Government Affairs Albany Update
January 7, 2011

ADMINISTRATION/TRANSITION

  • State of the State - Governor Cuomo’s State of the State message included many initiatives supported by The Business Council, including a focus on controlling state and local spending, avoiding tax increases to balance the budget, and improving the state’s overall economic competitiveness.  His formal State of the State message and presentation are available here.  “Governor Cuomo’s message is straightforward and clear. New York is headed in a new direction, one that embraces job growth and economic opportunity while transforming government and delivering jobs tailored for the 21st century, said Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State, Inc.  Our complete press release on the SOTS is available here.
  • Appointments - As the executive and legislative transitions continue in Albany, there will be considerable turnover in key positions, and new appointments and reappointments are being announced daily.  To help you keep track of changes in Albany, The Business Council is keeping a running list of new Administration and Legislative appointments here.  In addition to identifying the new person, we are providing brief background information as well as links to any related press releases.  We hope you find this useful.  Staff contact: Ken Pokalsky.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

  • Assembly Committees/Chairs - Some but not all Assembly Committee chairs have been named.  Chairs and majority members of committees are posted on the Assembly web site here.  Note that chairs have yet to be named for several key business related committees, including Corporations, Labor and Small Business.  New chairs have been announced for Alcohol/Drug Abuse (Paulin), Ethics (O’Donnell), Libraries (Bing), Mental Health (Ortiz), Oversight/Investigation (Ortiz) and Veterans (Magnarelli.)
  • Assembly Committee meetings are scheduled to begin next week, with Aging, Corrections, Energy, Environmental Conservation, Health and Judiciary committee meetings scheduled with limited agenda. 

BUDGET WATCH

  • Megna Remains at DOB - It was reported today that incumbent Division of Budget Director Robert Megna has been appointed by Governor Cuomo to remain in that position.  (see news article here.) Megna was named Budget Director in May, 2009, after serving as Governor Spitzer’s Tax Commissioner.
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