Just more than two weeks ago, the overwhelming majority of both the state Senate and Assembly passed an ethics reform bill. Governor David Paterson called it weak then and, on Tuesday, made good on his promise to veto the plan. “I think we can do better. I think the people of the State of New [...]
Senate President Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, on Wednesday defended the Senate’s regional offices and said his conference was not getting enough credit for legislation it had passed. The Senate operates an office on East Avenue and has offices in Buffalo, Syracuse and Long Island. They have been criticized for duplicating the work of each senator’s office. [...]
Turncoat Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. of The Bronx is reaping even more spoils for his return to the Democratic fold: a specially created $120,000-a-year Senate job for his son. A spokesman for the Senate majority leader defended the Senate’s hiring of Pedro G. Espada for the newly created post of “deputy director of intergovernmental relations,” [...]
The largest community grant from New York lawmakers this year is nearly $2.3 million to Prisoners Legal Services of New York Inc., which helps indigent inmates, a new report shows. The report on the Empire Center’s Web site lists the grant from 34 Assembly members among 8,250 so-called member items approved by the Assembly and [...]
A top aide to New York Senate Democrats has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in a case in which she had been accused of forgery. Prosecutors say Indira Noel faked the signature of a fellow legislative staffer in order to obtain his college transcripts. They say she was trying to get him fired for [...]
Governor David Paterson will push the State Senate to vote on same-sex marriage during a special session in early September. A spokesman for the governor said on Friday that the State Senate is currently not in the right mindset to take up the issue. The governor said he believes that marriage equality is an important [...]
Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada’s return gives Democrats a 32-30 majority for the first time since the June 8 coup. As part of the deal, Espada takes the title of Senate majority leader. Espada’s move comes after Democratic Gov. David Paterson’s shocking decision to appoint a lieutenant governor to preside over the Senate, giving his party [...]
According to published reports, Gov. David Paterson plans to take to the airwaves tonight to announce the appointment of a lieutenant governor. The appointment would in theory be able to break the deadlocked state Senate. Paterson says the gridlock caused by a fight for control of the chamber is holding up critical legislation. Reports indicate [...]
Today is the first payday since State Controller Thomas DiNapoli ordered last week that the biweekly paychecks of all 62 state senators be held until they resolve the dispute which has stifled progress in Albany for the past month. Senators will be losing about $3,000 every two weeks. There are still unresolved questions about whether [...]
All sides in a month long standoff in New York’s Senate say they’ve agreed to work out a power-sharing deal from two proposals. They say the conflict begun in a parliamentary coup June 8 could be over as early as Thursday. Gov. David Paterson and leaders of the Democratic conference and a Republican-dominated coalition say [...]
