Gov. Hochul signs legislation (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

New York’s clean energy transition is critical for the state’s future, but for it to be successful, we will need to expand our workforce across the city and state. This is proving to be a challenge, driven in part by outdated laws that punish justice-involved individuals long after they have served their sentences. 

That’s why Con Edison supports the Clean Slate Act and applauds its passage through the State Legislature. Now, Governor Kathy Hochul should

A potential site for housing (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

For months, Governor Kathy Hochul and members of the Legislature have reiterated that housing is one of the state’s most pressing crises. However, throughout the 2023 Albany calendar — state budget season followed by the post-budget legislative session that ended earlier this month — they have struggled to agree on much beyond that. The Democratic governor just beginning her first full term in the role and the Democratic supermajorities in the two legislative houses did not agree on a package of substantial legislative action

Senator Julia Salazar, center (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

June 13, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Julia Salazar on State Housing Policy & Good Cause Eviction Negotiations

State Senator Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat and democratic socialist, joined the show to discuss state housing policy negotiations, the Legislature's failure to pass a housing plan, and her ongoing push for Good Cause Eviction legislation.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen

State Senator Brian Kavanagh (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

June 14, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senate Housing Chair Brian Kavanagh on State Negotiations & What Comes Next

State Senator Brian Kavanagh, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the Senate housing committee, joined the show to discuss the lack of a state housing policy deal during the 2023 legislative session and what comes next.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show

Inside the State Senate (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

In the final days of the legislative session in Albany last week, the State Senate passed a bill that would expand healthcare access to hundreds of thousands of low-income New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status. But the State Assembly ran out of time and adjourned without taking up the bill and now faces pressure to approve it when it returns to address unfinished business on June 20 and 21. 

On Thursday, the Senate approved the “Coverage for All”

Senate Deputy Leader Gianaris at the polls (photo: @SenGianaris)

In the final days of the 2023 session, the State Legislature passed a last-minute bill to bring a new form of universal mail-in voting to New York, relying on a novel interpretation of the state constitution that has so far required an "excuse" for absentee voting.

The "New York Early Mail Voter Act" would bring New York as close as possible to universal, no-excuse absentee voting (or its equivalent) without amending the state

Flooding on Long Island (photo: Governor's Office)

Climate change is eating Long Island away, and is projected to raise our sea level to more than50% higher than the global average. If those estimates are correct,...

Mayor Adams releases a mental health plan (photo: Ed Reed/Mayor's Office)

On May 10, Mayor Eric Adams made his first extended remarks on the death of Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man with a history of mental illness who was killed on the subway ten days earlier by Daniel Penny, a white Marine veteran.

Adams called Neely's killing a "tragedy," and said he "did not deserve to die." But Neely didn't receive critical mental health care, Adams said, which left him decompensating and calling for help on a subway car in the minutes

Housing focus (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Affordable housing construction in New York has declined significantly in the last few years in the wake of COVID-19 through a combination of factors including higher interest rates, inflation and supply chain instability resulting from the overall disruption of the pandemic. But a key factor that real estate developers, city and state government officials, and many housing advocates cite is the expiration of the state’s 421-a property tax exemption for the construction of affordable housing as part of larger rental housing developments.

Heading to college (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photography Office)

Last year, the Supreme Court heard arguments in two cases that could fundamentally change how colleges offer admissions to historically disenfranchised students. A group called Students for Fair Admissions filed suit against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, challenging the use of race as one measure of a prospective student’s application for admission. The group argued that any consideration of race, even if non-dispositive, is unconstitutional. Most legal experts predict that

Kids at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

The literacy rate amongst children is at a crisis level: two-thirds of fourth-gradersnationwide are unable to read proficiently. This represents a complete failure to prepare our students for the most basic of life skills, in part due to the continued use of flawed literacy instruction methods. 

...

New York homes (photo: (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of the Governor)

In March, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)warned that the planet will cross a critical threshold for global warming within the next decade if we don’t take immediate action to curb emissions and meet ambitious climate mandates laid out in New York’s climate

Gov. Hochul meets with legislative leaders (photo: @GovKathyHochul)

The dust is beginning to settle on the $229 billion New York state budget, which was approved last week after a month of delay that saw Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature make major compromises on spending and policy measures.

Hochul has expressed no regret for delaying the budget for the second time in two years, after she managed to convince the Legislature to support her top priority and change the state’s bail laws yet again. She won other priorities, too, but came up empty on her biggest proposal for the

Hospital services (photo: Governor's Office)

Hospital leaders are "disappointed" to see the state budget include new penalties for hospitals that fail to reopen shuttered psychiatric beds as part of a $1.4 billion plan to beef up New York's mental health care infrastructure.

Hospitals around the state have been struggling to bring over 1,000 psychiatric beds back online after closing them during the height of the pandemic due to severe staffing shortages and lack of funding.

The $229 billion budget passed by Governor Kathy

Mayor & Governor (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

New York State’s $229 billion budget deal for the new fiscal year has both good and bad news for New York City and Mayor Eric Adams’ Albany agenda.

It directs additional funding for the ongoing migrant asylum-seeker crisis, provides a lifeline to the cash-strapped MTA, funds rent relief for public housing residents, extends a child tax credit, increases enforcement for illegal marijuana sales, and more. But it excluded regulatory changes and tax incentives that

Senator Gustavo Rivera (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

May 4, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Gustavo Rivera on the New State Budget

State Senator Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and chair of the Senate health committee, joined the show to discuss the newly-passed $229 billion state budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which began April 1.

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 episode wherever you

Gov. Hochul talks mental health care (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

Governor Kathy Hochul is touting the inclusion of over $1 billion for mental health care in the new $229 billion budget deal recently struck with legislative leaders.

"When it comes to keeping people safe, there are commonsense places we can start as well. One of them has to do with fixing our mental health system because it is broken, the rates of mental illness have been on the rise, and the pandemic only made matters far worse," Hochul said

In the Legislature (photo: NYS Senate Media Services)

State lawmakers this week approved Governor Kathy Hochul's proposed $39.5 million allocation to New York's new campaign finance system, including base funding for a small-dollar public match.

The funding includes $25 million for public matching funds that will be available to participating candidates running for statewide and legislative offices beginning in 2024. It also includes the full $14.5 million sought by administrators to run the program.

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Gov. Hochul talks clean energy (photo: Darren McGee/Governor's Office)

Climate activists are cheering New York’s $229 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year, which was approved Tuesday night, celebrating three major policy victories and a series of additional funding allocations. The changes, seen as monumental by supporters and critics alike, include passage of legislation that will ban gas hookups in new construction, allow the state power authority to build and own renewable energy facilities, and create a “cap and invest” system with decreasing caps on greenhouse

At CUNY (photo: @CUNY)

In the new state budget that was passed Tuesday night, the City University of New York, CUNY, will get significant operational and capital funding boosts while students from New York will be spared tuition increases, Assembly leadership announced on Tuesday.

The State Legislature is approving budget bills in Albany, bringing the $229 billion state budget for the 2024 fiscal year to a conclusion, one month after it was due.

While all final details have yet to be dissected, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced on Tuesday that the CUNY system, which has more than

Gov. Hochul makes a budget presentation (photo: Mike Groll/Governor's Office)

When Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address in January, she promised to keep income taxes flat this year while identifying other revenue sources to pay for major funding needs.

"A majority of economists are predicting a recession," she said. "And it's also one of the reasons why we will not be raising income taxes this year."

The Legislature is now putting that promise to the test, seeking to increase taxes on the state’s highest individual and corporate earners as the legislative and

Senator Leroy Comrie (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)

April 21, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Senator Leroy Comrie on the MTA in State Budget Negotiations

State Senator Leroy Comrie, a Queens Democrat who chairs the Senate's committee with MTA oversight, joined the show to discuss how the MTA is factoring into state budget negotiations, plans for funding the transit authority, whether the state budget will advantage subway and bus riders, the future of Penn Station area redevelopment plans, housing and bail policy negotiations, and more.

Listen to the

Gov. Hochul talks green energy (photo: Governor's Office)

As Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature continue to hammer out the details of the overdue $230 billion state budget, there are major climate and energy policies at stake that environmental advocates say are crucial to meeting New York’s climate goals.

Already about three weeks late, the state budget has been held up over the governor’s insistence on further changes to the bail law and wrangling with the Legislature over her ambitious “Housing Compact”

Gov. Hochul discusses gun violence prevention funding plans (photo: Governor's Office)

Acrimony in state budget talks over bail and discovery reform belies broad agreement between Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislature on putting more than $330 million toward combating gun violence.

Shootings have always plagued New York's cities but became a major public focus in recent years amid a pandemic-era spike in gun violence following decades of decline. Four out of five shooting victims in New York City are Black, most of

Gov. Hochul and other state leaders (photo: Governor's Office)

April 14, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Breaking Down State Budget Negotiations, with Liz Benjamin & Ken Lovett

Liz Benjamin and Ken Lovett, two veteran Albany journalists now in public affairs consulting, joined the show to discuss New York state budget negotiations, the power dynamics at play in the capital, key issues being negotiated among Governor Hochul and the Legislature, and more.

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