Tagged: Sheldon Silver

New York Governor Cuomo outlined the details of his plan to site three gambling casinos upstate.

Cuomo, joined by union and business leaders, and representatives from county governments, offered more details of a plan to build three new gambling casinos. Cuomo says he wants to limit the locations to upstate regions for now, to prop up the failing economy.  The governor says upstate needs jobs like it needs “oxygen.” And he says having a downstate location would devalue the upstate centers.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics board says its report into accusations that Assemblyman Vito Lopez sexually harassed young, women staffers will soon be made public.

The state Joint Commission on Public Ethics report is now in the hands of the Legislative Ethics Commission, which could take action against Lopez.

Under law, JCOPE must provide more time for the Legislative Ethics Commission to consider the report and any sanctions. But that period ends in mid-May and the report becomes public at that point.

The state legislature is almost finished voting on a $141.3b state budget. Final passage is occurring one week past lawmakers’ s self imposed deadline, but three days before  the spending plan was due to be finished.

The New York State Senate held a rare Sunday session at the Capitol, in an attempt to get the state budget finished on time in the midst of major religious holidays.

The State Senate met to vote on three previously agreed upon budget bills, in an attempt to finish the spending plan without interfering with the Easter and Passover holidays.  Senate Finance Committee Chair John DeFrancisco explained it on the Senate floor.

“We’re trying to jumpstart the process,” said De Francisco, who says starting early gives everyone “ample time” for debating the bills.  

The Speaker of the State Assembly says a portion of New York’s gun control laws, set to take effect April 15th, may be post poned while talks continue on how to amend the provision.

Even though state lawmakers announced a budget agreement Wednesday, they spent the day Thursday trying to pin down details and print the bills in time to be through over the weekend.