New York Legislature

Following the adjournment of the New York legislative session, the Republican and Democrat representing areas of the North Country are expressing disappointment with where key issues ended up.

The state Assembly convened an “overtime” session in Albany last week to take care of some leftover business from the scheduled session.

The New York state legislature has adjourned its regular 2023 session. Representatives from the North Country are characterizing the six-month period as frustrating overall.

New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand discusses highlights of 2022 and her hopes for the new term.

The elections are over, the year is winding down, and . . . a pay raise for state legislators may be in the offing. Historically, pay raises have been considered right after elections since lawmakers know that the public doesn’t support raises and it gives them a couple of years to cool off. Holiday-filled December is usually the month and so rumors abound in Albany that this is the year for another one.

Last week, New York’s ethics oversight system was once again in the spotlight, but not for something that it failed to do. Instead, it may have – and I emphasize may – taken a step toward improvement.

With only 12 legislative days until the scheduled end of the session, state lawmakers face an increasing “policy traffic jam”: New issues are being added to an already packed end-of-session agenda. Here is what the scrambled Albany political landscape looks like as of now:

The expected legal battle over Democrats' alleged gerrymandering in New York began this week as a group of voters in Republican-friendly communities filed a lawsuit in state court to block new congressional maps.

Republicans in the New York State Legislature are threatening legal action now that the Senate and Assembly have approved new district maps for congressional and legislative seats that the GOP says are blatantly gerrymandered. Republicans plan to mount a legal challenge and they believe that this time, they might have a chance to win.

Next week, the New York State Legislature plans to vote on new maps for congressional and legislative districts. They will be drawn by Democrats who control both the Senate and the Assembly after a bipartisan commission failed to reach consensus on the maps. Critics are calling it a failure of an independent process authorized by voters.