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6 days ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
The state Office of Cannabis has taken some lumps for its rollout of the legal cannabis market, raising concerns about its support for dispensaries and ability to enforce regulations in New York. But four years after the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act’s passage, one small town figured out a way to make the adult-use market work for them.
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1 week ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
Albany insiders think the state budget might drag into May as legislative leaders appear incapable of coming to a meaningful compromise on policy items after weeks of closed-door negotiations. Gov. Kathy Hochul said she wouldn’t mind spending her summer negotiating in Albany, but so far it’s been a dreary spring. This wouldn’t be the first time that Hochul has delayed a budget until May; in 2023, the budget was held up due to fierce debates over rolling back bail reform and only passed on May 3.
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1 week ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
A divisive Zyn ban bill that rankled small-business owners and consumers alike has faded away this session like the sweet sting of a peppermint six-milligram pouch. Sponsored by Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the proposed legislation would have banned the sale of flavored smokeless nicotine packets like Zyn.
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2 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Sponsor Message April 9, 2025 02:20 PM ET Policy New York State Budget Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s proposal to extend lawmakers' pay past the state budget’s due date doesn’t seem to have the support necessary to force a standoff with Gov. Kathy Hochul, but the move is emblematic of a state budget process that has grown more contentious than many expected in January.
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2 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
According to state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, state budget negotiations have hit a “pause” as policy debates gum up progress, even if they are at the “beginning of the end.” Gov. Kathy Hochul has indicated that her key priorities in the budget don’t have much room for daylight.
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2 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
Influential health care workers union 32BJ is calling in the big guns as it pushes for a new statewide bill that would cap the prices of routine outpatient medical services. Billionaire celebrity Mark Cuban, of “Shark Tank” and NBA fame, will be the keynote speaker at the union’s annual conference on Oct. 9, which City & State is co-hosting for the third time. Cuban, an investor worth more than $5 billion, has attempted to bring down the cost of health care in America through his business ventures.
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2 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
Freshman Rep. Josh Riley exclusively shared with City & State he’s raised more than $759,000 in the first quarter of 2025 and has more than $681,000 cash on hand. Over the entirety of the cycle, the Endicott Democrat reports a $847,000 haul as Republicans are still in the process of settling upon a challenger for the upcoming midterm elections following former Rep. Marc Molinaro’s narrow loss last fall.
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2 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
State Office of Cannabis Management Executive Director Felicia A. B. Reid has spent nearly a year in her post overseeing the state’s pot regulator and just in time for the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act’s fourth anniversary. The office has come under fire for years for mismanagement and ran a gantlet of legal challenges in its quest to get legal dispensaries online.
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3 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
It may be April Fools Day, but the soon to be late state budget is no laughing matter in Albany. The state Legislature passed a $1.7 billion budget extender on Tuesday that will fund the state government through Thursday. State Budget Director Blake Washington acknowledged yesterday that despite negotiations over the weekend, the 2026 Fiscal Year budget would not be settled by its April 1 deadline, and more extenders have been prepared.
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3 weeks ago | 
cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson
The state’s budget director says that if federal cuts to vital services come to pass in Congress’ final budget plan, the state can’t simply raise more money and will have to make its own cuts. Nearly $91 billion of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $252 billion executive budget proposal comes from the federal government. As Hochul has said, a special session would be likely if budget figures needed to be reworked to respond to cuts.
