State officials on Friday evening filed a U.S. District Court-ordered remedial plan for how to ensure that residents of adult homes in New York City have the opportunity to live in settings that are more integrated into the community. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled in September that about 4,300 people with mental illness [...]

   This year’s state $3.2 billion budget deficit is far from settled, but it’s time for the governor’s Division of Budget, the Legislature and the state Comptroller’s Office to start working on the 2010-11 spending plan.
   At 9:30 a.m. Monday, the day before the special budget-cutting session called by Gov. David Paterson for the current fiscal [...]

   Two Democratic senators plan to announce legislation tomorrow that would make it illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage to someone by dropping entire lines of insurance.

   The lawmakers cite the case of Ian Pearl, a 37-year-old with muscular dystrophy, whose around-the-clock nursing care costs more than $1 million a year. Rather than drop [...]

   The state has received a two-week extension to file a U.S. District Court-ordered remedial plan on how to place residents of adult homes in New York City in settings that are more integrated into the community.  Instead of this Friday, state officials have until Nov. 6.

   Besides needing more time to develop the plan, state officials [...]

   Two state employees have been indicted for allegedly blowing off work to hang out, sleep, watch TV and use and sell marijuana and cocaine in a “man cave” they set up at a public parking garage, according to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.

   Office of General Services employees Gary Pivoda, 48, of Latham and Louis Marciano, [...]

   A Senate committee investigating the conduct of Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, announced today that it has retained Daniel Alonso (pictured here), a partner in the Kaye Scholer LLP law firm, to serve as special counsel.

   “Dan’s vast experience as a state and federal prosecutor makes him the ideal candidate to assist this committee in [...]

   The National Organization for Women of New York just released a statement announcing another women’s group is calling for Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, to resign from office. The National Women’s Political Caucus of New York State has joined NOW, NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the New Agenda and the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, according to [...]

   Senate Democrats announced today that they have added two more public hearings on Gov. David Paterson’s proposal to close the state’s $3 billion budget deficit. One of the hearings runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Greenburgh Public Library in Elmsford, Westchester County, and the other is Nov. 2 in Buffalo.

   [...]

   Gov. David Paterson said there’s no reason why a number of non-budget issues shouldn’t be on the agenda for the upcoming legislative session, including a vote on legalizing gay marriage.

   “Well we have a number of issues that were not resolved at the end of the session because of the upheaval in the Senate, [...]

   Gov. David Paterson today that he’s glad the Senate has set up a panel to review the recent misdemeanor conviction of Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, for a domestic-violence incident involving the senator’s girlfriend. But Paterson declined to comment on the question of the hour—should Monserrate be forced to resign because of the conviction? (Had the [...]