Rachel Silberstein in the Gotham Gazette reports that there are two state senate vacancies and nine empty state assembly seats as the legislative session starts in Albany. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has, so far, not indicated when he will call special elections to fill the seats. The state legislature starts its latest session Jan. 3, with 11 districts having no representation in Albany. That includes parts of Columbia County and all of Greene and Rensselaer Counties, as Assemblypersons Pete Lopez and Steve McLaughlin left their seats for other jobs recently. Legally, Cuomo could have called special elections Jan. 1, but whenever he announces the elections, they cannot take place until 70 days after that announcement. So if Cuomo does not act quickly, the entire legislative session may be over before many parts of the state have any representation in the state capitol. “The governor has a responsibility to his constituents to call a special election immediately,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of good government group Common Cause NY in a statement released Jan. 2. “There’s no excuse to delay.” The New York Public Interest Research Group says that 625,484 Senate constituents and more than 1.1 million Assembly constituents are unrepresented as the legislature decides the state budget, and considers new laws this year. Cuomo has been mostly mum on the issue, saying in December, “There are some that want it sooner, some that want it later.... Some would argue politicizing the budget isn’t the best idea. It’s a decision that we have to make next year in January.” Read the full story in the Gotham Gazette.