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Hochul wants special legislative session to focus on three issues

Sep 01, 2021 6:33 am

Sarah Taddeo reports in the Democrat and Chronicle that Gov. Kathy Hochul officially announced a special session of the legislature that begins Sept. 1. She said three issues will be the focus of the special session: lengthening the eviction moratorium; addressing open meeting laws; and making appointments to the new cannabis regulation board so that recreational sales can begin. Really, the special session is for extending the eviction moratorium that ran out Aug. 31 to Jan. 15, 2022. But Hochul also tacked on two other issues. With the Delta variant of COVID-19 spreading everywhere, the new governor wants to again temporarily let towns and villages hold meetings remotely to avoid more coronavirus spread, as long as they let citizens participate online. And while former Gov. Andrew Cuomo did sign a bill legalizing cannabis this spring, he did not fill any positions on the board that will set regulations for sales in the state. So Hochul wants this special session to focus on those three issues. Read more about this story in the Democrat and Chronicle.