Bill Mahoney reported for Politico that the legislative session began in Albany Wednesday, with the first woman leading the State Senate. “I stand in here in awe of everything that has happened,” said Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “First of all, my conference: 39 members strong. We have 15 new members. We have 14 women in our conference. And in this chamber, 20 women. Wow. When you think about it, not that long ago, women weren’t even allowed to walk on the floor of these chambers.” Democrats control both chambers, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is expected to be busy signing bills in the coming months. “In almost two-and-a half centuries, the chambers housing New York’s state Legislature have seen a lot,” said Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris (D-Queens). “They have seen coups, they have seen ejected members, they have seen dueling sessions on this very floor. They have seen co-leaders, they have seen coalition leaders, they have seen indicted leaders. Yet in 241 years, the one thing neither house in our state government has ever seen has been a female leader, until today. Our historical embarrassment ends today.” Read the full story at Politico.