Source: Politics<\/p>\n
With help from Shawn Ness<\/p>\n
Happening now:<\/span><\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul and regulators took steps to bolster the failing recreational marijuana industry. TROUBLE IN THE WEED WORLD: Chris Alexander, the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, will leave at the end of his term<\/a> to \u201cpursue other opportunities,\u201d Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters today during a press conference announcing an overhaul of the state\u2019s cannabis agency.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Cannabis Control Board was meeting at the same time to approve additional licenses and a shift in how licenses are processed.<\/p>\n The overlapping press conference and agency meeting were the culmination of years of New York\u2019s troubled cannabis rollout amid an effort to redress the harms of past cannabis enforcement. <\/p>\n Entrepreneurs have long spoken out about the botched program, outlining the financial consequences of the slow licensing process.<\/p>\n Hochul acknowledged how those hardships have affected specific applicants who were supposed to be positioned to take advantage of an economic opportunity in the recreational marijuana industry, only to have suffered devastating financial consequences.<\/p>\n She told reporters about an applicant who invested more than $40,000, but still has yet to hear any news on their application \u2014 a story that is familiar to anyone who has been listening to public comments at the board meetings.<\/p>\n Staffing issues: Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy, who led a review released today on the system<\/a>, told reporters that the state is recruiting additional staffers to review licenses in hopes of speeding up the process. <\/p>\n Agencies need to prioritize requests for staffing, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the idea is that the office was sitting there not asking for additional staff \u2026 and all of a sudden somebody’s saying that we need to ask for additional staff, it sounds like that’s not accurate,\u201d said Cannabis Control Board member Adam Perry during Friday\u2019s meeting. \u201cIt sounds like the office has asked for additional staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Perry was also critical that the board wasn\u2019t provided with a draft of the report ahead of its public release, as is customary for external reviews.<\/p>\n Board Chair Tremaine Wright said the board had not been presented with a report and that she had requested that it receive an update on the findings of the audit.<\/p>\n Other new developments: The governor also announced a task force to crack down on the illicit cannabis market, as well as a $5 million grant program to help entrepreneurs impacted by past cannabis enforcement.<\/p>\n The board approved more than 100 additional licenses today, though only 31 more retailers. Cannabis regulators are also changing the licensing review process, and they plan to review significantly more applications than from the general application window last fall.<\/p>\n Not everyone was happy about the change. <\/p>\n Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said during the board meeting that the licensing process was supposed to be protected from the whims of the governor.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want to ask why folks of color do not stand up to be in these positions as elected officials\u2026 It’s because we get set up and then they cut our heads off in public. And that is what is happening to the OCM.\u201d Frederique said of the state Office of Cannabis Management. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is not lost on me that for the first time we have Black leadership \u2026 We’re changing the goalposts and the cannabis board was supposed to be independent to protect the intentions of the work.\u201d \u2014 Mona Zhang<\/p>\n NO SPECIAL EXPECTED IN BUFFALO: Rep. Tim Kennedy took the oath of office<\/a> for his new job on Monday evening, which leaves state Senate Democrats one vote shy of the 42-member supermajority they\u2019ve enjoyed since 2021. <\/p>\n But senators are predicting there won\u2019t be a special election to fill the seat before the November elections.<\/p>\n A 2021 law<\/a> overhauled the rules for calling special elections. Governors now need to quickly call them, but they\u2019re not allowed to do so if a vacancy is created after April 1 of an election year \u2014 unless there will be a special session sometime before January, in which case calling one is mandatory.<\/p>\n But that begs the question: How do we know there won\u2019t be a special session later this year?<\/p>\n Albany doesn\u2019t hold special sessions anymore. There are occasional \u201cextraordinary\u201d sessions \u2014 when the governor calls lawmakers back to Albany. And there are plenty of times when lawmakers come back to town to vote on issues like pay raises<\/a> that are colloquially called \u201cspecial sessions.”<\/p>\n But technically, those aren\u2019t special sessions. <\/p>\n Those only occur when the Legislature comes back after adjourning for the year. And the Legislature hasn\u2019t formally adjourned before New Year\u2019s since the 1970s, thanks to members like state Sen. Neil Breslin holding two-minute sessions<\/a> in the off weeks. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/p>\n NYC IS THE ROME OF AMERICA: Mayor Eric Adams today lauded Pope Francis\u2019 calls for migrants to be treated humanely as he kicked off a multi-day visit to Italy that will culminate in an audience with the pontiff.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHis voice on these topics will cause those who would probably traditionally ignore the topic to sit up and take note,\u201d Adams said in a news conference from Rome, adding the pope urges people to \u201cjust look at your fellow human being as your fellow brother or sister.\u201d<\/p>\n He described the pope ahead of their meeting as a \u201ccredible messenger\u201d in parts of the world struggling with influxes of newcomers, including New York City, where 195,000 migrants have come in the past two years.<\/p>\n The pope has challenged anti-immigration postures<\/a> in Europe and in March penned a letter<\/a> to migrants in Panama calling them \u201cthe face of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n Day One of Adams\u2019 Roman holiday has been far from restful as he toured a subway tunnel under construction near the Colosseum, a slaughterhouse that was converted into an arthouse and sat with a roundtable of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.<\/p>\n The Democratic mayor is visiting Rome for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, and his travel bill is being footed by the pope\u2019s Fondazione Fratelli Tutti, according to City Hall. \u2014 Emily Ngo<\/p>\n CULTURE CLUB CRIES CUTS: Do you really want to hurt them? The cultural institutions that get direct city funding say Adams didn\u2019t restore nearly enough of their cuts, and they need another $53 million in the upcoming budget.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Mayor, our city\u2019s recovery is significant but fragile \u2014 and it cannot withstand uncertainty and continued cuts to culture,\u201d reads the Culture for All<\/a> petition from the Cultural Institutions Group, made up of 34 organizations ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Staten Island Zoo.<\/p>\n Adams cut $12 million from this year\u2019s budget and the next in November, and another $13 million in January. The second cut was restored to fanfare last month, but the institutions want the initial cuts restored too, plus the same $40 million boost to baseline funding they fought for, and got, for last year\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n The city allocated the Cultural Institutions Group about $141 million total in operating expenses for fiscal year 2024 budget.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s office didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment, though they have previously defended their commitment to culture, while saying across-the-board cuts were needed to balance the budget. <\/p>\n A City Council spokesperson said the council will be prioritizing the full restoration in the budget. \u2014 Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n SCHOOL ENROLLMENT: New figures released by the New York City school system shows a projected increase in enrollment for the 2024-25 year.<\/p>\n An additional 778,000 students are expected to be enrolled, making it the first time enrollment increased year-over-year since before 2016.<\/p>\n “The proof is in the enrollment projections \u2014 through a mix of new and innovative programming, engaging academics, and genuine family and student engagement, our system is bouncing back from years of declining enrollment and leading the nation in public school education,\u201d Schools Chancellor David Banks said in a statement.<\/p>\n Banks attributed the increase to three programs: NYC Reads, Student Pathways and the Summer Rising program. \u2014 Shawn Ness<\/p>\n JAMES SIMONS, 86: Hedge fund manager James Simons passed away<\/a> at the age of 86 today. A former math professor at SUNY Stony Brook, Simons made a fortune in hedge funds in recent decades.<\/p>\n He had become a major figure in New York state politics and policy. During Gov. David Paterson\u2019s administration, he lobbied the state<\/a> for tuition hikes for SUNY to place it on sounder financial footing. He appeared with Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a> last year to announce $500 million for Stony Brook, one of the largest charitable donations in American history.<\/p>\n \u201cJim was a brilliant mathematician and understood the important role science and math play in our future,\u201d Stony Brook alum Carl Heastie, the Assembly speaker, said in a statement. \u201cThroughout his life he donated billions of dollars to support grand scientific endeavors and lower barriers of access to all those dreaming of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n Simons has also repeatedly been the top donor to New York Democrats. <\/p>\n He and his wife have given at least $7 million to state and local level candidates and parties since 2011, including $3.9 million to the state Democratic Committee, $370,000 to Andrew Cuomo and $205,000 to Hochul. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/p>\n HOCHUL\u2019S SOCIAL: The effort to limit kids\u2019 exposure<\/a> to social media algorithms is getting some personal involvement from Hochul.<\/p>\n The governor today told reporters that the measure, which is meant to block social media firms from providing algorithmic feeds to the accounts of children, is her top end-of-session priority.<\/p>\n And unlike some bills that pass without involvement from the governor\u2019s office, Hochul said her legal team is working with lawmakers to craft the final details of a potential agreement by June 6.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will find the right balance,\u201d she said. “We want to make sure we protect the interests of children, number one, and make sure we\u2019re creating an environment where these companies can thrive, but within limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n Opponents believe algorithmic-powered feeds can be addicting and lead to mental health problems. But social media companies have warned the proposal would create free speech violations and likely face a court challenge. \u2014 Nick Reisman<\/p>\n HER NO WORRIES ERA: New York Democrats want a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution to galvanize turnout this election year. A Republican-backed challenge to its ballot status is putting a question mark<\/a> on those plans.<\/p>\n But Hochul told reporters she is not concerned the amendment would be blocked from the ballot this November over procedural grounds.<\/p>\n The proposal would enshrine a broad array of rights such as the right to an abortion in the state constitution. Republicans won the first round of a lawsuit<\/a> over the amendment\u2019s placement on the ballot in a ruling that\u2019s almost certain to be appealed.<\/p>\n The amendment is considered a key piece<\/a> of the Democratic efforts to retake the House with the party trying to flip five seats in New York and take power in the narrowly divided chamber.<\/p>\n But even if the amendment is taken off the ballot, Hochul believes Democrats have a stable of issues<\/a> to run on, including housing, anti-retail theft measures and cracking down on illegal cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be plenty of messaging that the Democrats can and will lean on \u2014 not the least of which is our strong support of reproductive rights,\u201d she said. \u2014 Nick Reisman<\/p>\n \u2014 A newer, bigger, better bottle bill is facing the same old problems. (POLITICO Pro<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 Orange County is the latest county to sue the state over proposals to host local elections in even-numbered years. (Times Union<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 State Democrats are sure that the decision to toss out the Equal Rights Amendment will be challenged in the state\u2019s highest court. (POLITICO Pro<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n A Buffalo Senate seat vacated by now-Rep. Tim Kennedy will remain empty through the remainder of the year.
\n Mayor Eric Adams kicked off his trip to Italy by offering praise of the Pope.
\n Hochul told reporters that she\u2019s hopeful a deal can be reached to address the ills of social media on children. <\/p>\n