The New York state Senate Republican Conference Antisemitism Working Group unveiled a report and recommendations Wednesday to Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic lawmakers to address and combat antisemitism in communities.

The group, formed last year, held multiple meetings and roundtable hearings in Rockland and Nassau counties. They are urging for the Legislature to act on five bills to be a part of the state budget, which include:

The New York state Senate on Tuesday passed legislation that would require the disclosure of information relating to lobbying for the nomination or confirmation of individuals to state office positions.

It aims to close a loophole that allows lobbyists to work in secret when promoting or opposing candidates for judgeships and other state offices. The bill, which passed the Senate 44-17, would require lobbyists to disclose their activities related to appointments that require Senate confirmation, just as they already disclose activities related to promoting or opposing legislation.

New York state Sen. Pete Harckham, the chairman of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, has proposed legislation that would create a new limit of tax credits for New Yorkers to go solar.

The proposal, which is currently in committee, would give New Yorkers who transition their residence to rooftop solar a maximum per-household tax credit of $10,000. Harckham joined Capital Tonight to discuss how the proposal would work.

The New York state Senate on Tuesday passed legislation aimed to make utility bills easier to pay for ratepayers, including the NY Heat Act, which aligns utility regulation with state climate justice and emission reduction targets.

The NY HEAT Act, which passed 40-22, had been approved by the state Senate last year but the Assembly and Gov. Kathy Hochul have yet to find agreement on all variables of the legislation. Hochul included key provisions in her 2025 state budget, but not the entire piece of legislation.

A housing expert in the city remains optimistic about tackling ongoing housing issues despite the City Council's decision on Tuesday to extend the city’s housing emergency declaration, keeping the Rent Stabilization Law in effect until April 2027.

The declaration, renewed every three years when the vacancy rate dips below 5%, was prompted by the current vacancy rate of 1.4%, the lowest since 1968.

New York state budget negotiations kicked off in earnest on Monday with the landing of what is known as the "mothership."

Known officially as the General Conference Committee, the panel of legislative leaders will drive the process of negotiations toward a deal with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The New York state Senate and Assembly’s one-house budgets released this week deliver good news for an array of interests from school districts to hospitals, to cannabis growers. They do this by raising $2.2 billion in new taxes on the state’s corporations as well as the state’s very highest earners, something Gov. Kathy Hochul has said is “a non-starter."

According to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the tax increases are important because the needs in the state are so great.

Democratic state lawmakers are letting Gov. Kathy Hochul know where their priorities are in what’s known as their “one-house” budget proposals that were released earlier Tuesday.

The plans will serve as roadmaps for the next couple of weeks in negotiations leading up to the state’s April 1 budget deadline.

The New York state Senate’s housing plan is both broad in that it leaves many details to the negotiation process, and specific in that it proposes bill language covering an array of new ideas.

“We’re proposing that the state invest very substantially in constructing new housing on a large scale and rapidly,” state Sen. Brian Kavanagh, the Senate’s chair of the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, told Capital Tonight.

A New York state lawmaker is introducing legislation to allow for absentee voting in instances where personal religious observation conflicts with elections.

State Sen. Iwen Chu, a Democrat from Brooklyn, said in a release Tuesday that a Jewish constituent contacted her office saying a polling location for a neighbor of their's was located at a site where her own personal faith prohibited her to step foot into — a non-Jewish house of worship.

The next phase of Albany’s budget negotiations kicked off Monday night, as both Democratic state Senate and Assembly conferences were poised to release their “one house” budget proposals.

Only the state Senate’s document was released online late Monday night as R1952. The documents establish the Legislature’s stance on Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2024 $233 billion budget proposal released in January.

New state legislation is looking to "clear the air" of underaged vaping.

A new bill is intended to ban the sale of e-cigarette products that resemble school supplies, toys, or are packaged in a way to appeal to minors.

New York Republican lawmakers are once again calling for changes and outright rollbacks of the state’s bail laws, pointing to recent incidents in the state as why the law is problematic.

First passed in 2019, Democrats, who hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state Legislature, have amended the law three times since then, the most recent being last year.

There is currently no language in New York state law that clarifies frozen embryos created for in vitro fertilization procedures are not classified as people.

State Sen. Jack Martins, R-Old Westbury, has introduced legislation to do that.

In 1989, a gallon of gas cost around a buck, and a ticket to the movies took less than $5 out of your pocket.

That year was also the last year that the wage replacement benefit in New York was increased. Now, state lawmakers, including Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Cooney, of the Rochester area, is looking to increase that benefit from $170 per week to $1,100. Cooney joined Capital Tonight to break it down.

New York state Sen. Brian Kavanagh is among lawmakers in Albany pushing for a dramatic increase in housing construction across New York City and the state amid ongoing budget deliberations.

During an appearance on "Mornings On 1" Thursday, Kavanagh, who represents Lower Manhattan and chairs the State Senate Housing Committee, also emphasized the need for bolstered tenant protection laws alongside housing expansion efforts.

New York’s redistricting saga continues.

Democratic state lawmakers introduced legislation Monday night creating their own congressional map after they voted down a map created by the Independent Redistricting Commission. The question remains when the Legislature will vote on it.

The New York state Legislature’s newly introduced congressional maps don’t appear to be the blatant power grab that Republicans have been fearing, but they could serve to put an additional Democratic seat in the win column for New York.

According to redistricting expert Jeff Wice, an adjunct professor of law and senior fellow at the New York Census and Redistricting Institute, the new lines may put first-term Republican U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro, of the 19th District, in jeopardy.

New York state lawmakers for years have considered the possibility of imposing term limits on themselves but so far none of those proposals or campaign promises have come to fruition.

"Hope springs eternal but I know it's an uphill battle," said state Assemblymember Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster.

New York's Democratic-controlled state Legislature rejected new congressional maps drawn by the state's Independent Redistricting Commission.

The proposal slightly altered the maps drawn by a special master for the 2022 elections.

Bringing high-speed rail to New York has been a goal for some state lawmakers for years and now one feels that the state should act sooner rather than later.

State Sen. Jeremy Cooney, of the Rochester area, joined Capital Tonight Thursday to discuss the topic.

Seventeen New York hospitals and health systems sued 1,600 patients, collecting $9 million in medical debts since 2022, according to a USA Today report released last July. One woman's husband was sued for more than $10,000 by SUNY Upstate Medical University before he passed away from pancreatic cancer.

“I couldn’t understand why they would sue a terminally ill man – and neither could he," said Linda Koberna.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Capital Tonight on Friday, New York state Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger discussed health care, raising revenue, housing and the new congressional maps approved Thursday by the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).

According to Krueger, the full Senate Democratic conference has yet to review the maps, but she wasn’t impressed by what she saw.

Under a new state law, starting in 2025, local elections outside of New York City, with some exceptions including offices like judges, sheriffs and district attorneys, will move from odd years to even years to line up with state and federal elections.

The bill's sponsor, state Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, said it's all about turnout.

New York state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt was less critical of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive budget proposal than he has been about her position on the influx of migrants.

“There were things in [the governor’s executive budget] that I think dovetail with priorities of ours,” Ortt said, meaning the Senate Minority Conference. “She talked a lot about affordability.”

New York Republican leaders in the state Legislature are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to deploy the state's National Guard to Texas and New York's northern border to assist in the flow of migrants coming into the U.S., according to a letter they sent Thursday.

"More than 8 million border encounters have occurred since President Biden took office. In 2023, over 2.5 million migrants entered the country through the southern border. In December alone, 302,034 encounters were reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. On New York’s Northern Border, 91,640 illegal crossings were reported in the past year," the letter states, signed by state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt and Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay.

Gov. Kathy Hochul this week approved a plan for the state to hire migrants to fill 4,000 open entry-level state positions in roles including food service and equipment repair. The plan would help to cut down on the current 10,000 estimated vacant positions the state is seeking to fill.

Under Hochul’s proposal, the migrants would not need to take the state’s civil service exam. The Civil Service Commission voted to approve the measure on Jan. 18.

New York state Sen. Neil Breslin, the current most tenured member of the Legislature's upper chamber, won't run for reelection this year, state Assemblyman John McDonald told Spectrum News 1 Wednesday evening.

The Democrat has represented parts of the Capital Region for more than 25 years, currently holding the Senate's 46th District, which consists of parts of Albany, Schenectady and Montgomery counties.

Commercial real estate worker and political advocate Caleb Slater officially began his campaign Thursday for a state Senate seat in Central New York.

Slater is running for the Republican and Conservative Party nomination for the 48th state Senate District seat, currently held by Democrat Rachel May, who has been in office since 2019.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $233 billion spending plan is a roughly $6 billion increase from her proposed budget last year.

The plan includes new spending on education, health care and the ongoing influx of migrants.

The New York state Senate Republican Conference on Wednesday unveiled “A New Hope For The Empire State,” their legislative agenda for 2024.

They say they are gearing their agenda toward issues that impact “everyday New Yorkers” while blasting Democratic policies they say have created safety and quality of life issues for the state.

Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a $233 billion spending plan for the state, including funding for asylum seekers without raising taxes.

Hochul's proposal sets in motion the budget negotiations with the state legislature.

YWCA of Syracuse and Onondaga County Executive Director Fanny Villarreal announced her candidacy Thursday for a state Senate seat in Central New York.

Villarreal, a Republican, will seek the 48th state Senate District seat, currently held by Democrat Rachel May, who has been in office since 2019.

As New York Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined her legislative priorities for 2024 in her State of the State address on Tuesday, Republican leaders criticized her for what she did not discuss and framed some of her ideas as solutions to problems self-inflicted by years of Democratic control in Albany.

“With a $4 billion budget gap, there was no commitment to keep state spending in check. Illegal migrants are crossing the southern border in droves, but New York has yet to figure out how to properly handle the ongoing influx,” state Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay said in a statement. “Despite New York owning the nation’s worst outmigration numbers, there is no concrete plan to ease financial pressures on families and businesses. And after years of pro-criminal policies that undermine public safety, there is still no interest in increasing accountability or fixing glaring problems in the state’s criminal justice center.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed several notable bills late in the year, including the Grieving Families Act.

But one vetoed bill that hasn’t received much attention is the Tropical Deforestation-Free Procurement Act, sponsored by state Sen. Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Pat Fahy.

This New York legislative session will differ from the last two under Gov. Kathy Hochul in a couple of ways. It’s an election year, which means lawmakers may not be willing to cut spending; and ironically, instead of surpluses (thanks to federal spending and tax revenue), the state faces a $4.3 billion budget gap.

But state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins says she has a positive outlook, even on the contentious issue of affordable housing.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- As time was running out for the governor to sign legislation banning non-compete agreements in New York state, the bill's sponsor felt they had reached a compromise to alleviate some of her concerns.

State Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, said lawmakers were willing to allow the clauses for employees making $250,000 a year or more but the deal fell apart.

Lawmakers will be returning to the Capitol Wednesday for the first day of the state Legislative session.

The start of the session comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul has vetoed a number of high-profile bills that the legislature passed last year.

New York state Assemblymember Al Stirpe says he is ending his campaign for a state Senate seat in Central New York and will instead seek reelection to the state's lower chamber, the Democratic lawmaker told Spectrum News 1 on Wednesday.

Stirpe launched his campaign for the 50th state Senate District in October and had been endorsed by independent Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh.

Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro is joining the race for a state Senate seat in Central New York in 2024.

The Republican announced Thursday he will seek the seat representing New York’s 50th state Senate District, which includes Syracuse’s northern, western and eastern suburbs, as well as Central Square and the cities of Fulton and Oswego. The seat is being vacated by Democratic state Sen. John Mannion, who is running for Congress.

On Tuesday, advocates made their way to the state Capitol to call for Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation that would ban so-called non-compete clauses for employees.

The bill’s Senate sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Sean Ryan, joined Capital Tonight to discuss the bill, respond to criticisms, and the latest on the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins.

New York state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris is introducing a bill aimed to increase the transparency of New York's criminal courts following a report that shows a very small percentage of criminal court decisions are published, the senator announced Monday.

The report, from Reinvent Albany, and co-authored by Scrutinize, said at least 94% of written criminal court decisions in New York are not published and calls for decisions to be published online to improve public accountability.

A state senator is pushing for legislation to install changing tables in public places for adults with special needs.

Betty Williams must consider whether there will be access to changing tables each time she’s invited to an event.

A state lawmaker from Brooklyn has been accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman early in his legislative career when he went to her home to discuss disaster relief efforts for Haiti.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses Sen. Kevin Parker of assaulting her in 2004, during his first term. The woman said she had been working with Parker to coordinate the delivery of items and donations to Haiti after a devastating flood that affected the country and other neighboring Caribbean Islands.

New York state Sen. Jim Tedisco, a Republican from the Capital Region, joined Capital Tonight to discuss his call for a renewal of the Stretch Limousine Passenger Safety Task Force, which was created after the 2018 Schoharie limo crash which claimed 20 lives.

New York state Senate Health Committee Chair Gustavo Rivera joined Capital Tonight on Thursday to discuss his recent statewide tour with elected officials and stakeholders on the health care work force in the Empire State.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- New York state Senate Banking Committee Chair James Sanders says it's time for the state to get ahead of the curve when it comes to the emerging industries of digital currency, cryptocurrency and blockchain.

"Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Is it something that New York state should push? Should we get to the head of this? Is this something that needs more regulations?" said Sanders, a Democrat from Queens.

Former Oswego County Legislature Minority Leader Tom Drumm will run for a state Senate seat in Central New York in 2024.

The Democrat announced Wednesday he will seek the seat representing New York’s 50th state Senate District, which includes Syracuse’s northern, western and eastern suburbs, as well as Central Square and the cities of Fulton and Oswego. The seat is being vacated by Democratic state Sen. John Mannion, who is running for Congress.

Days after a 16-year-old was arrested for allegedly shooting a security guard at a high school football game in Utica, two New York state lawmakers say they plan to introduce legislation that includes increasing penalties for people under 18 to illegally possess a gun and make it easier for them to be tried in criminal court.

Republican state Sen. Joe Griffo, of Rome, and Democratic Assemblywoman Buttenschon, of Marcy, said the bill would also allow judges to use mental health evaluations during a pre-trial detention hearing and allow them to issue a secure order if a defendent is determined not to have strong ties to the area.

Onondaga County Legislature Chairman James Rowley will run for a state Senate seat in Central New York.

Rowley on Thursday will officially announce his campaign for the Republican and Conservative party endorsements for New York’s 50th state Senate District, which includes Syracuse’s northern, western and eastern suburbs, as well as Central Square and the cities of Fulton and Oswego.

Two Democrats in the state Senate who represent suburban New York districts are formally opposing a proposed increase in Thruway toll prices.

Thruway Authority officials are considering the first toll increase for E-Z Pass tagholders since 2010, with a plan that would increase tolls by 5% in 2024 and another 5% in 2027.

The final week of the New York legislative session typically means last-minute lobbying, some horse-trading and the resurrection of bills that had once been considered dead. It’s a chaotic time.

On Tuesday’s Capital Tonight, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined host Susan Arbetter to discuss a few key pieces of legislation, including Good Cause Eviction and housing, Clean Slate, a packaging reduction bill and a bill to regulate lobbying around judicial nominations.

The top Republican in the New York state Senate on Thursday in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul raised concerns with plans to potentially house migrants north of New York City at State University of New York campuses as well as hotels and motels.

Separately, a group of Democratic lawmakers in a different letter to Hochul called on her to consider as many dormitories at SUNY campuses as possible in addressing the housing issue.

A bill to allow supervised injection sites in New York state advanced in the state Senate on Tuesday as supporters hope for its final approval by the end of the legislative session on June 8.

Supporters of the legislation have argued the measure is a potentially effective way of addressing a sharp rise in opioid use and overdose deaths in New York over the last several years.

Governmental entities would be required to take simple steps to increase their cybersecurity efforts amid a years-long rash of ransomware cases and cyberattacks affecting thousands of municipalities across the country in recent years.

A measure backed state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez would require governments in New York state to use multifactor authentication for local and remote access to networks. The measure would also require public websites to encrypt exchanges and comply with basic privacy standards.

The law for requiring ignition interlock devices could be strengthened in New York under a measure being pushed Monday by advocates who hope the provision will reduce drunken driving in the state.

The measure is meant to address what supporters of the proposal call loopholes in the existing law that have allowed most people convicted of drunken driving from being required to install an ignition interlock device.

New York lawmakers want to crack down on what they call "predatory" marketing of unhealthy foods to kids under a bill that advanced in the state Senate on Wednesday.

The bill would expand the definition of "false and misleading" ads to include marketing of unhealthy food aimed at kids. At the same time, lawmakers want to expand the education of healthy, locally grown food for kids.

Republican lawmakers are trying to reverse a provision in New York's $229 billion state budget that shifted $1 billion in Medicaid funding away from county governments.

County leaders have warned that without the combined $1 billion from federal medical assistance percentage funds, they could be forced to consider property tax increases.

The state Senate advanced a measure Wednesday that would expand a ban in New York on the sale of exotic animals, part of a package of measures meant to address animal welfare and curtail cruelty.

The bill, yet to pass in the state Assembly, would define a wild animal in New York as an indigenous, non-domesticated animal that is native to the country in which they live.

The federal government needs to provide more assistance to local governments in New York to handle the influx of migrants as Mayor Eric Adams plans to send asylum seekers to counties north of New York City, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday said.

New York state's approved $229 billion budget included $1 billion in aid with migrant costs overall, Stewart-Cousins noted, picking up about a third of the overall costs for New York City.

Republicans in the state Senate and Assembly Wednesday urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to allow for ample time to review any finalized state budget agreement and not rush the process when a deal is finally struck.

"There's a lot in there," said state Sen. Tom O'Mara. "There will be a lot in there. There's a lot unknown."

New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins says Democrats in the upper house will stand firm to include tenant protections in the final state budget, which is 19 days late.

Budget negotiations broke down this week as the governor and legislative leaders discussed how to fund affordable housing programs and incentives.

After a historic failed confirmation vote, New York has a confirmed nominee for chief judge of the Court of Appeals — Judge Rowan Wilson. Now the process for selecting a judge for the top court is under the microscope. Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democrat, told Capital Tonight that the current system is “arbitrary and it’s not transparent.”

Gianaris says nothing has been put on the table yet but there are contemplations about a “simpler, stripped down” nominating process that would allow the governor to appoint anyone they’d like and then have that nominee face Senate confirmation, similar to the federal model.

The New York state Senate's Judiciary Committee voted to advance Judge Rowan Wilson to a full floor vote to be the next chief judge on the state Court of Appeals.

The vote followed a three-hour hearing Monday for Wilson.

Republicans in the state Senate on Tuesday criticized the escalating spending in New York's budget as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul work toward a deal by Saturday's deadline.

But reaching a deal between Democrats who control the state Legislature and Hochul remains seemingly elusive at this point, and lawmakers in both parties were expecting to work at least into next week to reach a compromise.

There is a New York state budgetary issue that has emerged only recently that could have a significant impact on education in the state: The governor’s budget would shift Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funds in the Medicaid program from county governments that administer Medicaid to the state.

When asked about the cost-shift earlier this week, Gov. Kathy Hochul pointed to the billions of additional dollars sent to school districts this year. School taxes are one of the primary costs facing counties.

Thursday marked three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. It also corresponded with a legislative budget hearing on workforce issues which revisited several of the state’s biggest failures from that time, including the billions of dollars lost to unemployment insurance fraud.

One of the issues that remains outstanding is how businesses, which have paid higher payroll taxes due to that fraud, will be made whole.

Legislation floating around the New York state Capitol would task a “community led coalition” to study the harms of slavery, and thereafter, to determine the reparations needed.

Jabari Brisport, a Brooklyn Democrat, who sponsors the legislation in the state Senate told Capital Tonight that “reparations are extremely late” and adds it’s “better late than never.”

There are no hard feelings over how the Hector LaSalle confirmation was handled by Democrats in the state Senate, Gov. Kathy Hochul this week said in an interview with WAMC.

The interview was recorded before the state Senate held a last-minute vote on Wednesday that ultimately rejected LaSalle's nomination by Hochul to become the state's chief judge. A month earlier, LaSalle's nomination had been turned down by the state Senate Judiciary Committee.

Health benefits for volunteer firefighters could be strengthened in New York under legislation that cleared the Democratic-led state Senate this week.

The measure would make permanent a law that covers disability determinations for volunteer firefighters who are facing lung disabilities.

Hector LaSalle watched by himself from the gallery in the New York state Senate as lawmakers deliberated for about an hour whether he should become chief judge.

In the end, the first Court of Appeals chief judge nominee to lose two state Senate votes over the course of a month left without the job. He showed little emotion over the 20-39 vote sinking his candidacy. But future judicial candidates, like LaSalle, may face a similarly tough environment in the state Senate.

Nearly a month after he was rejected by the New York state Senate Judiciary Committee, Hector LaSalle failed to garner enough votes in a full floor vote to be confirmed as the next chief judge of the state Court of Appeals, an unprecedented rejection for a governor’s nominee to lead the state's highest court.

BREAKING: @NYSenateDems vote down Hector LaSalle during full floor vote in @NYSenate LaSalle was @GovKathyHochul’s nominee for Chief Judge. He was rejected by a Committee last month, but after initially refusing to hold a full floor vote, @AndreaSCousins acquiesced today pic.twitter.com/1s9QZiiEX0

Hector LaSalle is unlikely to have the votes for confirmation even if he received consideration from the full state Senate, Democratic Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday said.

Stewart-Cousins did not fully rule out having a vote on LaSalle's nomination as chief judge weeks after the state Senate Judiciary Committee rejected it, which ultimately triggered a lawsuit last week by Republican state Sen. Anthony Palumbo.

The saga over the lost nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle continues.

In January, the New York state Senate Judiciary Committee rejected Gov. Kathy Hochul’s nomination to lead the state’s highest court.

Republicans in the New York state Senate on Monday called for measures in the state budget meant to address the cost of living in New York, from ending a plan to charge tolls in parts of New York City, to reducing local government burdens that contribute to a homeowner's property tax bill and home heating costs.

Republicans called for the provisions while also criticizing Gov. Kathy Hochul's $227 billion spending proposal over measures they worry will hit New Yorkers' pocketbooks. They also raised concerns over spending meant to aid migrants in New York City.

For weeks, New York state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt was waiting for Gov. Kathy Hochul to launch a legal challenge over a key committee's rejection of her nominee to lead the state Court of Appeals, Hector LaSalle.

But that lawsuit from Hochul never came.

A package of measures meant to boost small businesses and aid the expansion of minority and women-owned businesses in New York were approved Tuesday in the Democratic-controlled state Senate.

The measures include bills that would create a voucher program to boost innovation, the creation of a matching grant program for a federal program as well as proposals to aid minority and women-owned businesses when bidding for state contracts.

Two weeks after a key committee in the state Senate rejected her nominee to lead New York's top court, it remains unclear what Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan is for who will become the next chief judge.

Hochul on Wednesday after delivering her budget presentation told reporters in a question-and-answer session she was continuing to "weigh all my options" in what to do about the controversy.

Call it Schrodinger's chief judge nomination: Hector LaSalle's bid to become the leader of the New York court system and the state's top court at the moment is both alive and dead.

In the week since Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to become chief judge was rejected by a key state Senate Committee, the governor has not given an indication whether she will continue to move forward with him or choose someone else.

A coalition of regional and statewide labor unions on Tuesday publicly endorsed the effort by legislative staffers in the New York Senate and Assembly to organize, according to a letter signed by the New York State AFL-CIO.

The unionization push by legislative staffers has the backing also of the large public workers unions in the state, including the Civil Service Employees Association, the Public Employees Federation and 1199SEIU.

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. -- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's office must decide whether or not to take legal action to get her chief judge nominee Hector LaSalle to a floor vote for Senate confirmation.

This comes after members of her own party in the state Senate Judicial Committee rejected the nomination. Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, (R) North Tonawanda, believes Hochul absolutely should sue to try to get her nomination to the floor.

Gov. Kathy Hochul came into office vowing to treat the state Legislature as an equal branch of government, curbing the decade Andrew Cuomo was in the office where he amassed a large degree of power while in an inherently powerful office and often flexed his political muscle over the legislative body.

“For too long, Albany’s executive and legislative branches were fighting each other in the arena. No more. That ends now,” Hochul said in her 2022 State of the State address. “What I am proposing is a whole new era for New York. The days of governors disregarding the rightful role of this Legislature are over.”

Progressive advocates, lawmakers and labor unions scored a victory this week when the New York state Senate Judiciary Committee rejected Hector LaSalle's nomination to lead New York's top court.

It's yet another win in Albany for progressives, who have picked up influence at the state Capitol with Democratic supermajorities in the state Senate and Assembly.

Progressives in New York on Wednesday notched a significant victory with the rejection of Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to lead the state's top court, a win that comes as lawmakers are in a broader debate over the direction of the criminal justice system.

The rejection of Justice Hector LaSalle's nomination to lead New York's top court, while unprecedented, has fit into a broader battle between progressives advocates, labor unions and Democratic lawmakers on one side and more politically moderate elements in state politics.

Justice Hector LaSalle will receive a "fair" and "thorough" hearing by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, the top Democrat on the panel told reporters on Tuesday a day before the high-stakes meeting takes place in Albany.

LaSalle, Gov. Kathy Hochul's nominee to lead the state Court of Appeals, is facing an unprecedented level of opposition in the state Senate, making for the possibility of the first chief judge nominee to be voted down by lawmakers since the process has been in place for more than 40 years.

Addressing climate change, affordable housing and public safety are among the key issues for Democrats in the New York state Senate this year as Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Wednesday outlined the conference's plans for 2023.

Details will matter, and as lawmakers returned to Albany for day one of the legislative session, the outline of the agenda was a broad-based one. But many of the issues align with what Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for in recent weeks.

New York state lawmakers are step closer to being the highest paid state Legislature in the country.

The Democratic-led state Assembly and Senate in a rare December vote on Thursday approved a bill setting their salaries at $142,000 a year — a $32,000 pay hike that was coupled with a provision limiting how much money they can earn outside of their jobs as elected officials.

State lawmakers' plans to return Thursday to vote for a measure to raise their pay by $32,000 is leading to calls for further action on measures that would also increase the minimum wage, extend a gas tax holiday into the new year and provide support for home heating assistance.

It's the give-a-mouse-a-cookie rule of New York politics: If you hold a special session, a few more glasses of milk are going to be sought.

Gov. Kathy Hochul expects lawmakers would include a ban or cap on outside income if they return to Albany for a special session next week to vote for a pay increase, she said Thursday.

Sources have said lawmakers are weighing holding a special session of the Legislature late next week to increase their pay to $130,000 and potentially ban or limit outside income. They currently earn $110,00 annually.

New York lawmakers are weighing a ban on outside income as they discuss potentially increasing their salary in a special session of the Legislature.

A source on Tuesday confirmed a special session of the Legislature could be held next week, with legislative pay reaching $130,000. New York lawmakers currently earn $110,000.

Gov. Kathy Hochul was supportive Friday of lawmakers returning to Albany for a special session to vote to raise their salaries after multiple legislative sources have said legislative leaders are weighing a pay increase.

Lawmakers can only vote to raise the salaries of a future Legislature. If they do not vote for an increase before Dec. 31, a future raise won't take effect until the next Legislature takes office in 2025.

A decade ago, Democrats in the state Senate in New York were in the political wilderness. Its leadership was scarred by scandal. A faction of Democratic lawmakers sided with Republicans. A Democratic governor showed little interest in helping them win a majority.

At the time, the party turned to Yonkers state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins to lead them. Ten years later, Democrats hold a large majority that was nearly impervious to the down-ballot troubles faced by the party this election cycle and could potentially keep its supermajority.

Nearly a month after Election Day, a conclusion to the ultra-tight race for New York's 50th state Senate District in Central New York is looming.

The Onondaga County Board of Elections said Tuesday evening they have finished hand counting all 95,104 votes in the uncalled race between Democratic state Sen. John Mannion and Republican challenger Rebecca Shiroff.

As the opening of the next legislative session in Albany nears, groups of all political stripes are trying to organize and amplify their message.

One coalition of statewide progressive groups is pushing for a more just economy, especially for low-income communities of color which have historically struggled in the face of red-lining.

After Gov. Kathy Hochul’s tighter-than-expected victory earlier this month, some New York Republicans are dissecting the circumstances surrounding the election, as well as preparing for yet another session in the minority.

One of those Republicans is State Sen. Tom O’Mara, of Big Flats, ranker on the Finance, and the Investigations and Government Operations committees.