Governor Kathy Hochul sparked confusion about New York’s role in deportation operations this week when her office released a list of four broad circumstances under which state officials can collaborate with federal immigration enforcement.

Her office told Gothamist that the state may cooperate with the feds when someone is “suspected of an immigration crime” or convicted of a state-level crime — categories far more sweeping than Hochul’s past comments suggesting that the state will only help the new presidential administration deport people convicted of “serious” offenses.

Experts aren’t sure whether to interpret the list as a change in state policy. The governor’s office did not answer questions from New York Focus about whether the list represents a new policy or whether state agencies had been notified about it, but said it was in line with an existing state executive order that limits collaboration between the state and federal immigration enforcement.

Last year, 278 New Yorkers died waiting for a kidney transplant. In recent years, the toll has been as high as 533. The deaths are a sad but constant presence in a transplant system where the waiting list is roughly six times longer than the list of donors.

A measure in Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal, released last week, aims to boost donations by offering a tax break of up to $10,000 to reimburse donors for the costs associated with their lifesaving gift.

It also wouldn’t be necessary if New York state’s Department of Health had implemented a 2022 law meant to achieve the same goal.

New York student test scores in math and reading have largely stagnated since the pandemic, according to new data released Wednesday.

The National Center for Education Statistics tracks the data among fourth and eighth graders at public schools nationwide and publishes the results every two years. New York hasn’t improved much since the last round of data was released, and its students’ scores are largely consistent with the national average, the data show.