And it looks like it's not even going to start to get resolved until a year from now, which is kind of a long time to wait. But meanwhile, there's a big unresolved affordable housing crisis that's going on in New York. So the leaders, the governor, they keep saying that they're talking about housing, they need more buy in from stakeholders. You also had progressive Democrats, they wanted more tenant protections, something known as the Good Cause Eviction laws, and the moderate Democrats didn't want to go for that. There was a provision to allow the state to override local zoning laws, which they didn't like. And also, Hochul after the budget was late for a couple of weeks pulled one of her big ambitious plans to build 800,000 new housing units in the next 10 years, she kind of had to withdraw it because suburban lawmakers just weren't going to go for it. So that cut into a lot of their time, there was a lot of policy in it, including tweaking, once again, the controversial 2019 bail reform laws. Well, that's part of it, the budget was a month late. Is the reason there won't be that traditional 'big ugly' the fact that so much was in the New York state budget or is there just simply not an appetite to take up more big issues before they leave? Governor Hochul didn't make herself available to Capitol media at all this week, which I don't know if that's a sign that she doesn't want to talk about what's happening or not happening too. 'Is this going to happen?' 'What about this one?' They were pretty noncommittal about the whole thing. And this week, reporters including me got a chance to question Assembly Speaker Carl hasty, Senate leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and we kind of went through a laundry list of questions and issues. But other than clean slate, no one can confirm that anything else might pass. They've been amending the bill in recent days, that's always a good sign. ![]() And that's known as clean slate, it would seal the records for certain criminal offenses, so that once someone has served their term, it's easier to get housing or a job. The governor and legislative leaders this week would only confirm that they're close on one item. Well, I have to tell you, after you just described all the exciting things that have happened in the last few months, the end of the session is looking to be kind of a dud. ![]() ![]() What are the big things left on the table for lawmakers? Now, the legislative session is down to its final days, with a number of outstanding issues still on the table.Ĭapitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt spoke with WAMC's Ian Pickus. From Governor Kathy Hochul’s election to a full term to the dramatic rejection of her first choice for chief judge to an overdue state budget, it has been an eventful few months in New York politics.
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