Lucy Hodgman

Hearst Fellow at Times Union (Albany)

now @timesunion, was @politico and @sacbee_news, always @yaledailynews

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Articles

Gym operator to issue refunds over confusing cancellation policies

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Equinox, which operators 43 gyms in New York, will issue refunds to individuals who struggled to cancel their memberships to the luxury fitness company’s gyms and online programs. The state attorney general’s office said Friday that Equinox Group, LLC, had allegedly violated a state law requiring companies to clearly disclose their subscription terms and offer simple cancellation mechanisms.
As gambling industry evolves, state lawmakers try to catch up

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Online sports betting has exploded into a multibillion-dollar industry in New York since it was legalized in 2022. State lawmakers are scrambling to keep up. Last fall, a commission of public health experts said gambling had become a public health threat. The internet, they argued, enabled gambling to become a global pastime before governments were prepared to regulate its risks or ensure adequate treatment for those experiencing addiction.
Lefton pledges 'collaboration' as next commissioner of strained DEC

1 week ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Amanda Lefton is inheriting a tangle of challenges as the next commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, the mammoth agency responsible for conserving the state’s natural resources and enforcing its environmental laws. New York is lagging behind the slate of ambitious renewable energy mandates it committed to in 2019. Forest rangers are working hundreds of hours of annual overtime amid staffing shortages.
NY Republicans eke out SALT deal in federal spending bill

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Two potential gubernatorial challengers helped negotiate a federal provision to quadruple the contentious $10,000 cap on the amount taxpayers can deduct from their state and local taxes — a provision known as SALT. U.S. Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler have advocated for sweeping relief from SALT, which has an outsize impact on high-tax states like New York. But President Donald J.
Business leaders push legislators to oppose construction wage bill

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Democratic lawmakers at the state Capitol want to overhaul state laws on construction wages. They’re facing opposition from a coalition of business leaders who say expanding compensation standards would make construction projects prohibitively expensive.
Most NY nonprofits have funding concerns from slow state payments

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Delayed payments from state agencies have put New York’s nonprofit organizations at risk, a new report contends. Nonprofits — which state agencies depend on for everything from disaster aid to mental health services — have widely struggled to secure timely contracts from the state, especially in the wake of the pandemic.
Schumer: NY House Republicans should block tax megabill

2 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer thinks the GOP’s tax megabill is giving New York’s congressional Republicans good reason to break from their party. Budget negotiations in recent weeks have put New York’s seven Republican representatives in the national spotlight. A faction that includes U.S. Reps.
Stefanik pushes for ‘new leadership’ in district GOP after cabinet nomination collapse

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik was waiting for the White House to advance her cabinet nomination and the New York Republicans tasked with nominating her successor were in disarray. The discord unfolded after President Donald J. Trump tapped Stefanik to become ambassador to the United Nations in November, and the chairs of her district’s Republican county committees almost immediately began vetting candidates for the special election expected to fill her seat.
New standards on ‘forever chemicals’ could impact NY drinking water

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to loosen federal standards on “forever chemicals” in drinking water. Advocates want New York to strengthen its own standards in response. Last year, then-President Joe Biden’s administration set the first national standard on polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water.
State budget carves out some SUNY campuses from MTA payroll tax

3 weeks ago | timesunion.com | Lucy Hodgman

ALBANY — Some State University of New York campuses will escape an unpopular transit tax under the $254 billion budget that was passed by the Legislature last week. The Metropolitan Transit Authority — which operates trains, subways and buses in New York City and surrounding counties — is set to receive $68.4 billion over the next five years as part of the state budget agreement.