On the 10th time this year that the New York state Senate met to pass a budget extender, state Sen. Liz Krueger, typically tasked with explaining why the Senate is not ready to vote on budget bills, decided to try something new.

“I asked everyone if they got Monty Python references, and they said yes,” she recounted after session.

According to New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the leaders are close to wrapping up budget negotiations, but there are at least two outstanding issues to resolve: Foundation Aid and capital funding.

On Foundation Aid, the Senate’s top Democrat reassured school districts that current negotiations are over how much of an increase in Foundation Aid they will receive. She also stated that no district will receive less state aid than they did this year.

New York state Sen. Pat Fahy (D-Albany) is thrilled by the $400 million for the revitalization of downtown Albany that Gov. Kathy Hochul has said will remain in the enacted state budget, once the state spending plan is passed.

But another development plan remains on Fahy’s to-do list. Only this one hasn’t received the same attention from the governor.

Democrats in New York are condemning a decision by the U.S. Justice Department to cancel hundreds of grants to community organizations, including those that fund crime-victim advocacy and gun-violence prevention.

According to The Washington Post, the millions of dollars in grants also support nonviolent youthful offenders, mental health resources for local police, efforts to avert opioid-related deaths and hate crimes.

State lawmakers bought themselves another two days to pass a state budget, now 22 days late. They passed an extender to bridge the funding gap for state services and payroll from Wednesday when the current extender expires, through Thursday.

Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris told reporters the most likely scenario at this point seems to be a budget deal later this week with voting on budget bills spilling into early next week.

While the first Earth Day, in 1970, took place during the Republican administration of President Richard Nixon, many in the environmental community will use Tuesday’s 55th anniversary to rail against Republican President Donald Trump and push to unite behind renewable energy.

Earlier this month, via executive order, Trump told environmental and energy agencies to sunset an array of regulations that protect endangered species, prevent oil spills and allow the public to track progress on pollution.

Gov. Kathy Hochul says there is light at the end of the state budget tunnel, which could include a watering down or tabling of her push for legislation related to the wearing of face masks in the commission of a crime.

“Certainly, Monday and Tuesday will be important days for us,” she said while hosting an Easter egg roll at the New York State Executive Mansion on Saturday.

Due to pandemic aid, New York state currently receives more money from the federal government than New Yorkers send to Washington in federal taxes. Not only is this four-year trend about to end, but it is also a shift from a decades-long imbalance that former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan would rail against in an annual report nicknamed "the Fisc."

A new bill would give the state the ability to withhold payments to the federal government if the Trump administration withholds funds from the state in defiance of court orders.

State Sen. Andrew Gounardes on Friday sharply criticized the Trump administration’s move to halt construction on a major offshore wind project based in his Brooklyn district.

The Empire Wind One project, located at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, was expected to power over 500,000 homes starting next year. Originally approved in 2017 under the Trump administration, the project is now in limbo as the U.S. Department of the Interior seeks to re-review construction plans.

When New York state Sen. Rob Rolison heard about the results of a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) bridge safety report, he wanted to know what was being done to address it. It recommended new safety evaluations following the collapse of a Baltimore bridge after a ship collided with it last year. Thirteen bridges in New York are included in the report.

“We just have to make sure that everything that can be done to make sure that they travel safely [is done]... These bridges carry lots of cars over the major transportation corridors," Rolison said.

With the state budget over 11 days late and no end in sight to negotiations, freshmen state lawmakers are getting a real taste of what Planet Albany's made of.

A late state budget may be business as usual in Albany, but it's a brand new process for those who took office in January.

One of the issues holding up the state budget is a push to institute a mask ban, though one of proposal’s authors would prefer you didn’t label it “a ban."

Hudson Valley Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis would prefer the proposal be called “a crackdown on masked menacing."

With the mood at the state Capitol souring by the day, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie threw a curveball: A bill which would make it so that lawmakers don’t have their paychecks withheld for a late budget— if the governor inserts policy proposals into her pitch.

In an interview with Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter, Heastie explained the move.

Thirty-five of the 41-member Senate Democratic conference in New York are condemning the Trump administration for what they see as violations of laws and norms.

In what could be the first of its kind in the nation, the senators issued a joint statement late last week criticizing the administration’s failure to follow due process; its chaotic dismantling of federal programs; its “wholesale attacks” on lawyers and judges; and the lack of due process offered to immigrants.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — At the request of former Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, D-Buffalo, introduced legislation at the end of last legislative session that would have allowed the city to institute a 5% bed tax for hotel guests in the city on top of the tax Erie County already collects.

However, the bill never gained traction as state Sen. Sean Ryan, D-Buffalo, refused to carry it, citing concerns from the hospitality industry.

State Sen. Liz Krueger along is calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to immediately sign the New York Health Information Privacy Act.

Krueger told Spectrum News 1 that the need for Hochul’s rubber stamp on the bill she carried with Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is even more urgent in light of concerns raised by the bankruptcy of DNA testing company 23andMe and the potential sale of customer data.

The MTA sucks a lot of the oxygen out of the room in Albany during state budget season, but upstate transit needs significant investments as well.

It’s a fight that state Sen. Jeremy Cooney is ready to engage in as state Senate Transportation Committee chairman.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Blockchain is essentially an advanced digital database that allows for the sharing of information and peer-to-peer transactions.

It's most commonly associated with cryptocurrency.

New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, using her Albany lingo, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that state budget negotiations have reached “the end of the middle” but that talks remains impacted by President Donald Trump’s agenda in Washington that could bring various government cuts.

“The process is tedious because what we see on the horizon coming from our Republican colleagues in Washington,” Stewart-Cousins said.

The New York state Conservative Party will be meeting three candidates this week in the eventual special election to replace Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik in New York's 21st Congressional District, but at this time, still prefers state Sen. Dan Stec, the party told Spectrum News 1 Monday.

Stec, R-Queensbury, represents New York's 45th state Senate District, which is made up of the eastern part of the state’s North Country, including Plattsburgh, Potsdam, Lake Placid and Lake George. He served in the state Assembly prior to being elected to the Senate in 2020.

New York state Senate Republicans on Tuesday called for Gov. Kathy Hochul to rescind her executive order that prohibits the state from hiring at any state service job any correction officers that were terminated or resigned as a result of the three-week wildcat strike, according to a letter the conference sent.

The executive order also recommends these workers be removed from the Central Registry of Police and Peace Officers for cause. It means they would also be prevented from being hired as a police or peace officer in state and local jurisdictions. About 2,000 termination notices were sent out when the state declared the strike as over on March 10.

The legislative chambers on Tuesday released their one-house budget proposals in the latest advancement of the state budget process.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger joined Capital Tonight after the release to talk about what made it in as legislators prepare for negotiations with the governor.

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chair of the Senate Health Committee, joined Capital Tonight Monday to outline his budget priorities and his concerns with potential cuts on the federal level.

New York state Senate Democrats are advancing legislation that aims to enhance workplace protections and combat wage theft, they revealed Tuesday.

The package of legislation includes measures that would:

New York state officials on Monday were forced to address the failure of a deal between the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervison (DOCCS) and the State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA) to quickly bring striking correction officers back to work for their shifts on Saturday, as DOCCS officials in a briefing declined to request that lawmakers make changes to the state's HALT Act, which limits solitary confinement and replaces aspects of it with rehabilitative programing.

Some facilities have had staff return, but more than 30 remain on strike after two weeks as officers continue to protest what they describe as dangerous working conditions, excessive overtime and issues related to HALT.

New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris on Monday renewed his calls for Mayor Eric Adams to be removed from office as Adams faces corruption charges and allegations of close ties to President Donald Trump.

"I never expected Eric Adams to say, ‘Oh, you're all right, I'm going to resign.’ And a lot of people said that when he was first charged. I was not one of them. I wanted to let the process play out, give him the benefit of the presumption of innocence and see where it goes,” Gianaris said during an interview on "Mornings On 1.”

New York state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, chairman of the powerful Senate Codes Committee, has served his Brooklyn area district in Albany since 2019. But the Cornell-educated attorney and affordable housing advocate has higher aspirations. He’s running against Eric Adams for mayor of New York City and has captured the endorsements of U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman and former gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout.

Myrie, who was a co-sponsor of the original 2019 Green Light Law that prompted a lawsuit this week against the state by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, told Capital Tonight that Bondi’s actions are based in politics.

Former New York state Sen. Michael Martucci has been appointed by President Donald Trump as regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 2, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Thursday.

Martucci, a Republican, served a single term in the state Senate from 2021 to 2022, representing the 42nd District in the Hudson Valley.

The city of Albany may be getting a major facelift.

In her State of the State address, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed spending $400 million to revitalize the city, which has struggled with issues like safety in the wake of the pandemic.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis is dropping out of the race to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, the lawmaker announced Thursday, endorsing Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin for the job.

“Soon after November’s disastrous results, I did what I did when I was 25 and wanted to make an impact on my community – I took a breath and jumped into the race for DNC Chair. In doing so, I brought everything I know from my experience winning eight elections by large margins in deep red territory," Skoufis said in a statement. “While starting as a complete unknown outside of New York, I am proud of our aggressive campaign to deliver major change to the DNC and national party. Our message resonated with the large majority of DNC members who believe we can rebuild our party, rebuild trust with disaffected voters, refocus on working class priorities, and never cede even an inch of ground to Republicans. As an outsider, I didn’t enter this contest with any DNC relationships, but leave it having driven much of the debate and having left deep impressions with both supporters and many uncommitted DNC members. I’m humbled by and thankful for the party faithful who believed in our truth-telling campaign."

Democrats in the New York state Senate will advance legislation aimed to protect election workers and prevent voter disenfranchisement, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins announced Monday.

The election reforms being proposed include:

Andrea Stewart-Cousins made history Wednesday as the longest-serving Democratic majority leader in the New York state Senate in state history after also making history as the first Black woman to serve in that capacity.

She sat down with Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter in the Senate Chamber on the first day of the two-year legislative session to discuss a variety of issues, including taxation, SALT, housing, migrants and affordability.

Wednesday was the first day of the new legislative session in Albany. New York state lawmakers returned to get to work on legislation as they also stare down an April 1 budget deadline.

In addition to opening remarks, small talk in the hallways, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins being re-sworn into their posts, the battles for the upcoming session are taking shape.

Local officials are reacting following an announcement from Governor Kathy Hochul on renewed investment in the Hudson Valley’s rail services.

Plans include funding that would increase capacity, reduce delays, improve safety and cut travel times by up to 15 minutes.

In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, which left Democrats without a base of power in Washington, the word "affordability" has become a political yardstick for Gov. Kathy Hochul and other top Democrats in New York.

The notion of affordability has become so paramount that Hochul’s State of the State address features an aptly named “affordability agenda” which she’s begun fleshing out with her first two proposals: inflation refund checks and expanded child tax credits.

Last year was a very different one for North Country state Sen. Mark Walczyk, who as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve, deployed overseas, missing almost a full legislative session.

He has, however, returned safely, and is ready to get back to work.

This weekend, Gov. Kathy Hochul for the third time vetoed legislation known as the Grieving Families Act, which would update the state's wrongful death statute and allow families to sue for emotional damages.

"There does seem to be a philosophical difference disappointingly about the need to reform our statutes," state Senate sponsor Brad Hoylman-Sigal, D-Manhattan, said.

A joint hearing of the Government Operations Committees in the New York state Senate and Assembly took testimony in Albany Thursday to consider what to do about the state’s policy for videoconferencing by members of the Legislature, which is set to expire in July 2026.

Rooted in COVID-era changes, the rules have been extended and expanded multiple times already.

After 28 years in the New York state Senate, the dean of the Senate’s Democratic Conference is retiring.

Neil Breslin has represented the Albany area in the state Senate since 1997 and has seen both the highs of politics in Albany, including passage of gay marriage and prior approval, as well as the lows.

New York state Sen. Rob Ortt has been reelected minority leader of the state Legislature's upper chamber and will continue leading the Republican conference, he announced Monday evening.

"I am incredibly honored to once again earn the support of my colleagues in the Senate Republican Conference to serve as Minority Leader. As we approach the New Year and a new legislative session, we are energized and ready to confront the challenges created by Albany’s failed one-party rule," Ortt said in a statement. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to make New York a more affordable, safer, and healthier state for hardworking families. Again, I thank my colleagues – and the millions of New Yorkers they represent – for their continued trust in my leadership of this Conference."

Democrats have been looking to regroup following the presidential election, as the party looks for a new way forward.

Part of that responsibility will fall on the new chair of the Democratic National Committee.

In what appears to be a major change from the policy position she took last year during state budget negotiations, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spokeswoman said the governor wants “to avoid proposals that would negatively impact school budgets, such as eliminating the hold-harmless provision of the Foundation Aid formula.”

"Hold harmless," also called "save harmless," protects school districts from funding reductions despite enrollment drops.

New York state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins has been reelected as majority leader of the New York state Legislature’s upper chamber, the conference announced Wednesday.

The first Black woman to hold the majority leader post, she is one of three people who control the agenda in Albany and negotiate the state budget along with the governor and Assembly speaker. She has led the Senate Democratic caucus since 2012 and majority leader since 2019.

New York state Sen. James Skoufis is running to be the next chair of the Democratic National Committee, the lawmaker announced over the weekend.

“I’m an outsider, but I know how to win. We’re losing on politics, messaging, organizing and policy. And we’ve been running the same stale, inside-the-Beltway playbook driven by the same, tired, inside-the-Beltway voices. No more. We’re doing it differently. That changes the day I am elected,” Skoufis said in a post on X on Saturday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The day after this month's election, more than 115,000 X users deactivated their accounts, according to social media analytics websites Similar Web.

At the same time, the site reported daily usage on Bluesky, a platform modeled on Twitter and started by its former CEO, saw a 500% surge. James Madison University professor of communications Jason Mollica believes some users have become increasingly frustrated with the content on X and its owner, Elon Musk.

Retired state Sen. Tarky Lombardi, from the Syracuse area, has died.

The Jamesville resident passed away Sunday at his home from kidney complications, according to his obituary.

A group of New York state lawmakers, who are mothers and call themselves "the Mom Squad," are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign several pieces of legislation aimed to improve access to child care, according to a letter they sent to the governor this week.

The lawmakers say they are addressing legislation that would:

Democrat Chris Ryan declared victory and Republican Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro conceded the close race for New York's 50th state Senate District, both campaigns said Friday afternoon following more counting of absentee and affidavit ballots a week and a half after Election Day.

"I am deeply honored by the trust the people of the 50th State Senate District have placed in me. With the majority of ballots scanned and the margin greater than than the outstanding ballots remaining, I am proud to declare victory," Ryan said in a statement Friday. "Throughout the campaign, I listened to your concerns and hopes for our future. You’ve called for a senator who will fight for good-paying jobs, quality schools, health care access, safe and affordable communities, and smart economic investments for the future. Now, I am ready to get to work delivering on these issues."

While some Democrats are doing soul searching and blame-gaming this week thanks to the results of last week’s elections, there’s one New York state elected official who’s saying “let me show you how it’s done."

State Sen. James Skoufis won his Orange County-area seat by 14%, a district that Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket lost.

Despite still running the show in Albany, Democrats have lost their veto-proof supermajority in the state Senate while appearing to have maintained their supermajority in the Assembly. Gov. Kathy Hochul seems to have been relatively successful in helping to avoid a repeat of embarrassing 2022 congressional losses in New York, and Proposition 1 passed.

“Good election for the governor, status quo for the Legislature,” Blair Horner, executive director of Good Government Group NYPIRG, said about sums it up.

The race between Democratic Onondaga County Legislator Chris Ryan and Republican Salina Town Supervisor Nick Paro to fill the open seat in New York’s 50th state Senate District remained too close to call Wednesday.

Ryan, with all districts reporting, leads Paro by 548 votes.

Democrat James Meyers is challenging longtime incumbent Republican Joseph Griffo for the 53rd Senate District seat.

“And I like to ask folks, well, if things aren’t getting better, why would go with the same representation we’ve had for so long?,” said Meyers.

Two candidates — one a town supervisor, the other a county legislator, are seeking the opportunity to represent the New York state Senate District 50 of Central New York.

Democrat Chris Ryan, an Onondaga County legislator, and Republican Nick Paro, the town of Salina supervisor, have experience in the political world and say they are ready to take the next step — into Albany. The seat is open due to state Sen. John Mannion running for Congress, looking to flip New York's 22nd Congressional District seat back to the Democrats.

The 56th State Senate seat is up for grabs this election, with incumbent Democrat Jeremy Cooney being challenged by Republican and former Gates Police Chief Jim VanBrederode.

“I spent 37 years delivering public service to the community,” VanBrederode said. “I was the person delivering the services and I've heard people's complaints and I've seen programs that work and which programs don't work. We need to change the environment right now.”

While most New Yorkers aren’t seeing spirited local campaigns in their neighborhoods this election season, it’s a different story in South Brooklyn.

In State Senate District 17, freshman Democratic State Sen. Iwen Chu is facing a tough fight from Republican Steve Chan, an ex-Marine and retired police officer.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Currently, Article 1 Section 11 of the New York state Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, color, creed and religion.

Ballot Proposition 1 would amend the section to also include ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes, as well as reproductive health care and autonomy.

While every seat in the State Assembly and State Senate is up for election this November, more than three dozen Democratic incumbents in the city are running unopposed.

Although there are more than half a million Republicans in the five boroughs, GOP party leaders say they can’t mount a fight in some heavily Democratic neighborhoods.

ALBANY, N.Y. – New York's Advanced Clean Truck regulations take effect in 2025, requiring manufacturers that make vehicles 8,500 pounds and heavier to sell an increasing percentage of electric vehicles each year moving forward.

The goal, when feasible, is for all new commercial trucks by 2045 to produce zero emissions. Department of Environmental Conservation Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar said it's a critical component for meeting the state's climate goals.

Third-term Democratic state Sen. Pete Harckham of New York's 40th state Senate District is facing a rematch against Republican Gina Arena, a Westchester County Department of Public Works employee who has a compelling personal story and has created several foundations to support children with serious illnesses.

The district includes northern Westchester County and parts of Putnam and Rockland counties.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is stepping down from the office that he’s held for almost 20 years to become the president and CEO of Western New York Regional Off-Track Betting.

One of the reasons OTB said that it was interested in hiring Brown was for his relationships with lawmakers in Albany.

There’s a rematch taking place in New York's 40th state Senate District, which includes parts of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties.

It pits Democratic incumbent Pete Harkham, who chairs the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, with Republican Gina Arena, who works for the Westchester Department of Public Works, and who Harckham defeated in 2022.

Since Roe v. Wade was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022, over 20 states have banned or restricted abortion care. Similarly, there have been legislative attacks on the rights of trans people across the country.

This was the context in which New York’s Proposal 1, colloquially called the “Equal Rights Amendment," was passed twice by two consecutive versions of the New York State Legislature.

As climate week convenes in New York City, Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering a bill to reconvene the state’s sea level rise task force. The task force would be in charge of updating data and making recommendations for how to best address the issue.

The task force was last convened back in 2007 and presented its report in 2010. Those pushing the bill stress that our understanding of climate change and the data available have changed drastically since, and so should the state's strategy.

Child care is so expensive that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called it a “broken market” in 2021 because when you pay for it, “the price does not account for all the positive things it confers on society.”

Part of the problem is that one individual can only care for a limited number of children, and those costs are passed on to families. Because those costs are higher than what they may earn in wages, many mothers with college degrees are opting to stay home with their children.

Republican New York state Sen. Jake Ashby and a group of other Senate GOP colleagues sent a letter to state Legislature leaders calling for a bipartisan commission to generate recommendations and solutions to security lapses after a former aide to two New York governors was charged with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government.

Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government, including deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested last week along with her husband at their $4 million home on Long Island.

As first reported by The New York Times, an outside investigation ordered by the New York state Senate into whether Democratic state Sen. John Mannion created a toxic work environment in his Senate office has concluded that he did not violate Senate rules.

Spectrum News 1 first reported about those anonymous allegations from a group of former staffers back in June. Just days before Mannion won the June rimary for New York’s 22nd Congressional District against Sarah Klee Hood, those former staffers accused him in an anonymous letter of mistreatment, harassment and retaliation.

The state’s HALT Act, which restricts the use of solitary confinement in prisons, has been in the news a lot lately.

It was signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021. But over the past few months, prison guards have blamed the HALT Act for violence in prisons. Most recently, they point to an incident at Collins’ Correctional facility in western New York where 11 guards and a nurse were sent to the hospital after a prisoner’s suspected suicide attempt.

With heat indexes going over 100 degrees in parts of upstate New York, there is a renewed focus on the impact that heat has on people who have to live and work in these conditions.

One of those places are New York’s prisons where workers and incarcerated people have to deal with these temperatures in older buildings.

Voters from around Central New York went to the polls Tuesday for primary elections for several offices, including two state Senate seats.

As of early Wednesday morning, the Associated Press had called winners in two of the contests.

In politics, a last-minute bombshell that drops before a November election is known as an "October surprise."

Here in Albany, just days before the end of the legislative session, Gov. Kathy Hochul dropped what one could call a June surprise as she announced an “indefinite pause” of the congestion pricing policy which was set to go into effect at the end of June in New York City.

It is typically an uphill climb for Republican candidates in some state office races in Central New York. However, two Republican hopefuls have stepped up and are hoping to buck that trend.

“I love this place,” state Senate District 48 GOP candidate Fanny Villarreal said.

Chris Ryan and Tom Drumm are seeking the Democratic nomination in the race for New York's 50th state Senate District.

At just 22 years old, Tom Drumm was elected to the Oswego County Legislature. Now at 31, he’s proud of the three terms he served, having ascended in that time to minority leader, and the work he’s done in labor relations.

The New York Senate confirmed two former state lawmakers Wednesday to lead the Department of State and the state's public finance and construction authority.

Senators confirmed Walter T. Mosley as secretary of state and former Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez as president and chief executive officer of the Dormitory Authority of the state of New York. Both are former assemblymen.

New York City’s housing crisis has been covered for years, so it’s easy to forget that upstate New York cities face similar challenges.

But Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany and Binghamton saw a major victory in the recently passed state budget. Parts of New York state Sen. Sean Ryan’s four-part housing plan received funding, including $40 million to build one and two family homes.

The New York state Senate on Tuesday passed a series of legislation aimed to protect animals and the sale and treatment of pets.

If enacted into law, the bills would:

The two architects behind New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act have amended added additional safeguards to the legislation in the hope it can soon become law.

The act would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults who have been given six months or less to live to take their own lives with a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs.

The New York state Senate on Thursday confirmed Acting State Police Superintendent Steven James to serve fully in that role.

James has served with the State Police for more than 32 years, including more than two decades in a leadership role, serving in positions as deputy superintendent for employee relations, assistant deputy superintendent, staff inspector, major, captain, lieutenant, senior investigator, sergeant, investigator and trooper. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University at Albany and a master’s in public administration from Marist College.

In 1920, New Yorkers elected a group of declared socialists to the state Assembly who were promptly expelled from the Legislature simply for being socialists. Fast forward more than a century, you’ll find a vocal and growing coalition of socialists working to implement their agenda in a state Legislature with Democratic supermajorities in both houses.

State Sen. Jabari Brisport, a member of the Socialist Caucus in the state Legislature, told Capital Tonight that the socialists are trying to “uplift working class New Yorkers, regardless of political affiliations” and that they are looking out “for the people and not the uber rich.”

While a deal on a new 421a tax abatement is looking remote thanks to an impasse between several of the construction trade unions and the real estate lobby, New York state Senate Republicans are proposing their own package of housing bills, including a straight 421a extension.

State Sen. Pam Helming, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, joined Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter on Wednesday to discuss the package of bills.

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.