Raymond Pignone at Columbia-Greene Media rounds up some reaction to the $229 billion state budget that was passed over a month late in Albany last week. Democratic State Sen. Michelle Hinchey said, “While this has been a difficult budget process, I’m proud of the historic wins we secured for the 41st District.... Our final budget takes major steps forward to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, maintaining the lowest personal income tax rates for working families in over 70 years and fully funding our public schools.” Hinchey specifically cited Columbia-Greene Community College, where more funding was secured, and students will not pay increased tuition fees. Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro of the 19th Congressional District disagreed, calling the budget a “dumpster fire” that got bail reform wrong and made New York more unaffordable. The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development Executive Director Jeff Senterman was happy with the budget, saying in a statement, “The budget includes funding for expanded visitor services at the Catskills Visitor Center, stewardship money to care for the Catskill Park, support of research and data collection across the region, and more. Both the natural resources and the communities of our region will benefit by this increase in investment, and by the increased attention being paid to our region.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Greta Jochem reports in The Berkshire Eagle that the highest court in Massachusetts has ruled the speakers have the right to be rude in public comment at a town meeting. The State Supreme Judicial Court ruled in March that public comment cannot be stopped even if comments are “rude, disrespectful, or personal speech about government officials or government actions.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts called the ruling a “victory for free speech rights and core democratic principles.” Pittsfield City Council President Peter Marchetti was not so enthusiastic, saying, “I think it’s OK to voice opposition to a decision that’s made. But when we revert to name-calling of councilors or department heads, I think that’s a bit overboard.” Public comment is not required under the state’s Open Meeting Law, and North Adams City Council President Lisa Blackmer is considering eliminating it from meetings altogether. Read more about this story in The Berkshire Eagle.

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Nick Reisman reports for New York State of Politics that Gov. Kathy Hochul's office released a report on May 5 showing how African-Americans, women, and the disabled have it worse in New York's housing market. The Fair Housing Matters NY report found that a third of New Yorkers are living in segregated counties, and 95 percent of Black and African-American residents in the state are living in a county that is highly segregated from white households. Only a third of Black and African-American households own their own home, and only 25 percent of Hispanic and Latino households do, while, overall, two-thirds of New York households own their own homes. The report also found that women and children were more likely to have higher rates of poverty, and households with a disabled member are more likely to be classified as low income. Hochul said, "The findings in this report show that confronting these inequalities will require an aggressive multi-faceted approach. I look forward to working with our partners at the federal, state, and local levels to take the bold actions necessary to foster more diverse communities and create and preserve affordable housing for more New Yorkers." Hochul's housing plan of building 800,000 new units, was shot down in the state budget by Democrats in the legislature. Hochul and many officials in the Hudson Valley have identified an affordable housing crisis in the state. Read more about this story in New York State of Politics.

The Troy Record reports that New York Senator Chuck Schumer said that a proposed rules change for Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could bring an estimated annual nearly $1 billion to Upstate New York hospitals. Schumer said, “For far too long, Upstate New York hospitals have faced unfairly low Medicare payments that fell terribly short of wage demands leaving hospitals struggling to compete to bring the best doctors and nurses to Upstate New York. After years of fighting though, the feds have finally shifted course, and proposed a new rule that can help finally rectify the unfair payment system, and give Upstate NY the shot in the arm it has long needed to the tune of nearly a billion dollars every single year." There have been numerous cutbacks at New York hospitals in recent years. Columbia Memorial in Hudson, for instance, no longer has birthing services for mothers. Schumer says that the proposed rule change would bring more than $967 million in increased federal funding for hospital systems across Upstate New York. Since the 1980s, hospitals in the Albany area have only received 86 percent of what the average hospital gets to account for wages. Columbia Memorial would get an extra $8,228,068 if the proposed rule change goes through. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Sara Rizzo reports for News10 in Albany that Massachusetts has begun a redesign of the viewing area and parking lot at Bash Bish Falls, permanently blocking access to water at the bottom of the falls. The highest waterfall in Massachusetts was a popular destination during the COVID-19 pandemic, with visitors leaving lots of trash and swimming and picnicking where that is not allowed. The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation said in a statement, “To promote public safety, mitigate visitor impacts on the natural resource, and protect the rare and native habitat, access to the water was closed in July 2020 with the placement of barriers.” The redesign will replace those barriers with more permanent barriers, but the DCR does not know when the work will be complete. Bash Bish Falls is along the Massachusetts border, and can be accessed from Copake in Columbia County too. Copake Town Historian Howard Blue says Bash Bish Falls is the town’s biggest attraction. Read more about this story at News10 in Albany.

WNYT reports that with several more mass shootings across the country in the past week, the Grace Baptist Church of Troy announced it will raffle off an AR-15 gun or a flamethrower in July. The church announced the giveaway in a Facebook post. The church will give away the gun over the July 4 weekend. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was not amused by the announcement, saying, "Click here to download or play Gillibrand's comment." Read more about this story at the WNYT website.

Here is this week's WGXC Congressional Report, tracking the votes, statements, positions, and campaigns of the representatives and candidates for the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Congressional seats in New York. Democrat Pat Ryan is representing the 18th Congressional District, Republican Marc Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, Democrat Rep. Paul Tonko represents the 20th District, and Republican Elise Stefanik represents the 21st District. Click here to listen to this report.

WRGB in Albany reports that Rep. Paul Tonko held a listening session April 29 in the town of Milton in Saratoga County. Tonko wanted to hear residents opinions on the new farm bill that is being negotiated this year. But the story does not quote any residents or their opinions, only Tonko. The 20th Congressional District representative said, "Food insecurity, the need to have food on the table, the importance's of nutrition for our senior community and for sound development for our young people. So, we need to emphasize this, especially because there were proposed restrictions and roll backs in the bill recently done on the house floor in Washington. So, it just alerts me of the wrongdoing in that bill and how it relates to agriculture and nutrition." Read more about this story at the WRGB website.

On April 27 Democrat Pat Ryan voted with local Republicans Marc Molinaro and Elise Stefanik, against, "Directing the President... to remove all United States Armed Forces, other than United States Armed Forces assigned to protect the United States Embassy, from Somalia." Democrat Paul Tonko voted for the measure, which failed 102-to-321. It was a rare bipartisan vote in Congress, with 52 Republicans and 50 Democrats voting for the measure, and 165 Republicans, and 156 Democrats voting against.

Nancy Kern reports in Columbia-Greene Media that Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican from Dutchess County, on April 29 voted against a bill to end a two-year moratorium on duties placed on imported cells and modules used on solar farms. Most Republicans voted for the bill, but it will not pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, nor be signed by President Joe Biden. And it passed 221-to-202, which means Molinaro breaking with his party did not jeopardize the bill passing in the House of Representatives. Even though the vote was mostly theater, Molinaro said, “Repealing this moratorium could force domestic companies, including those in New York’s 19th Congressional District, to pay over $1 billion in retroactive duties, eliminate thousands of domestic jobs, and cancel planned solar projects. I broke with my own party and voted against today’s legislation because it would kneecap our advances in domestic solar energy and eliminate jobs in Upstate New York." Judging from comments included in the story, Molinaro's vote won't be popular with local Republicans, who seem opposed to solar power. Greene County Legislature Chair Patrick Linger, a Republican, said, "I do not agree that it’s used as a utility scale. I don’t think that’s the optimal use for solar." Athens Town Supervisor Michael Pirrone said, “I don’t think I agree entirely [with Molinaro] because there maybe a PILOT involved with the project, which means that on a town level, the town does not get full taxation." Republican Greene County Legislator Thomas Hobart from Coxsackie, said, “I don’t see the residents of the region benefiting from the power that would be generated and would only experience the loss of open space.” Molinaro represents the 19th Congressional District, though he lives in the 18th Congressional District. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

The Troy Record reports that Rep. Paul Tonko introduced the New York-New Jersey Watershed Protection Act with New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis to protect the Hudson, Mohawk, and Raritan Rivers and their tributaries. In the Senate, all four New York and New Jersey Senators, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, and Bob Menendez, introduced the bill. Tonko said, “For too long, our New York-New Jersey Watershed has been grossly underfunded, despite being America’s most populated watershed.... I’ve long pushed to support this critical waterway, driving forward federal restoration efforts that will have massive ripple effects, including protecting communities from flood risks, supporting local wildlife, improving water quality, and driving economic growth." The bill would attempt to coordinate restoration efforts of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, improve water quality, increase public access to the watershed, mitigate flood risks, and provide $20,000,000 annually for watershed restoration grants through Fiscal Year 2029. Read more about this story in the Troy Record.

Spectrum News reports that President Joe Biden will give a speech on the debt ceiling impasse in Congress on May 10 in the Hudson Valley. Biden seems to be targeting New York Republicans to persuade them to avoid default without conditions. Typically, Congress votes to raise the debt ceiling without limitaions. But Republicans control the House of Representatives, but not the Senate and the presidency. That have been unable to pass any legislation, so they are holding the debt ceiling hostage to some legislative measures they would like passed. Local Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro, who lives in the 18th Congressional District, but represents the 19th District, tried to persuade voters otherwise, releasing a statement that said, "President Biden plans to leave negotiators behind in Washington and travel to the Hudson Valley to make a political speech.” Read more about this story at Spectrum News.

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Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that the Hudson police department says they have an officer who lied in an incident report, drove with a suspended registration, and repeatedly left his post as a school resource officer at the Hudson Junior-Senior High School to visit a woman in another county with whom he had an intimate relationship. That's all what internal affairs documents obtained by the Times Union say about Officer Jacob Hoffman. He was also found to have stashed four personal guns, including a loaded semi-automatic handgun and an unregistered pistol, in an unlocked locker in the vacant, former Hudson police station. Currently Hoffman is not on active duty because of an injury, and has been disciplined multiple times in a few years. But a settlement agreement negotiated between the department and his police union that extends to 2024 allows police to terminate him immediately if he violates departmental policy. Hoffman could not be reached for comment. The Times Union obtained the police records through the state’s Freedom of Information Law. In the documents, Hoffman admits to leaving his post as a school resource officer to meet the woman. Police learned of the incident because the woman's husband witnessed the visit, and called them. “Hoffman stated that he has been doing this once a week for a couple months, with some weeks going twice,” according to the internal investigation. After the internal investigation, Hoffman was suspended without pay for 14 days for violating 10 departmental policies, and received a letter of reprimand. But he is still on the Hudson police force. The story outlines other violations and transgressions of the police officer. Read more about this story in the Times Union.

Noah Zweifel reports in the Altamont Enterprise that the Berne-Knox-Westerlo school in southern Albany County is the first school district in New York state to be considered a trauma-skilled school, with accreditation through the National Dropout Prevention Center. The program is meant to help students with adverse childhood experiences. School Superintendent Timothy Mundell said, “It can be child abuse, or domestic violence in the home, or just constant arguing or bickering, or drug or alcohol abuse, sex abuse…. All of these things, they’re not just things that happen to people who live in poverty. These are things that can happen to all of us in our lives. We all have trauma in our lives that we have to overcome and be resilient to in order to succeed.” The New York State Department of Health reports that around 42 percent of New York State residents were believed to have two or more adverse childhood experiences. In 2019, more than half of the seventh-graders in the school district surveyed reported experiencing trauma. In 2022, the BKW schools had a dropout rate of 11 percent, more than double the state average of five percent. Read more about this story in the Altamont Enterprise.

Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Second Ward Hudson supervisor Abdus Miah wants another term. Miah is running on the Democratic Party line. Miah has previously been a Hudson Alderperson, and said, “I encouraged affordable housing and shelter arrangements for homeless people in the Galvan Civic Motel and worked through a range of support services, including eviction prevention, emergency services and transitional housing.... I supported the Satellite Service at Bliss Towers to bring the Department of Social Services, Public Health, Human Services and Office for the Aging.” The story does not say if there are other candidates running for the same position. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Andrea Macko reports at Porcupine Soup that Facebook deleted the pages of the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and American Legion Post 291 of Greenville this week, and some local folks are upset. Facebook is a private company, and when anyone posts anything there, they are turning over the information and content to the giant corporation, which can do what they want with it. Michelle Deyo, Greene County’s Veterans Service Agency director and an administrator of the American Legion Post 291’s social media page, said someone apparently reported the Legion's account for violating what Facebook calls “account integrity and authentic identity.” Greene County Undersheriff Adam Brainard said they, "are currently appealing the removal based on what we can see… we have no violations.” Facebook did not respond to questions from the newspaper. Read more about this story at Porcupine Soup.

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Raga Justin reports in the Times Union that the state budget that passed this week includes expansion of the use of body scanning devices in New York's correctional facilities. State employees working at correctional facilities, inmates, and anyone who is visiting an inmate could be subject to body scanning under the new rules. The story reports that prison and jail staff members say there is an increase in contraband and violence in the facilities. The body scanning is meant to replace body cavity searches. The state has authorized body scanning technology in correctional facilities since at least 2018, the story says. Right now an estimated 15 jurisdictions have the technology. The scanners use “ionizing radiation” in low doses, according to state regulations. But the National Cancer Institute says that this type of radiation, even in small doses, has been linked to higher risks of cancer. The New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association union is in favor of the new rules. Union President Michael Powers said, “The safety and well-being of everyone who works or resides in a New York state prison is NYSCOPBA’s top priority.... Utilizing enhanced security measures like this ... will assist us in our efforts to reduce dangerous contraband from entering our facilities and in turn reduce violence.” Read more about this story in the Times Union

Nancy Kern reports for Columbia-Greene Media from the first Durham meeting since the announcement that the town is no longer eligible for many grants and other benefits after being decertified over noncompliance with the New York State Historic Preservation Office’s Certified Local Government program. Town Supervisor Shawn Marriott's failure to appoint new members to the commission led to the decertification, and loss of future grants. The town’s Historic Preservation Law was on the agenda of the workshop meeting, but was immediately tabled at the motion of Town Councilperson Joan Breslin, who said the board should get legal advice before redrafting the document. But during the public portion of the meeting, the issue resurfaced. Breslin and Marriott did not seem interested in offers from community members to help compile a history of the commission and its past accomplishments for the town. Marriott also denied any adversarial relationship between the town board and the public, saying, “I take offense to say that I’m fearful on a committee to assist on this.” The town supervisor did say he wanted fewer experts on a future committee, saying he wanted to relax the required Certified Local Government qualifications for Commission members. Resident Richard Goldstein said, "There’s a whole lot of healing that needs to be done. Otherwise this is just going to be a repeat of what you had before. Whether it’s a committee, however the community is engaged, and in whatever format, if one wants to have a whole non-polarized environment, an effort needs to be made by everyone who’s engaged in this.” And Marriott answered, “That needs to come from both sides.” Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.

Nick Reisman at New York State of Politics reports that state lawmakers said on May 4 that an estimated 81 percent of New York school children will be eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch next school year because of state and federal aid for food programs. New York's recently finalized budget included $134 million for the meals. Still, some advocates say it is not enough, such as Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids, a coalition of groups backing the plan. They released a statement that said, "While we are glad that New York will be expanding access to free school meals, the funding included in this year’s budget still leaves far too many kids hungry and families struggling to make ends meet." Read more about this story at New York State of Politics.

Andrea Macko reports in Porcupine Soup that Greene County hunters killed 2,318 deer last season, including 1,272 adult bucks. That's slightly less than in 2020, but slightly more than last year or 2019. New York State saw a ten percent increase last year, to 231,961 deer killed during the 2022 hunting seasons. The Youth Hunt Weekend last season saw a 38 percent increase in dead deer. That may have been because of a pilot program from the state legislature allowing hunters aged 12-13 to hunt deer supervised with a firearm. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.

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