Karen Dewitt

The Republican State Senator who lost a primary after voting for gay marriage is dropping out of the race. Senator Roy McDonald says he won’t campaign on the Independence Party line in the general election and will instead back his former primary opponent.  

Senator McDonald, in a statement, says he’s decided not to continue campaigning on the Independence Party line for the November vote. McDonald narrowly lost a GOP primary following his decision to vote yes to help get gay marriage approved in New York last year.

Governor Cuomo has touted the recently concluded legislative session as “one of the most successful in modern political history”.  As Karen DeWitt reports, the session also made history in another way. It featured the fewest bills passed by both houses in nearly one hundred years.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…  

According to an analysis by the New York Public Interest Research Group, the 2012 session resulted in 571 pieces of legislation approved by both houses of the legislature.  

The just concluded 2012 legislative session brought mixed results for Governor Cuomo, who is in his second year as governor.  While Cuomo and lawmakers could claim credit for a calm and functional end to the session, the Governor had to drop some of his original goals in order for that to happen.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt takes a look back…

The legislative session that’s concluding in Albany seems to be more about what’s not getting done that what is getting accomplished. As Karen DeWitt reports, agreements were not reached on several key issues.   

Governor Andrew Cuomo at this time last year was intensely lobbying lawmakers to pass a bill to legalize gay marriage. This year, he has taken a more hands off approach to the end of the current legislative session.

The governor introduced a bill on how to make teacher evaluations public, but said he would not push the legislature to approve it.

The state’s major environmental groups have formed a new coalition, urging Governor Andrew Cuomo to reject a plan to begin hydrofracking in select counties in New York’s Southern Tier.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports… 

Peter Hudiburg of the town of Plymouth, in Chenango County joined major environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Hudson Riverkeeper in a rally to persuade Governor Andrew Cuomo to drop a plan to begin limited hydrofracking in the state’s Southern Tier.

“Governor Cuomo, the science is in,” he shouted. “This is a very dangerous technology.”

Governor Cuomo is telling the legislature to ‘take it or leave it’ over a new bill he’s released new bill outlining how to make teacher evaluations public.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…  

Governor Cuomo says he introduced legislation on the publication of teacher evaluations just before his own self imposed deadline of midnight Monday in order to clarify his position on the issue.  He says it’s up the Assembly and Senate whether they want to pass it, exactly as is, or not.  

A bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appears dead for the legislative session , now that Republicans in the Senate say they won’t be acting on the bill.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports… 

Governor Cuomo says it’s “highly unlikely” that his bill to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana will be taken up by the Senate before the legislative session ends on Thursday, and Senate Leader Dean Skelos confirms that. 

“I’ve said all along that I was not in favor of further decriminalization of marijuana,” Skelos told reporters. 

The Assembly and Senate have passed legislation they say will curb abuses against disabled people in state care.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports… 

Governor Cuomo says he no longer thinks settling the issue of making teacher evaluations public “urgent,” and will allow the legislature to leave later this week without an agreement on the matter.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…  

Cuomo, speaking on former Governor David Paterson’s radio show on WOR, says the legislature will end its session for the summer without acting on a plan on how to make public teacher evaluations public, saying that the evaluations do not have to be completed by schools until January, anyway.

Supporters and opponents of a plan to allow limited hydrofracking in New York’s Southern Tier region confronted each other at the state Capitol.  Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt reports…

For months, the Cuomo Administration has been signaling that it might permit the gas drilling process known as hydrofracking in a few areas in the Marcellus Shale region where the majority of people in communities want the gas drilling process to begin.