Mid-Hudson News reports that the number of school districts statewide designated in a financial stress category has declined considerably since school year 2019-20, and the 2021-22 school year continued the trend, according to a new report by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office. Just one school district in the state, Mount Vernon in Westchester County, was rated as having “significant stress;" five school districts were rated as having “moderate stress.” State officials said the reasons for the decrease this year are largely the result of significant increases in both federal and state aid. According to the report, although increased federal and state aid has reduced fiscal stress in school districts, the increases in federal aid are temporary and the state’s plan to fully fund Foundation Aid by school year 2023-24 is currently on track, but it is not binding on future legislatures, nor is maintaining aid at that higher level. The report noted that school officials still face operational and staffing challenges to decide how best to provide services to their students in the future. Read the full story at Mid-HudsonNews [dot] com.

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Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that Kimberly Kaplan is resigning as Greene County’s director of public health. There have been a wave of resignations and removals of local public health directors, including in Columbia and Schoharie counties. Schoharie County officials recently ousted county health director Amy Gildemeister, and Columbia County's Jack Mabb recently retired. In New York, 29 of the state's 57 county health officials have retired or left their jobs since 2020, according to data collected by public health advocates. Current Deputy Director of Public Health and Clinical Services Laura Churchill was appointed as director unanimously by Greene County lawmakers on Jan. 17. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that New Lebanon is hosting a silent auction on Feb. 9 to help fund a new fire station for its all-volunteer department. The Lebanon Valley Protective Association has an anonymous donation of of $250,000, but needs another $250,000 to build the new station. The fire company hopes to consolidate their two current stations, said Ed Godfroy, fire company president. While the company will lose response time by consolidating the stations, it will have "better coordinated" responses, Godfroy claims. Town Supervisor Tistrya Houghtling is married to the fire company's chief and must recuse herself from any decisions related to the fire department. The silent auction is at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9 at M&M's Tap and Tavern on Route 20 in New Lebanon. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Tyler A. McNeil reports in the Daily Gazette that Republican Elise Stefanik was appointed this week to a new Congressional panel that her party says is to probe abuses of power within the federal government. Democrats say the Republicans are investigating the weaponization of government by weaponizing the government. Stefanik, who represents New York's 21st Congressional District including Rensselaer County, becomes one of 15 members on the U.S. House of Representative Judiciary Committee’s new Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. Stefanik said in a statement, that “There are serious questions about how government agencies have gotten away with this for so long, and we will get to the bottom of how these corrupt agencies are being weaponized against everyday Americans.” Democrats say the new group is analogous to the House Un-American Activities Committee of the 1950s. Paul Tonko, a Democrat who locally represents the 20th Congressional District, said about the new panel that it is, “Chaired by one of the most right-wing partisans in Congress who voted to throw out the 2020 election results, this committee’s explicit purpose is to sabotage the work of the Department of Justice and the January 6th Select Committee.” Read more about this story in the Daily Gazette.

Eduardo Cuevas and Kayla Canne report in the Poughkeepsie Journal that now most incarcerated New Yorkers come from upstate, not New York City. In 2000, around 66 percent of New Yorkers incarcerated in state prisons came from New York City. That number has decreased to about 42 percent in 2020. "It's no longer something we can brush off as a New York City problem," said Emily Widra, a senior research analyst at the Prison Policy Initiative and an author of the report. "It's really affecting the whole state and communities in every county." VOCAL-NY's civil rights campaign director, Nick Encalada-Malinowski, says the shift is partially because New York City has some progressive reform policies, which the rest of the state lacks. “What’s happening for a lot of counties is they are incarcerating people rather than addressing any of their kind of immediate needs,” Encalada-Malinowski, said. “You have people especially in jail, but also in prison, just cycling through. No one’s actually addressing what got the person there.” Read the full story in the Poughkeepsie Journal.

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Robert Gavin reports for the Times Union that Rensselaer County Executive Steven F. McLaughlin was acquitted Jan. 25, following a jury trial, of stealing $5,000 from his campaign and falsifying records to cover it up. The day-and-a-half-long trial led to a quick resolution — jurors began their deliberations at about 3:45 p.m. and returned their verdict within an hour. The Republican former state assemblymember's attorneys hugged supporters after the verdict was read, prompting applause in the small courtroom. McLaughlin thanked the jury, the judge, and his attorneys, Thomas A. Capezza and Benjamin W. Hill. He said his attorneys "saw this case for what it was right from the beginning." McLaughlin had previously suggested the charges filed against him by the office of Democrat state Attorney General Letitia James were politically motivated. On Jan. 25, he thanked his family, friends, his girlfriend, her children and his children and "all the ... citizens of Rensselaer County who have supported me throughout the years. They know the good work that we’re doing and we’re going to continue to do the good work," he said. McLaughlin, 59, would have been removed from office if convicted and faced prison time. James issued a statement following the verdict saying that while she is "disappointed in the jury’s finding today, I respect their decision." The two-day trial revolved around the issuance of a $5,000 campaign check to Richard W. Crist in November 2017, which a state prosecutor described as a crime secretly orchestrated by a powerful political boss through his "bagman." McLaughlin's defense argued that he was simply paying Crist, his political consultant and currently the county's operations director, for a job well done. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that December 2022 unemployment rates in five of the 10 counties in the Hudson Valley and Catskills region dropped below the regional rate of 2.5 percent, according to data reported by the state Department of Labor. The regional rate decreased from the 2.8 percent rate in December 2021. Both Columbia and Rockland counties experienced the lowest December rate at 2.3 percent. Those counties were followed by Putnam County at 2.4 percent, Dutchess and Westchester at 2.5 percent, Ulster and Orange at 2.6 percent, Sullivan and Delaware at 2.8 percent and Greene County at 3.0 percent. All counties with the exception of Delaware experienced lower unemployment in December 2022 than in the same month one year earlier. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.

Michael DeMasi reports for the Albany Business Review that Rensselaer city officials are currently in talks with a large property owner about a proposed $15 million hotel project to be located on the opposite side of the railroad tracks from the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. The 110-room establishment would be the first hotel to be located next to the station, the 8th busiest Amtrak station in the nation. The station was accessed by 640,353 travelers during the 2022 fiscal year, according to preliminary figures. Brothers Bill and Bob Brayton bought the approximately two-acre parcel about six years ago and later learned the zoning allowed for a hotel. Bill Brayton said the COVID-19 pandemic and other priorities delayed their plans, but they now want to press forward. "We plan on putting up a hotel or at least getting it shovel-ready," Brayton said. The developers are working with a surveyor and engineer and have received positive feedback from officials, but have yet to formally seek approval from city hall. The Braytons recently acquired three adjacent city-owned parcels to allow for access to the site from Washington Street. The hotel proposal would include plans for a short pedestrian bridge to link that buildingl to the Herrick Street bridge that spans the tracks. Read the full story in the Albany Business Review.

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Zack Fink reports at New York State of Politics that work in Albany on the new budget has stalled as everyone waits for Gov. Kathy Hochul decides what to do after the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee rejected Hochul’s nominee, Justice Hector LaSalle, to be New York’s top judge. Will the governor sue for a full vote in the Senate? Will she nominate someone else? “You will all know everything you need to know in due process, in due time,” Hochul told reporters in Albany on Jan. 24. “But as the governor, it is my prerogative to do what is best for the people of the State of New York after thoughtful analysis and consultation. And I assure you that is my guiding star.” The governor has until Feb. 1 to present her budget to the legislature. “In Albany so many important decisions are made by so few people that there is only so much bandwidth the system can handle,” said Blair Horner of New York's Public Interest Research Group. “And I think that the LaSalle hearings obviously used up bandwidth, both with the executive and also in the state Senate.” Senate Majority Leader Andréa Stewart-Cousins said she hasn’t spoken to the governor since her Judiciary committee rejected LaSalle. “I have not, no. Again, I am waiting for the document. I am waiting for the conversation to be robust,” Stewart-Cousins said about the budget. Read the full story at New York State of Politics.

Rebekah F. Ward reports in the Times Union that the first Capital Region cannabis shops may open in a few weeks. At least four recreational cannabis dispensaries will open soon in the Capital Region., according to the story. Shoppers in the Hudson Valley may wait longer, as a lawsuit is delaying openings there. Only 36 of a possible 175 retail shop licenses have been given out in the first phase of the new cannabis law. The drug was legalized over a year and a half ago in New York, but only very recently has anyone been allowed to buy it from a legal store, and so far only in New York City. Reead more about this story in the Times Union.

Tyler A. McNeil reports in the Daily Gazette that Republican Elise Stefanik and Democrat Paul Tonko are working together on a local land designation issue. They both want to extend the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area past Rensselaer County into Washington and Saratoga counties. Tonko represents Saratoga, and Stefanik represents Rensselaer and Washington counties. “I would just say that oh my God, I’ve worked with both of them, I get along with both of them, but when you have Paul Tonko and Elise Stefanik on the same page, I think you have an incredible chance of making that happen,” said Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. The duo have introduced legislation to extend the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area in hopes of receiving grants, and other economic benefits. Stefanik said. “The cultural, environmental, and economic impact that these National Heritage Areas have on communities in upstate New York cannot be overstated, and I am proud to work to expand this opportunity to all of Washington and Saratoga counties.” Previously, Tonko and Stefanik worked together on efforts to reinforce federal limousine safety standards, on broadband expansion, and on an early version of the CHIPS for America Act. Read the full story in the Daily Gazette.

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Roger Hannigan Gilson reports for the Times Union that a class action suit against Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. was filed January 6, in state Supreme Court. The plaintiffs are seeking damages for the utility's botched roll-out of a new billing system that began in September 2021. Since the new system was implemented, customers have complained about a variety of issues, including missing and late bills, receiving other customer's bills, inaccurate and inflated bill amounts, large automatic withdrawals from checking accounts, not receiving bills for many months, receiving confusing bills, and receiving multiple bills in one month. The lawsuit lays out issues allegedly experienced by six Central Hudson customers located in four counties, but any money awarded would go to any adversely impacted Central Hudson customers. The case accuses the utility of "deceptive business practices." Eileen Abel of Coxsackie is one of the six plaintiffs. The complaint alleges Abel was improperly billed $1,224 for April and May 2022, $1,000 more than normal, and that Central Hudson has not provided a justification or response for the spike and has not credited back the money. A spokesperson for Central Hudson denied any accusation that the utility "unjustly enriched itself." The case was filed by the White Plains-based firm Lowey Dannenberg and it relies heavily on an investigation by the Public Service Commission released last month. That investigation found that Central Hudson was aware of issues when the billing system was launched, but went ahead anyway. More than 8,050 customers were overcharged and more than 30,000 customers accustomed to being billed monthly suddenly had charges for multiple months withdrawn from their bank accounts, according to the investigation. The Public Service Commission has not yet decided what action, if any, to take against Central Hudson. The class action suit seeks refunds and monetary damages for Central Hudson customers as well as attorney's fees and an injunction on the practices alleged in the suit. Central Hudson has until April 25 to respond to the complaint. Read the full story in the Times Union.

Mid-Hudson News reports that Governor Kathy Hochul has announced all state residents enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will receive the maximum allowable level of food benefits in January. All households participating in SNAP, including families already at the maximum level of benefits, will get a supplemental allotment this month. SNAP is a federally funded program overseen by the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. All households will receive a supplement of at least $95. “These temporary additional food benefits have helped hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers avoid food insecurity at a time when so many are struggling with household budgets that have been stretched thin,” Hochul said. “This assistance has helped New York’s recovery from the pandemic by helping families and individuals put healthy, nutritious food on the table — providing much-needed relief to New Yorkers.” Read the full story at Mid-HudsonNews [dot] com.

Nick Reisman reports for State of Politics that lawmakers January 24 passed a state constitutional amendment intended to solidify an expansive set of rights for all New Yorkers. The measure was approved by the legislature with a package of bills meant to strengthen abortion rights and could have a wide-ranging impact. Supporters pressed for the amendment in the wake of the Dobbs ruling that overturned the landmark abortion case Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court. Opponents, however, contend the parameters of the amendment are too broad and could hurt religious institutions. With the amendment's second legislative passage, voters will now have the final say over whether it is added to the constitution in a referendum planned for 2024. "We need to upgrade our constitution from 1938 to reflect that the world we're living in is very different," said state Senator Liz Krueger. Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union said of the measure, "It sends a message to New York that we're here to send up for women, for LGBTQ people, for members of ethics minorities, for equality." Republicans, including state Assemblymember Chris Tague, are skeptical about the amendment and are concerned about its effect. "Those of us who take our faith and our religion very seriously are very concerned about lawsuits against the church or against a certain faith or religion," Tague said. State Senator George Borrello said, "Unfortunately, like so many pieces of legislation, it goes too far. It's very vague, it's very broad. In the end, my biggest concern is it will codify late-term abortions into the New York state constitution." Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.