Cuomo (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)

Lawmakers returning to Albany this week to kick off the 2016 legislative session are faced with a litany of unresolved issues from last year and the spectre of the recent convictions of two former legislative leaders.

Add to that impending elections for all 213 legislative seats, some of which will be critical for the future of state Senate control and the prospect of future indictments hinted at by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara and you have a recipe for potential

Heastie, Cuomo, Flanagan (L-R) (photo: Governor's Office via flickr)

In the Democrat-controlled Assembly, it was 122-13; in the Republican-controlled Senate, 47-12. With those votes and a Governor Andrew Cuomo signature, a final policy package brought an underwhelming end to a tumultuous 2015 legislative session in New York's capital. 

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A UFC event (photo: @UltimateFighter)

The path to the legalization of mixed martial arts, or MMA, in New York got a major boost earlier this year in the form of the arrest of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Silver was seen as the lone impediment to the state removing its ban on the sport and allowing the (notoriously underfunded) New York State Athletic Commission to issue regulations so that New Yorkers can reap the financial benefits of the large events that are now