International Courant
With assist from Shawn Ness
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to finish subsidies for brand spanking new gasoline hookups and transition away from pure gasoline nonetheless has a protracted technique to go. | Brynn Fuller-Becker/New Yorkers for Clear Energy
Proponents of a measure to restrict the growth of the state’s gasoline system are elated with Gov. Kathy Hochul backing key elements of their invoice.
However the proposal to finish subsidies for brand spanking new gasoline hookups and allow neighborhood-wide transitions off pure gasoline faces a protracted highway with aggressive opposition from labor unions and the gasoline business.
“Now we have to get off the fracked gasoline system and do it now,” mentioned Betta Broad, marketing campaign director for New Yorkers for Clear Energy throughout a rally with the Renewable Warmth Now coalition. Supporters packing the Million Greenback Staircase chanted “New York HEAT” — the identify of the invoice — and lawmakers spoke in help of the invoice.
Meeting Democratic management has not endorsed the measure. Assemblymember Pat Fahy (D-Albany) mentioned latest amendments had been meant to alleviate considerations from Speaker Carl Heastie.
Whereas Hochul excluded the supply of NY HEAT to formalize the coverage aim of holding power prices at 6 p.c of revenue for reasonable and low-income New York residents, Fahy’s latest amendments would double down on that mandate. It could apply the 6 p.c cap to all residential utility clients.
“We wish to make certain even our center revenue ratepayers aren’t slammed with our crucial upfront investments,” Fahy mentioned.
However the Public Service Fee may restrict the prices of this system to subsidize power prices at 3 p.c of utility revenues. Fahy mentioned that ought to stop main will increase for producers and companies to pay for the residential limits.
The measure additionally permits the PSC to restrict the quantity of power topic to the affordability cap — guaranteeing there’s an incentive for conservation. Fahy mentioned conservation was a precedence for Heastie.
Each the legislative proposals and Hochul’s finances would finish the “100 foot rule” that subsidizes new gasoline hookups and get rid of the “obligation to serve” requiring utilities to hook up new clients on request.
Labor unions representing the employees who try this work and keep the gasoline system are involved.
“They’re risking shedding their jobs,” mentioned Pat Guidice, enterprise supervisor of Worldwide Brotherhood of Electrical Staff Native 1049. “It doesn’t give us protections for staff which might be displaced going ahead.”
Rapper Slick Rick visited the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on Jan. 23, 2024. | Invoice Mahoney/POLITICO
SLICK RICK THE RULER: Rap legend Slick Rick was on the Capitol right this moment to hunt help for his Victory Patch Basis and to be honored by the Senate and Meeting for his legendary profession.
“Got here to see my individuals and provides them help, make them really feel like there’s a chance that we will run the Earth correctly. That’s it,” the Bronx rapper who is called rap’s biggest storyteller instructed Playbook as he walked to fulfill with Senate leaders.
Slick Rick, whose actual identify is Richard Martin Lloyd Walters, is a hip hop icon who migrated from England to the Bronx as a child and shortly linked up with rappers Dana Dane and Doug E. Contemporary. His debut “The Nice Adventures of Slick Rick” in 1988 is thought to be top-of-the-line rap albums in historical past.
“That was a part of my childhood. It was the atmosphere I used to be raised in,” he mentioned of his early music, a lot of which had a optimistic message. “It was simply to maintain a transparent focus and attempt to assist others that wish to come up too, surviving and having enjoyable on the identical time.”
It was Slick Rick’s first journey to the state Capitol, however he owes the place so much. In 2008, then-Gov. David Paterson granted him a pardon on tried homicide and weapons convictions – a transfer that allowed him to keep away from potential deportation.
“Thank God. Thanks to the Albany household that’s helped help me, keep free and all that great things,” he mentioned. “I’m very appreciative. We help one another. Each; educate one. And I’m right here to help them too.”
Meeting Speaker Carl Heastie launched Slick Rick on the Meeting ground – noting he’s a constituent and buddy.
“He’s a dwelling instance of second possibilities,” Heastie mentioned. — Joseph Spector
Legendary pitcher Bartolo Colon visited the state Capitol in Albany, N.Y. on Jan. 23, 2024. | Invoice Mahoney/POLITICO
ANOTHER LEGEND: Slick Rick wasn’t the one well-known particular person on the Capitol right this moment. Legendary pitcher Bartolo Colon was additionally honored by the Meeting and Senate, the place he was issued a decision to acknowledge his retirement from baseball after 21 years within the main leagues.
The previous Yankees and Mets star is a beloved determine in baseball, significantly as a Met when he hit his first and solely dwelling run in 2016. He mentioned he was invited to the Capitol by Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, whose district contains Yankee Stadium.
“I’m right here right this moment as a result of the Senate made a decision on my behalf. We already went to the Meeting,” Colon mentioned via an interpreter. “I had the distinction to be there and be acknowledged there, and now I’m going to the Senate to obtain a decision.”
And he was impressed with the state Capitol on his first go to: “It appears like there may be loads of historical past right here.” — Invoice Mahoney
HEALTH BUDGET HEARING: State lawmakers grilled state well being and finance officers for over 4 hours about Hochul’s finances proposals to scale back Medicaid spending by over $1.2 billion within the upcoming fiscal yr.
Well being Commissioner James McDonald and Medicaid director Amir Bassiri mentioned they needed to discover financial savings so this system’s spending progress wouldn’t exceed the state-mandated cap, however tried to keep away from substantial service cuts. Nonetheless, there was loads of discuss of “tough” decisions.
Addressing lawmakers’ considerations concerning the impression on financially distressed hospitals and nursing houses, McDonald mentioned elevating Medicaid charges will not be essentially the answer and the state wants to assist amenities cut back their prices.
“We can not purchase ourselves out of this difficulty,” McDonald mentioned. “The reply isn’t simply including extra money yearly.”
Nonetheless, the Better New York Hospital Affiliation and 1199SEIU introduced the Legislature with a four-year proposal that will dip into the state’s reserves to shut what they declare is a 30 p.c hole between what Medicaid pays for companies and the way a lot it prices to offer them. — Maya Kaufman
Mayor Eric Adams tried to take away chairs from Metropolis Corridor throughout Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ press convention. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Pictures Workplace.
DISORDER IN THE BUILDING: The drama between Mayor Eric Adams and the New York Metropolis Council escalated Tuesday when Adams’ workplace tried to take away chairs from the Metropolis Corridor rotunda throughout a press convention Council Speaker Adrienne Adams organized in response to the mayor’s veto of a regulation enforcement invoice.
When requested concerning the removing of the chairs, the mayor, who hosted his personal weekly presser on the identical time, mentioned he wished “to keep up management within the rotunda space” and mentioned the Council had not requested use of the house.
“We’re gonna talk so we may be good tenants collectively on this constructing,” Mayor Adams mentioned, including: “We have to keep order within the constructing.”
Through the Council presser, lawmakers and religion leaders gathered to debate the “fable vs. information” of the invoice, which the Council handed by a veto-proof 35-9 in December and was vetoed by the mayor on Friday.
The speaker appeared certain the Council would simply be capable of override the veto. When requested by a reporter if she was involved the mayor may flip sufficient votes, she responded “no,” collected her papers and left the rostrum.
“We stand united in help of this vital reform and in opposition to the mayor’s veto, and we look ahead to overriding it collectively” the speaker mentioned, including that opposition to the invoice has been a “marketing campaign of misinformation below the guise of piles and stacks and mountains of paperwork” and that “the NYPD is essentially the most technologically savvy police division on the planet.”
“If paperwork is the software of implementation for this laws, girls and gents, it won’t be by the hands of the New York Metropolis Council,” she added.
The mayor mentioned he’s “hoping that stage heads prevail.”
“After I communicate to Council members, in the event that they had been in a position to vote with their conscience, they’d not be supporting this invoice,” he mentioned, arguing that constituents within the speaker’s personal district “need their police policing, not doing paperwork.” — Irie Sentner
SUNY Chancellor John King needs extra funds for capital investments to handle deteriorating infrastructure. | Mike Groll/AP Photograph
SUNY’S COMING BACK FOR MORE: SUNY Chancellor John King is gearing as much as request extra funds for capital investments that will tackle deteriorating infrastructure, together with new development for the 64-campus system. The governor’s finances proposal contains $650 million for capital funding, however King mentioned that’s not sufficient.
Throughout a Board of Trustees assembly on Tuesday he famous that SUNY wants greater than $7 billion to handle capital wants, and in the event that they wish to forge forward with plans to scale back campuses’ power footprints that quantity can be far increased.
“Despite the fact that $650 million seems like some huge cash, a lot is being deferred, a lot is being carried out, and if we wish to discover a approach ahead, a lot funding is required to be carried out,” Board of Trustees chair Merryl Tisch mentioned on the Tuesday assembly.
King mentioned he plans to make a plea to the Legislature for extra capital funding, together with a renewed request for the state to fund an $86 million requisition to cowl union contract improve. — Katelyn Cordero
WHEN A PRISON CLOSES: Hochul acknowledged right this moment the impression of shuttering as many as 5 prisons within the state could have on the North Nation area.
The huge space is dwelling to 11 of the state’s 44 prisons. The small, rural communities that host prisons depend on the power as a supply of employment and financial exercise.
“It does have an effect on the group,” Hochul instructed reporters as she visited Lake Placid. “I would like individuals to know I perceive that.”
However on the identical time, the governor defended the supply in her $233 billion finances proposal that will proceed the decade-long development of closing prisons. The state’s inhabitants of individuals in jail 25 years in the past stood at 73,000. The jail inhabitants is now at 33,000.
Hochul’s predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, had beforehand argued prisons shouldn’t be a supply of financial growth. However lots of the hulking, empty buildings haven’t been developed for sensible use.
Hochul needs to alter that by probably changing lots of the prisons into different makes use of, comparable to housing.
“They’re stunning properties; they’re like faculty campuses,” she mentioned. “They lend themselves to so many nice alternatives. It takes time and money to do this, however I’m dedicated to doing that.” — Nick Reisman
MONEY TO ADIRONDACKS: Hochul unveiled a collection of investments to North Nation communities right this moment as a part of her statewide tour to advertise her proposed $233 billion finances.
The city of Lowville, in Lewis County, will obtain a $10 million funding via the state’s downtown revitalization initiative, Hochul introduced this morning. Canton and Alexandria Bay may even obtain $4.5 million every via the NY Ahead program.
“I view my obligations to be the keeper of the soul of this state,” Hochul mentioned. “After I take into consideration the center, it needs to be the North Nation.”
Hochul additionally introduced a $13.1 million funding to assist end development of the Adirondack Rail Path, a 34-mile path for hikers, bikers, cross-country skiers and snowmobile riders. Funding will come from the 2022 Clear Water, Clear Air and Inexperienced Jobs Environmental Bond Act. Development of the path will started in October 2020. — Jason Beeferman
PAROLE JUSTICE: Leaders from the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucues are searching for the passage of two payments: the Aged Parole Act (S.2423/A.2035), and the Honest and Well timed Parole Act (S.307/A.162). Each payments goal to restructure the state parole system.
Based on the Instances Union, they discovered that greater than 19,000 choices from the parole board during the last two years had some side of racial bias impression the end result.
“Don’t get it twisted, parole justice is public security. We all know that when our elders who’ve skilled the worst sentences once they have the chance to return into their communities, they turn into leaders of their communities,” state Sen. Julia Salazar, one of many sponsors, mentioned. — Shawn Ness
PLENTY OF ROOM AT THE HOTEL CALIFORNIA LAKE PLACID : Lovely Lake Placid is opening a brand new lodge for the primary time in over a decade.
The Cambria Lodge, a $35 million venture with 185 visitor rooms, opened its doorways right this moment with the help of the governor and Empire State Improvement.
The inn guarantees to convey no less than 50 full time jobs to the realm. Hochul mentioned the brand new lodge is a part of her efforts to spice up tourism within the state, an business which the governor says generated $123 billion in financial impression in 2022.
ESD really helpful a $3 million capital grant for the venture, in trade for 51 new jobs, on the time of the lodge’s groundbreaking in 2022. — Jason Beeferman
FOOD AND HOUSING INSECURITY: New York’s working households are struggling to make ends meet for the reason that Youngster Tax Credit score expired in December 2021, a new report from the United Neighborhood Homes and Academic Alliance finds.
To counter this, lawmakers are proposing the New York Working Households Tax Credit score, it might be an “efficient poverty-fighting software that may put much-needed money within the arms of New Yorkers,” a press launch from state Sen. Andrew Gounardes’ workplace reads.
The invoice would improve the worth of the credit score to be between $500 and $1,600 per baby, in addition to permitting households with the bottom revenue to obtain essentially the most credit score.
“[The new report] confirms what we’ve recognized for years: working households are struggling to get by in New York,” Gounardes mentioned. “If we would like this state to be a spot the place households have a shot at making it, we now have to offer them the assets to take that shot.” — Shawn Ness
CONGESTION PRICING: The Municipal Labor Committee — an umbrella group for 102 public sector unions — voted to file an amicus transient in help of a lawsuit to cease the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s congestion pricing plan.
Committee chair Harry Nespoli questioned the MTA’s determination to approve the plan to cost a $15 toll for many drivers to enter decrease Manhattan with out trying into the results on the outer boroughs
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella and the town’s academics union filed a lawsuit earlier this month urging the MTA to finish a rigorous environmental impression assertion, together with potential impacts on air high quality in Staten Island and the Bronx.
“Why didn’t they do extra analysis on the outer boroughs so far as the air high quality earlier than you simply rush proper into this factor?,” committee chairman Harry Nespoli mentioned in an interview. — Madina Touré
— Schooling leaders within the state are nonetheless against school-choice initiatives. (State of Politics)
— Professional-Palestinian protesters at Columbia had been hit with a “foul-smelling” spray; no less than three of the protesters wanted medical consideration. (Each day Information)
— Hochul is ensuring staff get elevated short-term incapacity advantages beginning subsequent yr. (Instances Union)
NY Warmth Act flares up
World Information,Subsequent Large Factor in Public Knowledg
