Dispatches from Planet Albany

To explain what state policymakers are doing to prevent unlicensed marijuana sales and promote a legal recreational marketplace, we spoke with New York Cannabis Insider Editor & Publisher Brad Racino and Cannabis Association of New York Director of Government Relations Hal McCabe.

The conversation addresses a contentious meeting of state regulators, negotiations over a crackdown on illegal sales and a lack of urgency from state lawmakers to fix problems with the MRTA implementation.

If you want additional marijuana content after you hear the podcast, check out the Cannabis Insider Conference scheduled for May 18 in Albany. But if that's not your thing, check out the free, live recording of Dispatches from Planet Albany that is scheduled for June 5 at the Bull Moose Club.

With the budget finally in our rear view mirror, we debate whether the final plan is a victory for progressives or moderates in the state legislature, look ahead at the remainder of the legislative session and wrap our heads around who has been quietly advising Gov. Kathy Hochul for the last two years.

Our guests are Shontell Smith, co-head of the New York practice for Tusk Strategies, and Josh Solomon, reporter for the Times Union.

With a change of leadership in the works at the New York Working Families Party, we examine what the future of the liberal third party could look like in the Empire State.

Citizen Action of New York Legislative Director Rebecca Garrard, a member of the WFP, discusses the role of the party, its relationship with the DSA and how it should approach the 2026 gubernatorial election.

Despite state lawmakers being credibly accused of sexual misconduct for decades, the legislature and individual legislators have failed to settle on a consistent and comprehensive response to these allegations.

We consider this problem through the lens of the latest allegations of assault and harassment against members of the Assembly, with Elizabeth Crothers, a former legislative aide and co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group, and Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat.

In her second attempt at remaking the state Court of Appeals, Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing to elevate Associate Judge Rowan Wilson to the vacant chief judge post and has tapped attorney Caitlin Halligan to join New York's top court.

We examine what these nominations mean for the judicial system and consider the possibility of changing how judges are chosen for the top jobs in New York, with Josh Solomon, reporter for the Times Union, and Vin Bonventre, a professor with Albany Law and author of the New York Court Watcher blog.

The public safety conversation at the Capitol is largely happening behind closed doors right now, but progressive criminal justice activists are still trying to inject their priorities into negotiations over changes to pre-trial detention laws and the state budget more broadly.

Katie Schaffer, director of advocacy and organizing at the Center for Community Alternatives, talks about the grassroots effort to hold the line on the use of cash bail and explains why she's optimistic about "Clean Slate" legislation getting done this legislative session.

In advance of the new fiscal year, advocacy groups and lobbyists are making their presence felt at the Capitol, as part of a last push to get their agendas into the final state budget deal (whenever that happens). So that made us wonder, what does it take to get a major policy or funding priority into the budget?

To explain the formula for a successful advocacy campaign, we spoke with Seneca Strategies founding partner Monica Klein, who oversaw communications for successful campaigns to tax the rich and increase pay for home care workers, and Housing Justice For All campaign coordinator Cea Weaver, who is the face of the "Good Cause" movement in New York.

This week the "Mothership" landed in Albany, a statewide media campaign ramped up its support of the governor's budget, and activists got loud at the Capitol.

We break down all these developments with Shontell Smith, co-head of the New York practice for Tusk Strategies, and Rebecca Garrard, legislative director for Citizen Action of New York.

This week - with the introduction and adoption of one-house budget resolutions - the Democratic majorities staked out their positions in the upcoming budget debates with Gov. Kathy Hochul. To consider whether these proposals represent a seismic event at the Capitol and where the governor is going to draw lines in the metaphorical budget sand, we spoke with Shontell Smith, co-head of the New York practice for Tusk Strategies, and Josh Solomon, Capitol reporter for the Times Union.

We also talk about what the governor's "housing compact" might look like in a final budget.

The political landscape in Albany has changed dramatically in recent years, so who is controlling the state government levers of power in 2023? To answer that question and consider how efficiently power is being wielded at the Capitol, we're joined by Shontell Smith, co-head of the New York practice for Tusk Strategies, and Rebecca Garrard, legislative director for Citizen Action of New York.

We'll talk about a possible hangover from the fight over the chief judge nomination, putting together a final budget and the progressive priorities up for consideration in Albany.