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Feb. 26, 2025 - Medicaid reimbursement rates are critical to funding nursing home services and operators of these long-term care facilities say the state's rates don't keep up with the cost of care. We discuss this issue and other staffing issues at nursing homes with Dr. Kimberly Townsend, president and CEO of Loretto, a health care provider in central New York. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.s...

Feb. 27, 2025 - Empower Schools senior advisor Dia Bryant makes the case for investing state resources into early college high school programs that give students a free opportunity to earn college credits and accelerate their academic career. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=tr...

Feb. 27, 2025 - State Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee Chair Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat, discusses New York's prison system, including the thousands of guards on strike, the threats of violence in facilities, and whether the system is still in need of progressive reforms. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playl...

Feb. 27, 2025 - We take the temperature of the manufacturing industry in New York with Randy Wolken, president and CEO of MACNY: The Manufacturers Association. We consider tax parity for small manufacturers, creating more pathways to a manufacturing job, and the impact of new tariffs. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&pla...

FEB. 28, 2025 - Gov. Kathy Hochul's effort to increase involuntary commitments has generated a lot of rhetoric, but what will her proposal actually do? We try to predict the ramifications with Keith Brennan, a former state mental health official and now with the law firm Barclay Damon. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&pl...

FEB. 28, 2025 - American Farmland Trust New York Policy Director Julian Magnano calls on the state to increase its investment in farmland protection efforts in order to preserve land for agriculture and create more opportunities for farmers. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=tru...

Feb. 25, 2025 - State education officials are threatening to use their authority to strip public funds from yeshivas that aren't meeting the basic, secular education needs of their students. We discuss this development with Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, executive director of Young Advocates For Fair Education, which is looking to bring transparency and minimum standards to private schools serving pa...

Feb. 26, 2025 - Municipalities across New York rely on aid from the state government to balance their budgets, but local government leaders argue they need more help from Albany. Syracuse City Auditor Alexander Marion makes the case for boosting aid and updating how its distributed. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playl...

Feb. 28, 2025 - New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports Commissioner Chinazo Cunningham talks about standardizing care at halfway houses, funding for drug recovery and treatment in the governor's budget, and the impact of the prison strike on substance abuse treatment in correctional facilities. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=lig...

Feb. 14, 2025 - The Hochul administration is hoping to improve the experience New Yorkers have when interacting with the state government, so we get an update on these efforts from Tonya Webster, the chief customer experience officer for New York. We talk about digitizing working papers, improving state websites, and much more. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=707303...

Feb. 14, 2025 - Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado visited the studio for a wide-ranging conversation that touched on his push for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign, his relationship with Gov. Kathy Hochul, his plans for 2026, and issues being discussed at the Capitol. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=tr...

Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado thinks New York’s state government needs to be proactive in its response to the Trump administration, which has the potential to dramatically alter life in the Empire State. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide...

Feb. 14, 2025 - State Sen. Jake Ashby, a Capital Region Republican, wants to require websites with pornography to verify that visitors to their site are least 18, which is the law in more than a dozen states. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=righ...

Feb. 13, 2025 - An exam required to be a licensed master social worker is disproportionately keeping ethnic minorities from entering this critical field, according to proponents of repealing the exam requirement. We examine the positives and negatives of the status quo with Luis Lopez, executive director of the Latino Social Work Coalition & Scholarship Fund, and Jacqueline Mondros, interim ex...

Feb. 13, 2025 - New York Apartment Association CEO Kenny Burgos makes the case for more aggressive efforts to build up the state's housing supply and revisiting the laws governing rent regulation. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-l...

Feb. 13, 2025 - New York's groundbreaking law intended to make large polluters pay billions for climate resiliency projects is tied up in the courts, but we still wanted to consider what implementation could look like for the state. We considered the merits of the lawsuit and the next steps for environmental regulators with Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockeller Family Fund, which supported the...

Feb. 13, 2025 - Car repair shops say it is time for state policymakers to raise what they can charge for vehicle inspections in order to cover their labor expenses. We discuss increasing this annual cost and addressing the workforce shortage at car repair shops with Wayne Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations & Repair Shops. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉htt...

Feb. 11, 2025 - New York's nascent system of using tax dollars to amplify local political contributions to state legislative candidates had a major impact on fundraising practices during the 2024 cycle, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center. We discuss their findings and the program's future with Marina Pino, a counsel with the center's elections and government program. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉...

Feb. 11, 2025 - New York is dramatically expanding who can use its free, direct file tax software this year, so we wanted to explore who is eligible and what the service is like. Our guest is Sara Carlson, director of community engagement for the State Department of Taxation and Finance. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&...

Feb. 11, 2025 - Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Bill Magnarelli, a Syracuse-area Democrat, weighs in on the governor's budget, including what it means for road upkeep and upstate transit systems. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&amp...

Feb. 11, 2025 - New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault Executive Director Emily Miles talks about the services that should be available to survivors of sexual assault, including specially trained medical personnel at hospitals. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&chapters-image=true&e...

Feb. 10, 2025 - There has been a month of congestion pricing in Manhattan, so how is it going? We try to wrap our arms around this issue with Danny Pearlstein, director of policy and communications for Riders Alliance, which championed the toll that went into place in January. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-co...

Feb. 10, 2025 - Non-profit organizations looking to become land stewards in the Empire State have been slowed by the state policies governing title ownership We discuss a potential reform to this backlog with Erik Kulleseid, head of the Open Space Institute. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com/player?episode_id=70730354&theme=light&playlist=show&playlist-continuous=true&c...

Feb. 10, 2025 - The governor's budget proposal doesn't do enough to ensure New Yorkers with disabilities will have access to the staff they need, according to Mike Alvaro, head of the Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State and president of New York Disability Advocates. We discuss a cost of living increase for staff and whether there should be stricter licensing rules. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉htt...

Feb. 10, 2025 - We examine potential changes to the workers' compensation system designed to make it easier to access a medical provider and consider the impact of changes to short-term disability insurance benefits. We talk with Workers' Compensation Board Chair Clarissa Rodriguez, Executive Director Steven Scotti and Medical Director Dr. James Tacci. ESCUCHAR RADIO  👉https://widget.spreaker.com...