Albany

BY E.J. McMAHON The details apparently would get rancid if exposed to daylight, but Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders have announced the broad outlines of their budget deal for fiscal 2022, which began April 1. The final budget bills, including the all-important

BY E.J. McMAHON New York and its local governments will soon be showered with tens of billions of dollars in federal stimulus cash—and yet the new state budget will pump even more money into New York’s biggest capital pork-barrel slush fund.

BY EDWARD RING The New York State Assembly this week adopted a bill requiring that all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state be “zero-emissions”—that is, fully electric-powered—by 2035. Sponsored by the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee chair, Steve

Since Democrats’ $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) was enacted in February, states have been busy designing ways to spend their share of the $350 billion in one-time federal “state and local aid” provided by that legislation. One of the most novel may be

The massive new infrastructure bill proposed by President Joe Biden makes more than two trillion dollars available to remake the American infrastructure system — and Western New York stands to be appropriated billions.  The federal government will fund 80% of

Buffalo businessman Patrick Whalen is being floated to lead the New York State Department of Transportation in the likely event that Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul will replace the increasingly embattled Governor Andrew Cuomo. Whalen is a longtime civic leader who

Sources tell The Chronicle that longtime Western New York political operative and Bolton St. Johns lobbyist Camille Brandon is likely to lead Kathy Hochul‘s gubernatorial campaign in the increasingly likely event that Governor Andrew Cuomo is removed from office. Observers say

With Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s looming impeachment increasingly difficult to ignore, Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul has begun transition planning in the event that she will be called on by the Assembly to perform her constitutional duties. Sources familiar with her thinking

The progressive wing of the Assembly Democratic caucus is becoming increasingly disgruntled with the leadership of Carl Heastie in recent weeks, as the Speaker pulls out all of the stops to play defense for New York’s embattled and newly disgraced governor.

Sharp reductions in state funding for core public health functions over the past decade may have weakened New York’s defenses against the coronavirus pandemic, according to testimony delivered today by Bill Hammond, the Empire Center’s senior fellow for health policy.

BY E.J. McMahon With less than a month to go before the April 1 start of New York State’s 2022 fiscal year, Governor Cuomo has been politically wounded by the allegations of bullying and sexual harassment now being investigated by

A new report released today by the Empire Center raises questions about the factors contributing to high COVID infection and mortality rates in New York nursing homes—and what reforms should be adopted in response. “The updated data shows there is no

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins are open to impeaching Governor Andrew Cuomo if it’s discovered that his administration intentionally falsified the reporting of COVID-related nursing home deaths earlier this year.  Each chamber is contemplating committee

Republican State Senate Leader Rob Ortt is calling on Howard Zucker to resign his post as New York State’s Commissioner of Health, following revelations this morning that the Cuomo administration has undercounted COVID-related nursing home deaths by as much as

U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today announced the inclusion of more than $5.6 billion for public transportation agencies across New York state in the recently-passed government funding package. For

BY E.J. McMAHON The two top priorities Governor Cuomo identified in his State of the State speech Monday morning were “Defeat COVID” and “Vaccinate New York.” Judging by my personal experience of the Health Department’s labyrinthine vaccine appointment system, the

The Cuomo administration is refusing to release a full count of coronavirus deaths in New York nursing homes for another two months, until March 22. In a letter to the Empire Center on Wednesday, the Health Department claimed that it needs a

BY E.J. McMAHON State tax receipts in the month of December came in $1.4 billion above the latest projection by Governor Cuomo’s Division of the Budget (DOB), according to a cash report released late today by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s