I held a press conference with Sen. Neil Breslin and Sen. Craig Johnson to give a legal briefing on what happened this week in the Senate.
After obtaining a quorum through the presence of 32 members in the Chamber, the Senate unanimously passed major and non-controversial legislation on Monday. If these bills had not passed, New York faced the potential loss of...
Behind the Albany circus that we’ve seen unfold in the last few weeks is the real story of why the failed coup attempt happened in the first place: we scared the special interests.
In the newest issue of the Village Voice, Tom Robbins illustrates how the Democrats’ progressive agenda became a target of “fear and loathing” by the state’s powerbrokers.
This must-read piece describes how the Republican-led coup attempt hijacked a progressive agenda that included...
Enough is enough. After weeks of deadlock, the people of this state are understandably frustrated and cannot afford to wait any longer for the Senate to act on legislation that's essential for our state to function. We must get back to the people's business now.
On Wednesday, I was a guest on Capital Tonight with Republican Sen. John DeFrancisco discussing the Democrats' bipartisan governing proposal to fix this mess. Here is the clip
In the aftermath of a failed coup attempt, the New York State Senate has become a national punch line. But the consequences of this ill-conceived power grab are anything but funny.
As you have probably heard by now, on June 8 - as the Senate began an historic end-of-session push to pass reform legislation on a wide variety of fundamental progressive issues - the Republicans led by Dean Skelos and Pedro Espada, Jr. attempted an illegal...
Check out my appearance on GRITtv with Laura Flanders on the subject of fair tax policy and how we got results in New York.
In our state, 30 years of conservative supply-side economics resulted in a tax system where the poorest 20% were paying almost twice as much of their income in taxes as the wealthiest few. On the panel, I discuss how Fair Share Tax Reform, which...
"By voting for marriage equality, the Assembly has made history once again. Legislators transcended party lines to give everyone in New York the right to the legal benefits that come with a marriage license. Now, with all eyes on the Senate, I am hopeful that we can get the votes needed to ensure that every New Yorker’s civil rights are protected. From a legal and moral standpoint, this is the right thing to do."
"The murder of Dr. George Tiller is an unconscionable tragedy. As one of the authors of the 1999 law that shields doctors, clinics and patients from violence and intimidation, and as a former clinic escort, I am deeply concerned about the safety of reproductive health care providers and the women and families they serve. To honor Dr. Tiller, we have to do absolutely everything we can to protect people who work in family-planning clinics from...
An editorial in today's Newsday called on the State Senate to pass my legislation requiring firearm microstamping in New York State. Microstamping ensures that when a gun is fired, information identifying the make, model and serial number of the gun is stamped onto the cartridge as numbers and letters. This technology allows law enforcement officials to trace firearms through cartridge casings found at crime scenes, even if the crime gun is never found....
Last year, the Nation magazine published an article I authored entitled, “Transforming the Liberal Checklist.” The article describes the need for Democrats to engage in transformational politics as part of our long term progressive strategy. As I argued in the column, the necessity to focus on transformational politics is obvious when we compare the success of the conservative movement over the past thirty years with the collapse of the American progressive coalition.
Senator Eric T. Schneiderman voted today to pass critical legislation (S.4110-A) that will provide an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits to nearly 120,000 New Yorkers who have lost their jobs.
Presently, unemployment benefits for approximately 56,000 jobless New York residents are set to expire starting this week; nearly 5,000 people will lose benefits every week over the next 2-3 months. In addition to assisting families in need, this legislation provides a much-needed boost...
