ALBANY—Since it doesn't look like there's any way they can stop the budget they've decried from going through, State Senate Republicans are making a gesture toward obstructionism.
Here's a photo of the half-empty chamber. As Liz points out, the Senate was supposed to convene at 9:30 this morning, and after Republicans didn't move from Read More
ALBANY—The point was raised in his article this morning, but columnist Jay Gallagher just asked Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver point-blank whether the decision to bypass conference committees for the state budget violates a budget-reform law passed in 2007.
"If there are no differences then the act doesn't require you to hold conference committees because Read More
ALBANY—I asked State Senator Dale Volker, a Buffalo-area Republican, about reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws -- and he responded by warning against creating a "jail-break," and by citing the current situation of State Senator Frank Padavan, who despite holding an apparent lead over challenger Jim Gennaro by several hundred votes, has not been Read More
That's the tally oin the State Senate, with Republicans holding a one-seat lead, a razor-thin hold on the chamber that the party has controlled for almost all of the last 70 years.
In past election cycles, the overall contest has come down to a few competitive districts. This year, a Read MoreThe appearances stand in contrast to a Read More
Advocates of legalizing medicinal marijuana in New York are now pinning their hopes on, of all people, conservatives.Here's a pro-medicinal marijuana ad that appeared in a local Brooklyn paper this week, targeting Conservative-Republican state Senator Marty Golden, and featuring Joel Peacock, a member of the state’s Conservative Party. The ad says that Peacock suffers from Read More
