New York State Legislature

The 2023 New York state legislative session began Wednesday with legislative leaders saying they want to focus on solving the housing affordability crisis, improving public safety, and working together in a bipartisan manner.

There are differences over Gov. Kathy Hochul's choice for chief judge and whether a new Assembly member will be allowed to take his seat.

Pay raises for lawmakers and a new chief judge are issues dominating New York state government as the year draws to a close.

Democrats who lead the New York State Senate and Assembly voted to raise their pay by $32,000 a year to an annual base salary of $142,000.

Lawmakers can't raise their own pay, but they can vote to increase salaries for those holding the next term in office, which begins in January. The clock is ticking on whether they will have time to hold a session before the holidays begin.

Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill prohibiting sales of gasoline-run vehicles as early as 2035, transforming New York's future both environmentally and economically.

While New York has worked to expand access to voting and the fair handling of elections in recent years, those changes have put new pressure on boards of elections across the state that weren't set up to handle that shift, state elections officials said Tuesday.

Democrats in New York will return to Albany Wednesday to extend the state’s eviction moratorium, confirm officials to lead the state’s marijuana legalization roll-out, and approve changes to the state’s open meetings law, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday evening.

New York state has sent out just $117,000 in coronavirus pandemic rent relief money to help bail out struggling landlords and tenants as of Thursday, and lawmakers say that is far too little as the expiration of the state’s eviction moratorium nears.