Dean Skelos
Andrew Cuomo on legislating through 'scandal mania'
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has tried to use the recent rash of corruption arrests to pass a new reform package for state elections, but he said on Monday morning that he doesn't want "scandal mania" to overwhelming his agenda for the legislative session. More
Video briefing: Things just aren't the same between Cuomo and Skelos
Today's video briefing concerns itself with Governor Andrew Cuomo's end-of-session push to pass an agenda that includes the Women's Equality Act, public financing of state campaigns and a new anti-corruption package. More
The latest Republican argument against publicly financed elections: John Liu
The state's highest ranking Republican has a new argument for opposing the public financing of campaigns: John Liu. More
Why is Andrew Cuomo liberal now?
A conversation with Times Union political reporter Jimmy Vielkind about Cuomo's new agenda, and whether there's anyone left to stand in its way. More
'I am their instrumentality': Cuomo on making Skelos cooperate, in some form
Governor Andrew Cuomo would like to emphasize that his support for a majority-Republican coalition in the State Senate is conditional. More
Addabbo won't accept a chairmanship unless it's 'part of a bigger picture'
In a brief interview this afternoon, Addabbo said "It would have to be part of a bigger picture" and that chairmanships and legislative power needed to "distributed in a fair and equitable manner." More
'This isn't going to work': A party for Senate Democrats, with Cuomo as the Grinch
In a small room right off the lobby of a swanky residential building overlooking Central Park last night, a handful of Democratic lawmakers, donors and political operatives gathered for what ought to have been a festive occasion: the holiday party hosted by the New York State Senate Democrats. More
(1)Republicans and breakaway Democrats announce joint custody of the State Senate
Five Democratic state senators announced this afternoon that they will align with Republicans in a power-sharing deal to split control of the upper chamber in Albany. More
Joe Lhota, wartime M.T.A. chairman
"This is freakin' boring.”
Joe Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which every day carries 8.5 million people on its subways, buses, and commuter railroads, sat slumped behind a long table in an almost entirely empty banquet hall on the second floor of the Melville Marriott in Long Island. More
(1)Bobby Jindal auditions for vice president in front of N.Y. Republicans, while Gingrich promises to fall in line
On Thursday night, the hundreds of New York Republicans who packed into the Sheraton ballroom for the party's annual dinner were each greeted by a determined-looking Bobby Jindal smiling up from their seat cushion.
The office of Jindal, the governor of Louisiana and a frequent topic of vice presidential speculation, had shipped 800 copies of his book Leadership and Crisis to the hotel, and they were placed on every available seat. More
Cuomo is inclined toward some sort of compromise on teacher evaluations, but gives no quarter on member items
In February, Governor Andrew Cuomo negotiated a deal on a teacher-evaluation system that would enable New York to access federal Race to the Top money.
But following New York City's controversial court-ordered release of teacher evaluations to the press, there has been much debate over whether those evaluations should be accessible only to parents, or also to the public at large, and whether limiting the release of such information is possible. More
Everybody wins: Andrew Cuomo and the art of the effortless-looking budget negotiation
ALBANY—On Wednesday, as the Capitol yawned its way through passage of the state’s $132.6 billion spending plan, Gov. Andrew Cuomo went on an insider radio show to explain why it was actually a big deal.
“It has not been easy, Fred,” Cuomo told New York Post state editor Fred Dicker, who frequently has him on as a guest. More
(1)What the Senate Republicans got in exchange for not defunding the M.T.A.
It appears that what the Senate Republicans might have been holding out for, in this case, was more money for non-city road and bridge projects. And that they got enough of it to claim victory. More
Skelos to Lhota: Republicans are cutting M.T.A. funding out of concern about debt
In a letter sent today to M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota, majority leader Dean Skelos says the Senate's move to reduce the authority's budget is rooted in concern about the M.T.A.'s "staggering" debt-load. More
Cuomo, who promised to end gerrymandering, prepares reformers (and Democrats) for a non-victory
ALBANY—Even as Gov. Andrew Cuomo leveled a threat to veto new legislative district lines that legislators have drawn for themselves, he left himself open to a negotiated solution that would preserve their control over maps that will be in place for the next ten years. More
