
Susan Arbetter
Political Anchor at Spectrum News Capital Region
Political Anchor at Spectrum News Rochester
Political anchor for Spectrum News. Formerly WCNY, WMHT, WAMC. Emmy, Murrow, AP, NYSBA, Scripps-Howard, Headliner & NY Women's Press Club Hall of Honor
Articles
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2 weeks ago |
spectrumlocalnews.com | Susan Arbetter
Echoing last year’s school budget vote, 97% of New York school districts voted in favor of their budgets on Tuesday, with that number rising to 99% for school districts staying within the property tax cap. Forty-two districts statewide sought to override the 2% property tax cap; those districts needed a supermajority of votes to pass their budgets. Seventeen of those attempts failed. The districts will likely revamp their budgets and try again in June.
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2 weeks ago |
spectrumlocalnews.com | Susan Arbetter
N.Y. Assembly minority leader discusses prison closures and end-of-session priorities BY Susan Arbetter New York State PUBLISHED 7:30 PM ET May 20, 2025 PUBLISHED 7:30 PM EDT May 20, 2025 The leader of the New York state Assembly Republicans, Will Barclay, spoke with Capital Tonight’s Susan Arbetter about the state’s late budget, prison closures, the prison strike and his conference’s end-of-session priorities.
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2 weeks ago |
spectrumlocalnews.com | Susan Arbetter
If you’re watching the economy and starting to get worried about being laid off from your current job, there’s a tiny bit of good news for you in the recently passed state budget. Unemployment benefits are set to increase from $504 per week to $869 per week starting in October of this year. The governor and the Legislature decided to use money from the state’s rainy day fund to pay off New York’s entire $6.5 billion unemployment insurance debt to the federal government.
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3 weeks ago |
spectrumlocalnews.com | Susan Arbetter
Despite being over a month late, the state budget included some major victories for the business community. One big win? The state will spend $8 billion to pay off its unemployment insurance debt. Ken Pokalsky, vice president of the Business Council of New York State, explained why the issue was a priority for companies across the state, and how the Business Council will be playing defense on a handful of issues over the next few weeks.
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3 weeks ago |
spectrumlocalnews.com | Susan Arbetter
While workers in the mental health and human services sector received a 2.6% cost of living adjustment in the just-passed budget, it was nowhere near the 7.8% increase that advocates had been pushing. The increase is equivalent to about $50 million. Glenn Liebman, CEO of the Mental Health Association of New York State, spoke with Capital Tonight about the wins and losses in the budget for the mental health space.
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RT @SpecNews1Albany: With a $254 billion budget behind them, state lawmakers said they're frustrated by the drawn-out process and how Gov.…

RT @KaitlynnLisa: “I'm not thrilled with this year's budget," said @LiuNewYork Liu, who voted for the spending plan. "I think few people…

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