Posts tagged New York Senate
Opinion: Hochul’s biggest failure in her budget deal with NY lawmakers
June 18, 2026 // Hochul and state lawmakers gave retroactive pension increases to the state’s public-employee unions, which will increase state and local costs more than $500 million annually. They offered extra aid to ease fiscal distress in New York City, Buffalo, Albany, Yonkers’ public schools and elsewhere, so they too could avoid economizing (or, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani would bemoan nearly any spending reduction, suffering “austerity”).
Lawmakers Consider Hiking Fees for Filling Prescriptions
June 8, 2026 // In response to that opposition, the bill’s sponsors amended the bill to exempt the “collectively bargained” health plans covering union members. It also does not apply to Medicare or the “self-insured” health plans offered by most large employers, which are exempt from state regulation by federal law. As a result, the bill primarily targets the health plans purchased from insurance companies by small and medium-sized employers – where it will add to premium costs that are already among the highest in the U.S.
New York unions say fixing Tier 6 will drive hiring. Data suggests otherwise.
April 19, 2026 // The situation in Albany, where retirement costs account for about 9% of the city's budget, underscores a reality for many cash-strapped local governments across New York. And the dire financial outlooks are in place as state lawmakers weigh whether to address changes to the Tier 6 state pension system. Rochester, for example, is facing a budget gap of $131 million, the largest in the city's history. Rochester's largest expenditure is its increasing pension and health care costs. Those projected pension costs for the next fiscal year are $74 million. Health care costs for active and retired employees have escalated to $108 million. "This budgetary framework is simply not sustainable," Mayor Malik D. Evans told a state legislative panel last month. "And it threatens the incredible momentum we're making toward violence reduction, job creation, workforce development, affordable housing, home ownership, economic
Hochul wins fight to create anti-mob group aimed at NYC waterfront
April 19, 2024 // Like the prior comission, it will continue to conduct critical investigations into organized crime in the Port of New York, as well as ensure fair hiring practices that bar discrimination. It will conduct background checks and license companies and people working in the cargo business at the port. The commission will have the power to oust employees from the workforce who are found to have engaged in serious criminality and other violations.
Exclusive: New York Assembly staff goes public with union effort
January 19, 2023 // According to organizers, over 50 Assembly staffers have already signed cards, with nearly unanimous agreement from the card holders to go public. Organizers said that a lack of a central staff directory as well as inconsistencies between offices make it hard to peg the exact number of employees who would be eligible for the union, but they estimate that number to be between 700 and 800 staffers. Organizers chose to go public in part to help them reach more staffers that the lack of a directory has made difficult. The organizing committee itself is made up of legislative employees from around the state and who hold a variety of positions, from constituent services liaisons to chiefs of staff – a higher level position the Assembly plans to include in their bargaining unit unlike in the state Senate.