Key members of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Medicaid Redesign Team held a news conference in Albany to claim victory today, announcing that spending on the health care program stayed $14 million under a cap last year. Health Commissioner Nirav Shah, Deputy Secretary for Health Jim Introne and state Medicaid Director Jason… Read More →
Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman said today that New York will become the first state in the nation to require pro-bono service as part of admission to the bar. But the plan was met warily by the state Bar Association and other legal groups. Some groups and law schools raised questions… Read More →
Following a news conference on the Assembly’s expected passage of the New York DREAM Fund, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver fielded questions from reporters on three major issues facing the state Legislature this year—campaign-finance reform, the minimum wage and whether teacher evaluations should be made public. Like Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Silver… Read More →
Senate Democrats today called on Republicans to back a public financing system for state political campaigns, saying that it’s the surest way to shift the focus from big money donors. In a news conference, about a dozen Democrats pushed for the passage of a bill sponsored by Sen. Eric Adams… Read More →
The state Assembly will pass legislation today to create a “DREAM Fund” to help children of immigrants pay for college. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, said the measure, which faces an uphill fight in the GOP-led Senate, would create the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Fund Commission…. Read More →
Occupy Albany protesters returned to the park across the street from the Capitol today as part of their “May Day” events in solidarity with similar movements held around the country, Gannett’s Aaron Scholder reports. The group of protesters assembled in Lafayette Park across Washington Avenue from the Capitol before chanting… Read More →
John Koelmel, president of First Niagara Financial Group Inc., was nominated today by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to serve on the New York Power Authority board and to serve as its chairman. Koelmel, whose nomination will require Senate approval, would succeed the current chairman Michael Townsend, a prominent Rochester-area attorney who… Read More →
New York will become the first state in the nation to require pro-bono service as part of admission to the bar, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman announced today. Each applicant for the bar will need to volunteer 50 hours of law service, with the aim of helping poor New Yorkers who… Read More →
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli was quick to cheer the news that Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon would be replaced as chairman of the company’s board, ending a dual role that had received increasing scrutiny in recent weeks. In a statement last week, DiNapoli was critical of the company for a… Read More →
Republican Rep. Bob Turner took his Senate campaign for a swing through the Capital Region today, where he met with various members of the media and later will do some “meet and greet fundraising,” he said. Turner is one of three Republicans locked in a primary to take on Democratic… Read More →