Dispatches from Planet Albany

This past week marked the return to Albany by state lawmakers, staff, and lobbyists, as both houses had their opening days of session. And amid the pomp and free food, there was also some news, with legislative leaders (vaguely) identifying their session priorities and tapping committee chairs. We're exploring what to expect from the people's house in 2025 and the significance of the new committee...

For the season three premiere of Dispatches from Planet Albany we're checking in with Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Smith to discuss Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado's flirtation with a gubernatorial run, the legislative ramifications of violent murders captured on video, the likelihood of changes to school aid distribution, and whether Gov. Kathy Hochul will be able to deliver on her promise of "Infla...

The 2024 elections were a mixed bag for New York Democrats, who reversed the 2022 gains Republicans made in the state's congressional delegation, but also saw their traditional electorate shrink. To make sense of the results, as well as the polls leading up to Election Day and where Democrats in the Empire State go from here, we spoke with Loren Amor, a senior vice president with BerlinRosen.

The big election questions for New York in 2024 are the balance of the state's congressional delegation and whether a statewide referendum adding anti-discrimination language to the state constitution will pass. We try to answer these questions and discuss state legislative power with Loren Amor, a campaign veteran, who is now a senior vice president with BerlinRosen.  After listening, use the kno...

Gov. Kathy Hochul reached historic lows for her job performance and favorability ratings in a recent Siena College Research Institute poll , but does it matter? We explore how the low popularity levels could impact the exercising of gubernatorial powers, consider why the numbers are as bad as they are, and do our best to ignore the 2026 campaign noise (because that stuff is just noise). Our guests...

State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Queens Democrat, reflects on his first two legislative sessions in Albany. We discuss the process of moving bills at the Capitol, living out of a suitcase for half the year, and taking over a newly carved up district.

The primary campaigns for state legislative races in New York may have been exciting, but the results of the elections were not. We explore why the status quo was so powerful in Democratic primaries this year and consider what the outcomes mean for governing in Albany for the next two years. Our guests are Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York Working Families Part, and Loren Amor, a senior...

Two bills - one imposing a controversial waste reduction mandate and the other a broadly supported employee benefit update - successfully made it through the state Senate in the waning days of the legislative session in June, but didn't end up coming up for a vote in the Assembly. Both of these measures were expected to make it to the governor's desk, so we explored what happened. Senate Environme...

Assemblyman Alex Bores, a Manhattan Democrat, reflects on his first two legislative sessions in Albany. We discuss the end of session crunch, working with central staff, and navigating the budget process. We also have special theme music courtesy of Anthony Mazzanti. 

Despite passing with overwhelming bipartisan support, legislation to curtail the most addictive features of social media was never a sure thing at the state Capitol in 2024. To learn how the measure went from an idea in 2022 to passing both houses in Albany, we talked with the bill's Senate sponsor, Brooklyn Democrat Andrew Gounardes. We discussed the role of the state attorney general's office, a...

The updated financial plan from the Hochul administration sheds new light on how much the state is going to spend in the current fiscal year ($2 billion more than advertised) and what's going to happen with leftover funds from last year. We break down these revelations and much more with Patrick Orecki, director of state studies for the Citzens Budget Commission. 

We're back with another recording in front of a raucous audience at the Bull Moose Club down the hill from the Capitol, with Jasmine Gripper, co-director of the New York Working Families Party, and Shontell Smith, head of the New York practice for Tusk Strategies. We discuss overrated and underrated political stories and get an update on the wedding event of the year.

After years of complaints with the state's rollout of the marijuana marketplace, Gov. Kathy Hochul waded into this quagmire in the spring and directed OGS Commissioner Jeanette Moy to examine the operations at the Office of Cannabis Management. We talk with Commissioner Moy about some of the findings in her assessment, including staffing levels and future steps, and we also explored the limitation...

The big win this year for environmentalists in the state budget was holding the line on clean water funding, as the big green priority - the NY HEAT Act - didn't make it through budget negotiations. We discuss what happened behind the scenes on both of these issues and look ahead at the end of the legislative session with Liz Moran, a policy advocate with Earthjustice, and Rob Hayes, director of c...

This week is a sampling of Planet Albany voices, as we check in on the budget process, consider the appointment of a new DEC commissioner, and examine why there was no major investment in the child care workforce. We'll hear from New York State Budget Director Blake Washington, Assembly Children & Families Committee Chair Andrew Hevesi, Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Pete Harckh...

The fight over a cost of living adjustment for New York's non-profit organizations providing human services has become a recurring part of the state's budget negotiations, with this year's back and forth producing a 2.84 percent bump for the industry. This week, we explore the making of this year's increase with Jihoon Kim, who in a previous life was a top official in the Hochul administration and...

The week began with Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing the parameters of a conceptual budget deal, which news to Democratic state lawmakers who thoughts they were still working on the state's overdue spending plan. Things got weirder from there, with a cyberattack on the Legislative Bill Drafting Commission and more details emerging about the widely panned housing deal. To break down these headlines, an...

On this week's episode we breakdown the big news from Planet Albany: a ban on pets at the Capitol and Legislative Office Building. We also talk with Shontell Smith, head of the New York practice and partner for Tusk Strategies, about the final pieces that need to be put into place for a budget deal and learn how the legislature prioritizes bills at the end of the legislative session.

Over multiple elections in New York, Republicans made inroads with Asian American voters, but Democrats are hopeful that the results of a recent special election for Congress is an indicator that the pendulum is swinging back in their favor. Trip Yang Strategies President and founder Trip Yang discusses what the Democratic Party needs to do to win Asian American voters and explains why this demogr...

The education headlines of a decade ago are back in the news on Planet Albany, with policymakers fighting over state aid to public schools and teacher evaluations up for debate. To make sense of these big stories, as well as the conversations around zero-emission school buses and why no one is talking about charter schools, we spoke with Katelyn Cordero, education reporter at the Capitol for Polit...

2024 is uncharted territory for incumbent state lawmakers and aspiring members of the state legislature, who will have access to matching campaign funds from the state, which would dramatically amplify the value of in-district contributions. To discuss the ramifications of this program we spoke with Bill Mahoney, a Capitol reporter for Politico New York, and Karen Wharton, democracy coalition coor...

The budget process has passed the "end of the beginning" threshold, according to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, following the adoption of one-house budget proposals this week. In light of this milestone, we're talking about the significance of these latest salvos in budget negotiations with Shontell Smith, head of the New York practice and a partner for Tusk Strategies. We also dis...

Democratic lawmakers and progressive activists have a laundry list of items - worth billions of dollars - that they want to get funded in this year's state budget, but the conversation around raising revenue to pay for those recurring costs is not very loud at the Capitol. Why is that? We try to answer that question and examine what new or higher taxes might be considered in the future, with the h...

After state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul emerged from the 2023 legislative session without a grand compromise on housing, there is growing optimism - at least on the left - that the 2024 budget process has the potential to result in some new action on housing. But if there is a deal, will it include some form of "Good Cause," a roll back of rent stabilization protections, or housing vouchers? T...

The fate of New York's congressional lines will soon be in the hands of state lawmakers, who will either approve the boundaries set by a bipartisan redistricting commission or take their second stab at drawing maps based on the 2020 census. Bill Mahoney, a Capitol reporter for Politico New York, and Jeff Wice, a senior fellow with the New York Law School's Census and Redistricting Institute, join...