New York elections could soon be more vulnerable to hacks, after lobbyists, the NAACP, and the Assembly elections committee chair teamed up to kill an election security bill.
An organizer for the Freelance Solidarity Project describes how getting a bill passed through Albany takes “running into a brick wall repeatedly, waiting for a tiny crack to show.”
More than two years into the pandemic, the Broome County Sheriff’s Office is still prohibiting all jail visits. That helped rake in more than half a million dollars last year.
The IBEW opposes a bill awaiting signature by Gov. Kathy Hochul that would put a moratorium on new fossil fuel power plants for the crypto industry.
Twice this year, Kathy Hochul has ordered a State Police-run fusion center to beef up its social media monitoring. Documents show that analysts create fake accounts to do that work.
After New York Focus revealed that Hochul had failed to disclose the individuals behind corporate donations to her campaign, she provided that information for recent donors — revealing major support from a nursing home industry powerhouse.
The comptroller sounded the alarm that the budget includes $18 billion in “unnecessarily opaque” spending, most of it under Hochul’s control.
A bill to increase kidney donation rates is stuck in the “traffic jam” of the Assembly.
Biogas credits are incentivizing the expansion of factory farming in New York—and might end up increasing carbon emissions.
Buffalo workers were the first to unionize - but labor law went unenforced during their elections.
At the urging of the correction officers union, the prison agency is restricting packages to private vendors that charge steep markups and have limited selections.
After New York Focus reported that the elections board wasn’t enforcing a landmark transparency law, it sent delinquent donors a letter requesting that they comply. Thousands did within weeks.
Black and Latino nonunion flaggers on public construction projects say they’re paid just a third of wages they’re legally entitled to.
A bill in the state legislature would prohibit police from interrogating minors before they consulted with a lawyer.
The state legislature has passed a measure intended to counter a court ruling that made it easier for lenders to win cases against homeowners.
Legislators opposed to a bill enacting a temporary moratorium on proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining are warning that it could harm New Yorkers often excluded from traditional financial markets, sources say.
After New York Focus reported on illegal contributions to candidate Russell Squire, his campaign announced it would return the money.
The state’s grand plan to convert unused hotels into affordable housing hasn’t gotten off the ground. Lawmakers just boosted funding — but developers and housing advocates say that won’t help without lifting onerous zoning restrictions.
Officials routinely refuse to send requests for medical release to the state parole board, frustrating advocates and raising questions about the murky criteria for medical release.
A comprehensive tracker of the issues at stake in New York’s budget.