Dispatches from Planet Albany

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 clean water for Environmental Advocates NY.

We're also hosting a free, live recording of the podcast on the morning of May 20 at the Bull Moose Club with Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Smith and NY Working Families Party co-Director Jasmine Gripper. Reserve your spot today!

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 Harckham, and ReInvent Albany's Rachael Fauss. And if you're yearning for more policy-focused discussions, you can check out our Capitol Pressroom conversations with all these guests.

We're also hosting a free, live recording of the podcast on the morning of May 20 at the Bull Moose Club with Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Smith and NY Working Families Party co-Director Jasmine Gripper. Reserve your spot today!

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 is now the CEO of InUnity Alliance. We examine the governor's approach to this issue, the messaging from non-profit providers, and how the COLA will be implemented.

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, and revisit her past budget trauma, we spoke with Shontell Smith, head of the New York practice and partner for Tusk Strategies.

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 demographic is so influential in the New York City area.

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 Politico New York, and Brian Cechnicki, executive director for the Association of School Business Office of New York.

And then we peel back the budget process with Assemblyman Al Stirpe, a Syracuse-area Democrat, who talks about the leaks from conference, the vitriol from activists, and why you don't want to say "good cause."

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 coordinator at Citizen Action of New York.

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 discuss what's next on the budget calendar, the impact of planned departures from Planet Albany, and the public retreat of Princess Kate.

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 help of Charles Khan, deputy director of the Strong Economy for All Coalition.

On this episode, we also talked for a few minutes with state Budget Director Blake Washington and we're going to share an excerpt of our Capitol Pressroom conversation about redistricting with Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris.