Conservative Party: Don’t Walk Back On Tax
The state Conservative Party, a strange bedfellows ally of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, released a statement backing up Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, for opposing the millionaires tax....
View ArticlePro-Millionaires Tax Ads Continue
Strong Economy for All, a coalition of liberal advocacy groups and labor unions, is releasing another slew of advertisements at state senators in an attempt to get them to support a tax on those...
View ArticleAnti-Fracking Advocates Hold Demonstration
It’s not just the state budget that has people protesting on the second floor. About 90 people staged a noisy demonstration in the War Room of the State Capitol on Thursday opposing the controversial...
View ArticleRepublicans: Uh, We Pass The Tax Cap
Senate Republicans got into a war of words today with their Democratic counterparts over the lack of a property tax cap in the final budget plan. The spending plan, which may or may not be...
View ArticleUpstate Mayor Mails Ritchie On Property Tax Cap
Scott Burto, the Republican-turned-Democrat mayor of West Carthage, Jefferson County, sent a letter to Sen. Patricia Ritchie over concerns that lawmakers aren’t taking on onerous state mandates. From...
View ArticleSilver: I Packed Extra Underwear
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, was non-committal on the prospects of a budget being finished today. Speaking to reporters after meeting with some members of his Democratic conference,...
View ArticleSenate GOP: $270M In Education Restorations
Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, Schenectady County, emerged from a closed-door Senate Republican conference to say that at about $270 million has been restored to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed $1.5...
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Budget Done Today? Not So Fast (Updated with video)
Despite rosy predictions from lawmakers that a state budget was close to completion, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said this afternoon that major issues remained unresolved. “We’ve made good progress all along...
View ArticleSave New York: A “Historic” Moment
The Committee to Save New York, a coalition of business groups and private-sector unions that marshaled its resources to back Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget cuts, called Sunday’s agreement a “historic”...
View ArticleCuomo Dives Into Budget Details
This is a little late, but here’s video of the Sunday news conference with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders announcing a tentative $132.5 billion budget agreement. Highlights include: —The...
View ArticleCorrection Officers Union “Disturbed” By Prison Plan
The tentative proposal to downsize the state’s prison beds by 3,700—which is 200 more than initially recommended by Gov. Andrew Cuomo—drew a withering response from the union that represents...
View ArticleLive In Our Bureau: Siena Poll On State Budget
Siena College pollster Steve Greenberg is our guest on Live from Albany. He’ll be talking about the state budget, voter concerns and issue left for Gov. Andrew Cuomo. gannettnewyork on livestream.com....
View ArticleBonacic Still Wanted Millionaires Tax
Sen. John Bonacic, R-Mount Hope, Orange County, said he had still held out hope that the millionaires tax would be included in the final spending plan. The $132.5 billion tentative budget agreement...
View ArticleConference Committees Close Down, Budget Bills Up Next (Updated)
Gannett’s Jacob Fischler attended the final Senate-Assembly budget general conference committee—known as the “mothership”—which ended today as lawmakers now turn their attention to the agreement inked...
View ArticleCuomo In Driver’s Seat On Prison Closures
Gov. Andrew Cuomo got more than he originally asked for with the closure and consolidation of state prison facilities. Among the changes from his Feb. 1 budget proposal: -The state will now look to...
View ArticleIt’s A Capitol Sleepover
The aides who worked in the Spitzer administration may have called it the “haunted house” but don’t tell that to the advocates planning a marathon sleepover/protest at the Capitol Building. A variety...
View ArticleFirst Budget Bills Online: Criminal Justice and TED
The first budget bills of the year have been put on the state Senate’s website, as Albany strives to attempt a somewhat on-time budget for the 2011-12 fiscal year. The first budget bill, as it usual...
View ArticleSilver: Budget In Place “As Soon As We Can”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said the budget will be approved “as soon as we can” and a spending plan may be in place by Wednesday evening. The Democratic-led Assembly is so far...
View ArticleSkelos: Keep Budget Momentum Going
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said his house was ready to take up budget bills as well tonight, with some state operations measures, transportation, economic development and...
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Capitol Under Tight Security For Budget
As protest organizers claim thousands of demonstrators will appear at the state Capitol to rally against budget cuts, security in the building has become noticeably tighter. You can watch the Senate...
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