Tagged: new york state

2012 was, by most accounts, a year of challenges for New York, not the least of which was the devastation of Hurricane Sandy as she tore up the Eastern seaboard.

In state politics, the assembly remains firmly Democratic, while this year will usher in a new era of governance in the senate by a controlling coalition of Republicans and the five-member Independent Democratic Conference, the effectiveness of which has yet to be seen.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York comptroller says the state government's debt has topped $63 billion, with New York on track to approach its borrowing limit in early 2014.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says Monday the debt burden, averaging $3,253 per resident, is almost three times the national median. New York's debt is second only to California's $96.4 billion in state-funded debt and 80 percent higher than New Jersey, which is in third place.

As reported this morning by WAMC’s Capital Correspondent Karen DeWitt, an 8 page document drafted last year by New York State regulators which states that the potential health impacts of fracking for natural gas could be reduced or prevented with the right regulation from the state.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation today says the document is out-dated and doesn’t reflect the conclusions of the forthcoming final Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement on fracking.

New York State will have some new laws that take effect January first. One is a multi-layered legislative package that provides new protections for domestic violence victims. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill package October 25th.  One piece of the legislation increases the penalty for repeat offenders to a felony by creating a Class E felony, Aggravated Family Offense. Manhattan District Attorney and President of the New York District Attorneys Association of the State of New York Cyrus Vance, Jr., said this addresses an underlying issue: the ability of offenders to abuse their victims again and again without serious consequences.