The Capitol Pressroom

September 17, 2025- Mental Health Association in New York State CEO Glenn Liebman makes the case for establishing a commission to oversee the reduction in the number of psychiatric hospitals  in the Empire State.

September 17, 2025- Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, a Queens Democrat, discusses her legislation requiring state health officials to proactively disseminate and promote information about reproductive health care in New York, including abortion services and financial support.

September 17, 2025- Legislation awaiting the governor's signature would potentially make formerly incarcerated New Yorkers eligible to be hired for preferred source employment opportunities. We consider the ramifications of this idea with Maureen O'Brien, president and CEO New York State Industries for the Disabled.

September 17, 2025- Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden talks about legislation tweaking the tax cap for municipalities to incentivize investments in emergency medical services.

September 12, 2025- In light of an investigation by the state attorney general's office revealing dangerous neglect by a nursing home operator in Syracuse, we explore the oversight of nursing facilities with Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition.

September 12, 2025- New York State of Health Executive Director Danielle Holahan explains how the Hochul administration is responding to federal changes that impact how the state provides health insurance coverage for 1.7 million low-income New Yorkers.

September 12, 2025- Child care providers have been sounding the alarm about a staffing crisis for years, so we check in on the status of the workforce and their need for investment with Alicia Marks, owner and operator for Marks of Excellence Childcare and Dede Hill, vice president of policy at the Schuyler Center for Analysis & Advocacy.

September 11, 2025- The Medical Society of the State of New York is shining a spotlight on its longstanding complaint about delayed and limited payments approved by health insurers. We talk about their effort to get paid with the group's executive vice president, Dr. Thomas Lee.

September 11, 2025- State financial regulators continued the tradition this summer of approving premium increases for the individual and small group health insurance plans offered in the state marketplace, so we examine how we got to this point of escalating costs and consider what the future offerings will look like. Our guest is Paul Francis, chair of The Two Step Policy Project.

Sept. 10, 2025 - Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, a Syracuse Democrat, makes the case for updating the risk assessment tool used to classify sex offenders in New York.

September 9, 2025- The state Public Service Commission and New York's regulated energy providers are getting a lot of negative attention this summer for proposed rate hikes and negotiated cost increases. We consider what is driving prices up for energy consumers and evaluate some of the proposals to control out-of-pocket costs with Laurie Wheelock, executive director and general counsel of the Public Utility Law Project of New York.

September 8, 2025-In light of two defunct gas pipeline proposals getting new life under the Hochul administration, we explore their initial permitting process under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and consider what is being proposed now. Our guest is Susan Kraham, managing attorney with Earthjustice.

September 5, 2025- SUNY Chancellor John King gives an update on the state's effort to place adults in high-demand degrees at community colleges. He also talks about the structural deficits at some SUNY campuses and addresses the possibility of SUNY drawing the ire of the Trump administration.

September 5, 2025- We consider how many doctors getting trained in New York actually stay in New York (and why), with the help of David Armstrong, project director at the Center for Health Workforce Studies for the University at Albany.

Sept. 5, 2025 - The longtime leader of CSEA, Danny Donohue, passed away this summer, so we wanted to explore how he wielded power, his brash style, and whether anyone was picking up his mantle in Planet Albany. For all that insight we tapped into the institutional knowledge and insights of Liz Benjamin, a former journalist and now a big deal for Marathon Strategies. (This is an excerpt of Dispatches from Planet Albany)

September 3, 2025- New York prison officials are looking to update their procedures for reviewing mail sent from lawyers to their clients behind bars, so we consider the ramifications with Antony Gemmell, supervising attorney with the Prisoners' Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society.

September 3, 2025- We get an update on the state's use of road salt and alternative methods for keeping drivers safe in the winter with Rob Fitch, director of the Office of Transportation Maintenance for the state Department of Transportation.

September 3, 2025- New York State School Boards Association Executive Director Robert Schneider discusses how districts can address a teacher shortage and explains how school boards prepared to implement smartphone restrictions in schools this fall.

September 3, 2025- Food Industry Alliance of New York State President & CEO Mike Durant weighs in on legislation intended to let New Yorkers know if they're paying more for groceries they order online compare to shopping in a store.

September 2, 2025- We check in on the implementation of the state's "bell-to-bell" smartphone restrictions in schools with Bob Lowry, deputy director for advocacy, research, and communications at the New York Council of School Superintendents, and Dr. Donna DeSiato, superintendent of the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District.

September 2, 2025- Assemblymember Bobby Carroll, a Brooklyn Democrat, makes the case for prohibiting financial institutions from writing minimum rent charges into mortgage agreements.

September 2, 2025- We discuss the first four years of Kathy Hochul's time in the executive mansion with New York Playbook co-author Nick Reisman. Catch the entire conversation on the Dispatches from Planet Albany podcast.

Aug. 29, 2025- New Yorkers are poised to lose their government health coverage in the coming years as the result of changes in Washington D.C., but a new report argues that community organizations could help prevent a gap in insurance. We explore this report and next steps for state policymakers with Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York.

Aug. 29, 2025- Attorney Diane Houk explains why fair housing organizations are wading into a legal fight over the constitutionality of housing vouchers in New York and a law intended to prevent landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their payment method.

Aug. 29, 2025- Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Bill Magnarelli, a Syracuse Democrat, makes the case for increasing the cost of vehicle inspection fees and making the annual reviews more extensive. Legislation he moved this year would require the Hochul administration to study the existing standards and fees.

Aug. 28, 2025- The Hochul administration is looking for a firm to help craft the Next Generation Aviation Strategic Plan for New York so we consider what the future of this evolving field might look like with Ken Stewart, president & CEO of NUAIR.

Aug. 28, 2025- Politico New York reporter Marie French unpacks a decision by the state utility regulator to put another nail in the coffin of a scrapped transmission project originally intended to serve New York City.

Aug. 28, 2025- New York state lawmakers unanimously backed a measure to join a multi-state effort to promote accurate voter enrollment records. We discuss this voter integrity effort with Shane Hamlin, executive director of the Electronic Registration Information Center.

Aug. 27, 2025- Democratic state lawmakers want to empower state financial regulators to create standardized definitions for common insurance terms. We consider this pending legislation with Brad Lachut, director of government affairs for the Professional Insurance Agents of New York.

Aug. 27, 2025- University of Washington-Tacoma professor Eric Madfis explains how school behavioral threat assessments can reduce serious violence and considers how they might be deployed more widely in New York.

Aug. 27, 2025- The Hochul administration wants to update how parole officials consider applications from people who committed serious offenses when they were kids, but state Sen. Dean Murray, a Long Island Republicans, argues the emphasis is misplaced.

Aug. 26, 2025-Bottle redemption centers have been sounding the alarm about a fiscal crisis for years, but no relief has been coming from state lawmakers in Albany. We get an update on the situation from Jade Eddy, owner of MT Returnables.

Aug. 26, 2025- Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin, a Westchester County Democrat, discusses the crisis in early intervention accessibility and questions the Hochul administration's implementation of funding to support these services.

Aug. 26, 2025- In response to President Donald Trump's effort to allow church leaders to make political endorsements, Assemblymember Tony Simone, a Manhattan Democrat, makes the case for legislation intended to keep nonprofits from backing political candidates by tying nonpartisanship to their state tax-exempt status.

Aug. 25, 2025- Dr. Penelope Lema, an emergency room physician, makes the case for requiring hospitals to craft plans for keeping their staff safe from the threat of violence at work.

Aug. 25, 2025- State Senate Investigations & Government Operations Committee Chair Jim Skoufis, a Hudson Valley Democrat, reflects on an inquiry into the transition of a popular home care program. We touch on the lack of answers from the Hochul administration at the hearing and possible next steps for state lawmakers.

Aug. 25, 2025- The state senate's housing leader, Manhattan Democrat Brian Kavanagh, discusses why his chamber is looking into the cost and accessibility of residential property insurance.

Aug. 22, 2025- Drew Warshaw is hoping to be the next state comptroller and is mounting a big to wrest the Democratic nomination away from long-time incumbent Tom DiNapoli. We talk about changes he wants to make  to the administration of pension fund, approach to auditing and distribution of unclaimed funds.

Aug. 22, 2025- Employment is a key part of the recovery process from substance abuse, so we explore what New York policymakers are doing to promote recovery ready workplaces with Christopher Assini, director of policy at Friends of Recovery - New York.

Aug. 22, 2025- Assembly Energy Committee Chair Didi Barrett, a Hudson Valley Democrat, expresses her opposition to the governor's planned cutbacks on subsidies for home energy efficiency programs.

Aug. 21, 2025- This summer a quarantine zone for the European Cherry Fruit Fly was expanded in central New York so we explore the danger of this threat with Kevin Bittner, orchard manager at Bittner Singer Orchards.

Aug. 21, 2025- Dr. Rachel Flink-Bochacki, a board certified OBGYN and legislative chair of the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists District II, shares concerns with legislation requiring health care providers to share information about IUDs, including pain associated with insertion, when discussing birth control with patients.

Aug. 21, 2025- Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Capital Region Democrat, explains his bill protecting employees from getting trapped at a job through the threat of certain monetary penalties.

Aug. 21, 2025- New York City mayors have had control over the school districts in the five boroughs for more than two decades, but could a system work in other communities? We try to answer that question with Maxwell Herrera, a policy analyst for the Rockefeller Institute of Government, and Brian Backstrom, director of education policy studies for the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Aug. 20, 2025- New York lawmakers are trying again to limit the footprint of for-profit hospice businesses, approving legislation prohibiting existing operators from expanding or new players from entering the Empire State. We discuss the proposal and the low-rate of hospice services in New York with Jeanne Chirico, CEO of the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State.

Aug. 20, 2025- We explore the state of gun violence in New York and the prevention efforts being championed by Gov. Kathy Hochul with New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Executive Deputy Commissioner Joe Popcun and Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox.

Aug. 19, 2025- Assemblyman Harvey Epstein, a Manhattan Democrat, makes the case for legislation that limits what landlords can charge renters for a bounced check.

Aug. 19, 2025- The latest federal review of hospital metrics from around the country found that New York continues to trail almost every other state. We discuss the findings and how they should be used with Bill Hammond, a senior fellow at The Empire Center for Public Policy.

Aug. 18, 2025- We talk about efforts to promote traffic safety in the Empire State, including using cameras, lowering speed limits, and training drug recognition experts, with Mary Tanner Ritcher, deputy commissioner for traffic safety and investigations for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

Aug. 18, 2025 - Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly, a Democrat, discusses changes to New York's evidence disclosure laws that took effect this summer at the urging of local prosecutors and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Aug. 15, 2025- State lawmakers approved a handful of new health insurance mandates this year, including bills dealing with inhalers and speech therapy, but insurers say these well-intentioned efforts won't result in lower costs. New York Health Plan Association President & CEO Eric Linzer explains how insurers determine what they cover and argues that policymakers should focus on the underlying cost of treatments.