Rebecca C. Lewis

New York

Senior State Politics Reporter at City & State NY

State politics at @CityandStateNY. She/her. Mom to Ivy the Capitol Dog. Pitches and dog pics to [email protected]

Articles

The most important things included in the state budget

5 days ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

Lawmakers finished passing a $254 billion budget Thursday night, over a month after its statutory deadline. Negotiations on mostly non-budgetary policy issues fed into a protracted process, delaying firm decisions on the fiscal portion of the spending plan. Gov. Kathy Hochul didn’t wait that long to celebrate her priorities making it into the budget, albeit in updated forms.
It’s (finally) budget time

6 days ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

There’s finally white smoke in Albany. Lawmakers finished passing the $254 billion state budget late Thursday evening, almost a full 38 days after the April 1 deadline when the spending plan was due. It’s also 10 days after Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a “general agreement.”The spending plan is now officially the latest budget legislators passed since 2010, and the fourth tardy budget in a row for Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Lawmakers succeed in watering down Hochul’s proposed discovery changes

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

Over a week after Gov. Kathy Hochul declared victory in the budget, particularly when it came to her top priority to change the state’s discovery law, final language on the matter revealed that she agreed to a far more watered-down series of changes compared to what she proposed. While the amendments to discovery still go further than what public defenders and criminal justice reform advocates had wanted, lawmakers managed to push back on the most significant changes Hochul sought.
Plastic packaging reduction bill once again a post-budget priority

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

High-profile legislation to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the state is making its way through the Assembly once again. And with growing support from groups like the NAACP and the Hispanic Federation, environmental advocates are hopeful that lawmakers will approve the bill once the budget is passed after a near miss last year. The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act aims to reduce the amount of single-use plastics in New York by 30% over the next 12 years.
It’s finally happening! The Legislature has started printing budget bills

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis |Austin Jefferson |Peter Sterne

At long last, the state Legislature has started printing budget bills, paving the way for legislators to begin hours of marathon voting to finally get the spending plan wrapped up. As of early Wednesday morning, the Legislature had introduced three of the remaining nine budget bills, leaving six more that still need printing. Still, PPGG had details about a number of other issues that drew attention during ongoing budget talks.
Senate committee advances GOP anti-trans bill

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

The state Senate Education Committee advanced legislation on Tuesday that would forbid the state education commissioner from requiring schools to allow trans athletes to play on sports teams that align with their gender. The move was immediately criticized by LGBTQ+ advocates, even though the bill is unlikely to ever come to the floor for a vote. The legislation is sponsored by state Sen. Steven Rhoads, a Republican from Long Island.
Hochul to get expanded authority to make midyear budget cuts

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie confirmed that legislators will give Gov. Kathy Hochul broad authority to make mid-year budget cuts in order to respond to a potential recession and fiscal turbulence caused by federal action. Lawmakers previously granted then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo similar power during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the new language has some more rules in place.
It's official: This year's budget is the latest in 15 years

1 week ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

It's May 2, do you know where your budget is? Unfortunately, none of us do – and when the clock strikes midnight tonight, this will officially be the latest budget in 15 years. Gov. Kathy Hochul may still have quite a ways to go to break the record for latest budget in state history, but if the trend continues, one never knows. Lawmakers approved Hochul’s second budget in 2023 on May 2, 32 days after the April 1 deadline.
Assembly passes Medical Aid in Dying Act

2 weeks ago | cityandstateny.com | Rebecca C. Lewis

For roughly the past decade, advocates have pushed for New York to approve a law that would allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives with the assistance of their doctor. On Tuesday, the Assembly passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act for the first time by a narrow margin following hours of debate.
$50 million for housing vouchers is better than nothing

2 weeks ago | cityandstateny.com | Austin Jefferson |Rebecca C. Lewis

Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed that the Housing Access Voucher Program would receive $50 million in funding in this year’s state budget, although details about the program’s parameters are still being hashed out. Lawmakers had originally aimed for $250 million to fund the Housing Voucher Access Program, which would subsidize the cost of leases for low-income New Yorkers, but Hochul maintained for years that the cost would balloon unsustainably.