New York government is notoriously corrupt. Decisions that impact all of our lives are often made during backroom deals, with little public input.

Jan 13, 2025 · The Reporters’ Notebook features bite-sized stories and updates from New York Focus reporters on the topics they cover. It’s our way of keeping readers updated about the subjects they care about between the time it takes to publish our longer, more in-depth articles.

Jan 15, 2025 · But the bigger news was what Hochul didn’t include: a plan to move ahead this year with cap and invest, the flagship climate funding program she has promised for the last two years.Instead, in the briefing book accompanying her speech, Hochul appeared to further delay the program, once again calling into question New York’s ability to deliver on its climate law.

Feb 1, 2025 · After Trump took office the first time in 2017, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order prohibiting state officials from asking about or disclosing an individual’s immigration status, except in limited circumstances. Hochul reissued the order earlier this month, and her office claims that her recent announcement falls in line with it.

Jan 15, 2025 · When it comes to housing, Governor Kathy Hochul has been banging on the same drum for years: New York isn’t building enough. In public appearances and interviews, she has repeatedly emphasized that New York’s housing shortage is …

Jan 15, 2025 · New York has among the highest child poverty rates in the country, with nearly one in five kids living in poverty. That number fell by more than 40 percent when the federal child tax credit was temporarily expanded in 2021, but increased again when the measure expired.. The state’s Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council, set up by a 2021 state law to cut child poverty in half, recently ...

Jan 15, 2025 · But public defenders worry that Hochul’s changes would gut the heart of discovery reform. “The governor’s proposal would allow prosecutors to disregard these timeframes in every single case, move forward without providing all of the evidence, and shift the burden to the defense to request evidence in order to obtain it,” said Eli Northrup, criminal defense policy director for The Bronx ...

Dec 18, 2024 · Districts can also try to include the buses in their annual budgets. About 80 percent of those attempts have been successful this year, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, the agency charged with assisting districts with the transition.. Many district leaders, especially those in rural areas, say their communities believe the state is rushing ...

Dec 11, 2024 · Here are our key findings: New Yorkers are eager for change. Residents explained that the decline of local news has left a major hole when it comes to finding basic civic information about municipal, town, village, county, and even state government.

Mar 11, 2024 · In the coming weeks, New York’s lawmakers will pass a budget that determines how the state will spend over $230 billion in public money. It’s a massive sum, bigger than most countries’ budgets, and outpacing every other state except California.