Gov. Hochul speaks at LaGuardia Community College CUNY (photo: @CUNY)

Funding for the City University of New York, CUNY, is among a number of major focus issues as elected officials negotiate a new state budget this month and a new city budget by July.

Lawmakers, students, faculty, and others are concerned about proposals in both Governor Kathy Hochul’s and Mayor Eric Adams’ budget proposals, which are now the source of negotiations with their respective legislatures. Though Hochul included a modest increase in overall funding for CUNY in her January executive budget, she also proposed

A place to call home (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

As Governor Kathy Hochul tries to convince the Legislature to support her ambitious housing agenda focused on increasing the supply of homes, legislators seem unwilling to do so without including in a state budget deal major protections for current tenants including a new rental voucher program.

The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) would provide state-funded rental subsidy vouchers to those experiencing homelessness or facing evictions and at risk of homelessness, regardless of immigration status. The bill is sponsored by

Senator Monica Martinez, the author, speaks with students

As an educator and former school administrator responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of children, I can attest there is no greater fear than your students and faculty being in danger. 

As school shootings and violent threats continue to spike across the nation, school districts are confronted with the unavoidable question of how to best reduce, prevent, and respond to emergency situations, particularly those involving active shooters. Having

(photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

This month, the New York State Legislature has the chance to pass a state budget that will have a profoundly positive impact for thousands of students in New York City.  

In February, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed lifting the regional cap on charter schools in New York City, and reviving “zombie” charters – a proposal that would finally allow more public charter schools to open their doors. The proposal would mean two things: more good schools in the communities

(photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

While another potential rollback of bail reforms has taken center stage in state budget negotiations for the second straight year, the fates of a swath of other criminal justice programs are being quietly hashed out.

Governor Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders are in the midst of pinning down the contours of a roughly $230 billion state budget, already past the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. Even with the focus on bail, all parties are talking about a holistic suite of criminal justice-related policies with hundreds of

New Yorkers getting help (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)

I was a teenager in the 1980s when I learned firsthand what it meant to face eviction and landlord harassment. Three different landlords, but they all used the same playbook: they failed to provide adequate heat, thinking they could take advantage of my family’s difficult economic situation. Allowing dangerous living conditions is a form of eviction in which landlords don’t even need to sue their tenants in court. Instead, they push tenants out with threats to their health and safety. Each year, countless

Senator Liz Krueger (photo: NY Senate)

Lawmakers in Albany are in the midst of crafting a new budget, with negotiations now stretching beyond the April 1 start of the new fiscal year. Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and the two houses of the State Legislature, both with Democratic supermajorities, are likely to pass a budget “extender” so the state can pay its bills, especially payroll, as they continue negotiations this week.

State Senator Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat who leads the Senate’s finance committee, has been at the center of the budget process, co-chairing weeks of legislative hearings on

Mayor Adams & Governor Hochul (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

With a new state budget entering final negotiations, Mayor Eric Adams traveled to the state capital this week to pitch Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature on his administration’s fiscal and policy priorities. Funding for migrant asylum-seekers and the MTA as well as other fiscal matters remain at the top of his list as the mayor has otherwise presented a limited policy agenda in Albany amid attempts to recalibrate his relationship with legislative leaders.

Last year, Adams’ intergovernmental and Albany

The Governor, Mayor, ABNY leaders, Richard Buery & Dan Doctoroff (photo: Governor's Office)

As final negotiations over the state budget take place in Albany, a panel of experts convened by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams are urging the State Legislature to support a series of proposals to tackle the state’s immense need for new housing. 

In June 2022, the governor and mayor assembled the 'New' New York panel of more than 50 experts and leaders across labor, business, academic, nonprofit, and philanthropic circles to advise them on the future of the city and state. The panel was

Inside the State Legislature (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Despite funding in the executive and legislative budget proposals, lawmakers have not ruled out shelving the state's fledgling public campaign finance system for the upcoming election cycle.

Rumors that lawmakers were considering delaying the new small-dollar matching program as part of budget negotiations have been swirling since such talks were...

Gov. Hochul addresses the Legislature (photo: office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

The Democratic supermajorities in the State Senate and Assembly recently laid their cards on the table with the passage of their chambers' one-house budget resolutions.

The resolutions serve as opening counter-offers to Governor Kathy Hochul's $227 billion executive budget and sweeping policy agenda, marking battle lines and raising the stakes on a number of key issues. They followed weeks of legislative hearings on the governor's

Gov. Hochul addresses the state (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

Policymakers in Albany sent a clear message to their constituents last week: we are not serious about solving the housing shortage that is driving rents up, causing extreme housing insecurity, and keeping our communities segregated. The housing growth strategy outlined in both the Senate and Assembly one-house budget resolutions is a weak, incentive-driven approach that replicates housing policies that have been tried and failed. Localities that want to remain exclusionary and not add housing can still

State Senator Liz Krueger, center-right, with other state leaders (photo: NYS Senate)

March 20, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Liz Krueger on State Budget Negotiations

State Senator Liz Krueger, chair of the Senate finance committee, joined the show to discuss state budget negotiations with under two weeks before the April 1 deadline for a new spending plan.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the

Treatment could be available for more defendants (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

State legislation to expand alternatives to incarceration for people with mental illness is gaining momentum in Albany amid debates over how criminal justice, public safety, and mental health care policy interact.

The Treatment Not Jails Act would require judicial diversion courts in every county of the state and expand the list of special circumstances that qualify a defendant to have their case heard outside a conventional

(photo: @Sen_Gounardes)

The pandemic changed employment patterns across the country, with more and more Americans turning to freelance or independent work to make a living — only hastening a trend many years along. But New York State still lacks wage protections for freelance and independent workers, something two lawmakers are hoping to remedy after last year’s attempt to do so was vetoed by Governor Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat.

This week, Brooklyn State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Harry Bronson of Rochester reintroduced the ...

Students registering to vote (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The state's new automatic voter registration system was meant to launch New Year's Day, but officials with the State Board of Elections claim emergency voting measures associated with the pandemic have forced the timeline back. The program is intertwined with an electronic registration system, meant to usher in widespread online voter registration, that is even further delayed – currently more than two years behind scheduled April 2021 launch.

State

Mayor Adams and top aides in Albany (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Mayor Eric Adams trekked to the State Capitol in Albany on Wednesday, testifying before the State Legislature on Governor Kathy Hochul’s $227 billionexecutive budget proposal for the state’s 2024 fiscal year, which starts April 1, and outlining some of his administration’s state-level priorities.

Housing (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)

It’s been well over a year since Mayor Eric Adams promised, on the campaign trail, to “immediately” form a committee to "come up with real solutions" to make New York's property tax system more fair and equitable. But Adams never formed the committee and he has not made property tax reform a priority in his first 13 months as mayor.

After 40 years of lawsuits, commissions, and half-hearted efforts at property tax reform, there is limited optimism for wholesale change,

Gov. Hochul presents budget details (photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday released a $227 billion Executive Budget, her proposal for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins April 1, including major initiatives on mental health, affordable housing, public safety, and investments in “the New York Dream” to support seniors, young adults, parents, veterans, entrepreneurs, and others.

“It's a thoughtful plan that furthers our progressive values and our priorities as New Yorkers, but also ensures fiscal responsibility,” said Hochul, a Democrat who just

A rally in support of Hector LaSalle for Chief Judge (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)

January 24, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Roberto Ramírez on Hector LaSalle's Nomination to Become Chief Judge and Latino Representation in New York

Roberto Ramírez — a founding partner and political strategist at The MirRam Group, a former Assemblymember, Bronx Democratic Party leader, and advisor on Freddy Ferrer's mayoral campaigns — joined the show to discuss Hector LaSalle's nomination to be the next Chief Judge of New York, Latino representation at the highest levels of

Gov. Hochul signs abortion rights legislation (photo: Governor's Office)

Voters in the fall of 2024 will have a chance to enshrine civil rights protections for women, LGBTQ people, and abortion access into the state constitution after lawmakers on Tuesday pass the New York State Equal Rights Amendment for the second time.

If approved by voters, the state constitution will for the first time prohibit discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, disability, and sex, "including pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes,

State Senator Jessica Ramos (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

January 19, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: State Senator Jessica Ramos on Hector LaSalle, the Minimum Wage, & More

State Senator Jessica Ramos - a Queens Democrat, labor committee chair, and member of the judiciary committee - joined the show to discuss her vote against confirming Hector LaSalle to be the next Chief Judge, her efforts to increase the minimum wage, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...

Gov. Hochul delivers her 2023 State of the State (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)

In her State of the State speech last week, Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, outlined her agenda for the year ahead, pledging continued action on public safety, an ambitious housing plan, major investments in climate action, mental health care, child care, and more. But even as she outlined many planks in her policy agenda, further outlined in a 275-page booklet, there were several areas where she only provided a vague notion of something

At the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

Democrats in the New York State Senate announced plans to pass a package of voting and election reforms on Monday, marking the fifth year in a row since taking the majority that they have highlighted the issue at the top of the legislation session.

Since 2019 Democrats have ushered in a new electoral landscape, including early voting, automatic voter registration, and the New York State Voting Rights Act, among many other shifts. The latest package in the Senate sets the tone on election issues ahead of Governor Kathy Hochul's

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

January 6, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on 2023 Priorities

New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins joined the show to discuss her 2023 priorities, the new Senate Democratic supermajority, her relationship with Mayor Adams, the governor's nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle to be Chief Judge, lessons of the 2022 elections, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter ...