State GOP: Latimer’s Silence On Silver ‘Speaks Volumes’
The Republicans have reignited their criticism of Assemblyman George Latimer for refusing to speak out against Speaker Sheldon Silver’s handling of the so-called Gropez scandal. Earlier today, the GOP...
View ArticleSilver’s Big Night (Updated)
It was a foregone conclusion that the Assembly Democrats would maintain their majority yesterday. The only question was by how much. While we were all focused on the battle for control of the state...
View ArticleThe Electoral College meets
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver along with political luminaries from around the Empire State gathered in the state Senate chamber to...
View ArticleNRA more-guns-for-schools React-O-Mat™
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver offers a thumbs-down statement on the National Rifle Association’s rather tumultuous Friday-morning news conference, where Wayne LaPierre proposed a national registry...
View ArticleSilver wants early voting, tighter disclosure
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver introduced legislation to allow New Yorkers to vote up to two weeks before Election Day, and to change state law forcing more disclosure of political spending. Silver, a...
View ArticleSilver: Special session for guns would send a message
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he was not ruling out the possibility of a special session to tighten up the state’s gun laws, and said acting before lawmakers scheduled January 9 return would...
View ArticleWill Cuomo share his State of State stage? X2
Leaders of the Assembly and Senate are wondering if they’ll be invited to make remarks before Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s annual State of the State presentation next Wednesday, as they have for the last two...
View ArticleSilver: Gun control package will include penalties
Legislative aides will continue negotiating into the evening over a slew of bills to tighten New York’s gun laws, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. Silver, D-Manhattan, held back the final details...
View ArticleLawmakers: Plan for three Upstate casinos is ‘evolving’
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to permit three casinos outside of New York City is “evolving,” top lawmakers said after a closed-door meeting on Wednesday morning. Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos said...
View ArticleJCOPE finishes investigation of Lopez, Assembly
The state’s ethics watchdog has concluded an investigation of the state Assembly’s handling of sexual harassment allegations involving a senior member, and forwarded a report of its findings to two...
View ArticleLegislative leaders don’t see casinos in budget (update)
The state’s top lawmakers said they were skeptical that legislation guiding the siting of several new casinos would be included in the state budget, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed. “That’s another...
View ArticleAssembly Dems moving $9 minimum wage bill
Assembly Democrats said they plan to pass a bill this afternoon raising the state’s minimum wage to $9 per hour from its current $7.25 level, and indexing it to automatically rise with the rate of...
View ArticleVideo: Silver, Klein post-leaders meeting
Senate conference leaders Jeff Klein and Dean Skelos were joined by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver at an early-afternoon leaders meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Capitol’s second floor. I missed...
View ArticleWomen’s organizations push back on MMA
A group of women’s organizations has sent Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver a letter urging him to block the legalization of mixed martial arts, citing what they say is a culture of misogyny. The letter,...
View ArticleSome budget progress, but few details
Legislative leaders emerged from another closed-door session with Gov. Andrew Cuomo this morning to announce progress toward a complete state budget, but refused to offer specific information about...
View ArticleSilver: Nano and UAlbany will always be symbiotic
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he could see the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering split from the University at Albany, but that it would always have some sort of affiliation with its...
View ArticleTax breaks in 2014, tied to millionaire’s tax renewal
Some $700 million in tax rollbacks touted by Senate Republicans won’t take effect until 2014, and are tied to a renewal of the state’s millionaires tax, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver after emerging...
View ArticleSilver optimistic on budget deal, questions econ councils
Legislative leaders said they could close down budget negotiations today, but sticking points remain over how the state will allocate funding for schools and economic development. “We are on target to...
View ArticleAssembly sees budget done by 5 p.m., or midnight?
Debate on the state budget has started in the state Democrat-dominated Assembly, where pessimistic members are gearing up for a late night session. Floor debate on nine budget bills — which authorize...
View ArticleShelly Silver’s anti-scandal proposal (video added)
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and dozens of the the Democrats who dominate that chamber are re-upping their push for publicly financed campaigns, and also unveiled a suite of other electoral reforms...
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