the snowstorm, presidential politics, pay raises for the legislature, single-payer health care and more.

The State Senate races are among the closest contests in New York on November 6th. Democrats need just one seat to take the majority away from Republicans. Spending on the races is growing intense, and accusations are flying.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that a group consisting of New York state government and law enforcement officials, advocates and academics has been appointed to draft legislation for regulating recreational marijuana.

New York’s leaders are continuing to struggle with actions in Congress on the federal budget and tax overhaul that could adversely affect the state’s finances.

WAMC's Jim Levulis speaks with Ken Lovett of the New York Daily News about the end of a special legislative session in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo declaring a state of emergency in regards to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the expansion of ride-hailing services in upstate New York and Long Island.

The New York state Legislature finally ended its 2017 legislative session, after the Assembly voted overnight on a privately negotiated omnibus bill, and the Senate finally finished on Thursday afternoon. The messy process drew condemnation from both sides of the aisle.

Lawmakers came back to the state Capitol at the command of Governor Andrew Cuomo, who called an extraordinary session of the legislature at 1 p.m. Wednesday to deal with unfinished business. But, as the afternoon wore on, there were still no agreements on how to tackle the remaining items.

One week after the New York state legislature declared the 2017 session over, Governor Andrew Cuomo is commanding that lawmakers return for a special session at 1 p.m. Wednesday to deal with some unfinished business. 

When the legislative session ended on June 21, New York lawmakers left behind a lot of unfinished business, including a failure to act on ethics reform proposals in light of an economic development scandal in the Cuomo Administration.    

Troy could be getting a financial boost. Word came this week that the Rensselaer County city would receive funding after several steps to share services and lower costs were approved by the state. Meanwhile, inaction during the state legislative session threatens tax revenues.

Governor Andrew Cuomo says the New York state Legislature fell down on the job by leaving town without passing an extension of mayoral control for the New York City schools, and he has not ruled out calling them back for a special session.

Legislative leaders are dug in on remaining issues in the 2017 session, and are accusing each other of unfairly linking unrelated items to renewal of mayoral control over New York City schools. As time is running out for scheduled meetings.

The New York state legislative session is drawing to a close. Democrats and Republicans are digging in on the remaining issues of 2017 including a measure to extend the New York City mayor’s control of the public schools, which has now been linked to a number of diverse issues affecting people in the rest of the state.

One of the top remaining issues before the New York state legislature adjourns for the summer is fixing problems in the state’s economic development contracts. That’s after a scandal led to federal corruption charges against nine former associates of Governor Andrew Cuomo.