ALBANY—State Senator Eric Schneiderman will kick off the start of the legislative session with a fund-raiser at the house of Meredith Kane, his law school classmate.
The event will take place on January 7, the day after David Paterson delivers his State of the State address. Democratic Senate Leader John Sampson is also Read More
ALBANY—John Sampson thinks, not unreasonably, that the State Senate needs a new look.
“We need to come out of the box in January and start to really pass some progressive and positive legislation because people have one characterization of us,” Sampson, the leader of the chamber’s Democratic conference, told reporters during an informal chat in Read More
ALBANY—The day after David Paterson gives his State of the State address, Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson will be in Manhattan for “cocktails and conversation” at a $5,000-a-head event.
That’s a pretty high dollar figure; for context, David Paterson and Andrew Cuomo each asked for $1,000 a head at their December events and Read More
There were 1,000 people in attendance at Andrew Cuomo’s birthday fund-raiser last night–even David Paterson, a prospective political adversary, dropped in–mingling with the attorney general and enjoying a dinner of cucumber salad, beef and vegetables.
Like David Paterson’s holiday fund-raiser last week, the stalwarts of Albany’s lobbying community showed up–Paul Tokasz, Read More
ALBANY—Dean Skelos, the Republican leader in the State Senate, is putting the brakes on a Democratic proposal to give members of his conference committee chairmanships.
“Senator [John] Sampson’s proposal to appoint new chairs should be considered along with these other recommendations, by the bipartisan committee, before any action is taken,” Skelos said in a Read More
ALBANY—Quinnipiac University just released a poll with blistering results for the state legislature: 72 percent of voters surveyed disapprove of the job its doing, 76 percent said their government is dysfunctional, 46 percent says their state senator should be voted out of office and 60 percent say the offenses for which former Read More
ALBANY—State Senator Darrel Aubertine seems okay with the idea of Republicans taking the chairmanships of several committees—even if it’s one he currently controls.
“There have been some discussions internally about the possibility of expanding senators’ roles in decision-making in the Senate; just being more inclusive and making sure everyone has a seat at Read More
ALBANY—State Senator Joe Robach returned my call to say he would be “interested” in becoming a committee chairman, but denied anything substantive had been offered.
“I had a loose discussion with someone on the floor the other week,” Robach, a Rochester Republican, told me by phone. “Nothing really formally has been discussed. It’s Read More
ALBANY—John Sampson and Dean Skelos, the leaders of their party’s respective conferences in the State Senate, met this morning to discuss the prospect of Republicans taking over the chairmanship of several committees, a Democratic spokesman said.
“Because the discussions are still ongoing, I cannot confirm the members of the committees,” said Austin Shafran, the spokesman, Read More
ALBANY—Today is the day of reckoning.
David Paterson just held a press conference to announce that, as he has threatened for two weeks, the state will delay a portion of payments to localities and school district because it doesn’t have enough cash to make them.
In total, $750 million will be stalled: Paterson said Read More
