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On Medicaid, Hochul’s Budget Departs from Cuomo Era

Hochul proposed raising the cap on Medicaid spending, which Cuomo created, and boosting reimbursement rates, which Cuomo cut.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 21, 2022
Hochul’s Chapter Amendments Could Undermine New Birth Center Law

A rift grew among birth advocates as progressive legislators asked them to compromise with the governor – or risk a veto.

Lee Harris   ·   January 20, 2022
Hochul’s Budget Charts a Middle Path on Climate

The $216 billion budget would ban gas in new construction, but otherwise offers few dramatic moves on climate.

Sam Mellins and Lissa Harris   ·   January 20, 2022
Smokestacks Loom Over New York’s Clean Energy Plan

New York is building renewables - but it doesn’t have a plan to shut down the plants they’re supposed to replace.

Colin Kinniburgh   ·   January 18, 2022
Hochul at Divide with Lawmakers on Child Care, Once A Top Priority

Child care used to be Hochul’s marquee issue. Now, she’s proposing a modest expansion—but only if Congress doesn’t act.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 12, 2022
Hochul Proposes Medicaid Expansion for Seniors and Disabled, Marking a Shift From Past Governors

Two proposals in Governor Kathy Hochul’s State of the State would constitute the most significant expansion of New York’s health plan for low-income individuals in years.

Sam Mellins   ·   January 7, 2022
Ron Kim Targets a Progressive Heavyweight in Allegations of Wage Theft

Kim accuses the Chinese-American Planning Council of rampant wage theft—and, in coordination with 1199SEIU, of blocking workers’ access to the courts.

Daniel Moritz-Rabson   ·   January 4, 2022
State Lawmakers Push to Scale Back Fossil Fuel Subsidies

The state spends $1.6 billion a year subsidizing oil and gas. Lawmakers are trying to eliminate about one-fifth of that spending.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 23, 2021
Hochul Signs Bill to Remove Barriers to Addiction Treatment

In the latest of a series of steps Hochul has taken to change the direction of drug policy, doctors will no longer have to ask insurance companies for permission to prescribe opioid use disorder medications to Medicaid patients.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 23, 2021
Failure of Build Back Better Casts Uncertainty over New York’s Climate Plans

New York was counting on federal money to help pay for its transition to clean energy, which will cost the state an estimated $15 billion each year.

Lissa Harris and Colin Kinniburgh   ·   December 22, 2021
What Will It Take To Bring Cell Coverage to New York’s North Country?

A recent report renewed a decades-long debate over a regulatory requirement that cell towers in Adirondack Park be “substantially invisible.”

Lilah Burke   ·   December 13, 2021
Women Sent from Rikers to Maximum-Security Prison: ‘They Treat Us Like State Property’

Governor Hochul and Mayor de Blasio’s quixotic plan to relocate women from Rikers Island to the Bedford Hills state prison has prompted fierce opposition from women who insist they do not want to go.

Tana Ganeva   ·   December 9, 2021
Hochul Vetoes Bill to Create Utility Consumer Advocate

Hochul argues the office would be redundant, because the state already protects utility consumers.

Julia Rock   ·   December 8, 2021
State Senators Ask Gov. Hochul to Commute Sentence of Man Who Spent Over 800 Days in Rikers

Reginald Randolph is currently serving a two to four year sentence in state prison for stealing cold medicine.

Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg   ·   December 4, 2021
Westchester Hospital Network To Shift Thousands of Retirees to Private Health Insurance

Three days before the deadline to opt out of a new health insurance plan, Westchester retirees still don’t know what’s in it.

Sam Mellins   ·   December 3, 2021
Foreclosure Looms for Homeowners Who Thought They’d Won, Thanks to Top New York Court Ruling

The Court of Appeals found in favor of banks that complained cases were dropped on technicalities. Now homeowners across the state are bracing for new attempts to take away their homes.

Sam Mellins   ·   November 29, 2021
Hochul Nominates Former Prosecutor to New York’s Top Court

Buffalo Appellate Judge Shirley Troutman is widely seen as well qualified, but some worry that she will accentuate the Court of Appeals’ prosecutorial leanings

Sam Mellins   ·   November 24, 2021
As Utility Shutoff Freeze Nears End, New Yorkers in Debt Fear Shutoffs

Millions of New Yorkers are behind on their utility bills, and advocates say the state is doing a poor job distributing federal assistance.

Andrew Giambrone   ·   November 22, 2021
7,000 New Yorkers Need a Kidney. New Legislation Could Make it Easier to Donate.

Two bills to incentivize kidney donations could save hundreds of lives a year – but supporters say it’s tough to get the legislature to prioritize the issue.

Abie Rohrig   ·   November 15, 2021
State Senators, including Democratic #2, ask Hochul to Nominate Public Defender to New York’s Top Court

A 2021 retirement offers Hochul her first chance to shape New York’s Court of Appeals. Her pick will be an early indication of her ideological commitments, Senator Michael Gianaris said.

Sam Mellins   ·   November 14, 2021