Dispatches from Planet Albany

Tusk Strategies Partner Shontell Plummer joins host David Lombardo to reflect on the final days of the legislative session, including what the Democratic majorities prioritized and how the calendar got squeezed by the late budget.

They discuss surveillance pricing protections, grade the session "vibes," and reflect on the right-wing kerfuffle over the "gestating parent" legislation.

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Sometimes you record a 52-minute podcast and you end up cutting it down by 60 percent.

That's what happened in this lean episode with Assemblymember Josh Jensen and Bloomberg Government's Raga Justin, which touches on the governor's LCA Show rebuttal and fallout from the "cool kids" discussion earlier this year.

What got cut out? Who can say.

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With primary elections less than a month away, trailing candidates have limited means of shaking up their races.

But what if they had a magic wand that could deliver a coveted endorsement, a key issue to run on, or the support of an important voting bloc?

We play out this hypothetical experiment for some of the state and federal candidates with uphill battles between now and June 23. Our guests are state Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat, and Alex Elmasri, a vice president with The Parkside Group.

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While state lawmakers are expected to be bogged down with hundreds of bills during the final days of the legislative session, state senators will likely also have to contend with dozens of confirmations from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

It's not clear whether the process will look any different than past years, given the lateness of the budget, but the safe bet in Planet Albany is that history will repeat itself. Given the likelihood of running back the traditional confirmation process next week, we're checking in with Beth Garvey, a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig, who has experience navigating confirmations from the second and third floors of the Capitol.

We discuss why confirmations are handled so late in the session, what the hectic process is like for senators and senate staff, and the one time she got nominees mixed up.

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is looking to make waves outside of Western New York.

The Buffalo Democrat launched a political action committee this year to support candidates running for local offices around the country, which he believes is key to rebuilding the Democratic bench for higher offices in the future.

He joins the show to talk about his influence in local elections outside of New York, address the Mayor Pete comparisons, consider how Democrats can win in purple areas and weigh in on whether the next majority leader in the Assembly should come from upstate.

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We're diving back into the world of New York's liberal third party.

New York Working Families Party Director Jasmine Gripper joins the show to explain why they're sitting out the Democratic primary for state comptroller, highlights efforts to reshape the state senate in June, and reflects on potential next deputies for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

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With the 124th Legislative Correspondents' Association Show fast approaching, host David Lombardo and recovering journalist Liz Benjamin discusss whether the event should exist, review highlights from past performances and talk about the key to good jokes.

They touch on Liz's famous cameo in a video from then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, reflect on the past use of drag, and reveal how little practice goes into the production.

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New York politics is littered with marriages of convenience.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani have enjoyed an unlikely - but mutually beneficial - alliance for nearly a year, despite their ideological and stylistic differences. And those types of collaborations, which might not seem obvious at first glance, are critical to successfully wielding power in Planet Albany.

We discuss the relationship between elected officials, staff and lobbyists with Shontell Plummer, a partner with Tusk Strategies. We also explore how Democrats should approach mid-decade redistricting in New York and whether a profile in New York Focus could spark jealousy at the Capitol.

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Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a general agreement on the budget on Thursday morning, but Democratic state lawmakers are calling foul, arguing that major questions still need to be resolved.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie went so far as to tell reporters that he's never approaching the budget process like this again. For more on the legislature's grievances, we checked in with Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat, who has pushed a constitutional amendment to change the budget process in Planet Albany.

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The intentions of organizations and individuals looking to influence state government could become clearer in the future.

Pending legislation would require interests that are lobbying state policymakers to declare whether they support something, oppose it, or their support is contingent on changes. The current rules just require a disclosure that you're lobbying on a specific bill or regulation.

Doug Clark, a co-managing partner of Shenker Russo & Clark, joins the show to discuss the proposal and what implementation might look like. We also consider Capitol entry badges for lobbyists and how the delayed budget will limit what bills can get considered before the end of the legislative session.

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