1) Host Alan Chartock reports the divergence of opinion between the Governor and state legislature on the Equal Rights Amendment and energy issues. Includes comments from Senator Anderson, the Senate Majority Leader, Noreen Connell, from the National Organization for Women, and Ray Hull, secretary to Senate Energy Committee. 2) Fred Dicker, from the New York Post, reports on the nation's first mandatory seat belt law legislation. 3) Interview with Senator Douglas Barclay about his decision not to seek another term.
1) Jim Hartmen, President of Citizen's Budget Commission of New York City, advocates not cutting state taxes due to an accumulated deficit. 2) Governor Cuomo nominated Sol Wachtler as Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals and Fritz Alexander, II as Associate Judge of Appeals, the first black ever nominated to a full term on the Court of Appeals. 3) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, discusses the importance of opinion polls as a means of providing elected officials a clear sense of public opinion. 4) Interview with Roderick Chu, New York State Tax Commissioner, examines what is fair for New York State tax payers and possible changes to to the tax system.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on Governor Mario Cuomo's State of the State Address and various reactions to it. Comptroller Edward Regan, summarizes the speech as a break from borrowing and a start to paying bills on time. 2) Bill Gralty reports on the shift in leadership positions and committee chairs. 3) Fred Dicker, of the New York Post, comments on the leak of the three main points of the the Governor's State of the State Address before it was given. 4) Interview with Jim Ryan, a lawyer-lobbyist in Albany, on how lobbyists and special interest groups will be affected by the proposed revision and changes in tax structure.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on the Senate Sentencing Commission's preliminary report outlining a determinate sentencing system. 2) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, examines Governor Cuomo's positive popularity and wide appeal. 3) Fred Dicker, of the New York Post, gives the opinion that when Governor Cuomo seeks reelection he will win easily with little competition and high popularity. 4) Interview with Senator Mary Goodhue, chair of the Senate Child Care Committee, on the need to protect children at daycare centers from abuse.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on Governor Cuomo's budget proposals. Continued sunset taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and fuel will fund personal income tax cuts and give an incentive for people to live in New York. Comments from John Markey, Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Governor Cuomo, and Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink are included. 2) Bill , comments on the proposal to allocated for more environmental enforcement personnel. 3) Fred Dicker, of the New York Post, describes the proposed budget as expensive and so complicated that the size of the budget can be estimated several ways. 4) Interview with Assemblyman Arthur Jerry Kremer, Chairman of Ways and Means Committee, on the budgets's surplus, tax cut, debt reduction program, gap balance budget and extending the sunset taxes.
1) Bill Gralty reports on the April 1st budget deadline. With only a few days left agreement has been reached on most topics, but the budget is not yet finished. 2) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, comments on a recent poll which found many people unaffected by the economic recovery. 3) Rick Lapkowski reports on the bottle bill and who should receive the unredeemed bottle deposits. Governor Cuomo has proposed using deposits for toxic waste clean up. 4) Bill Gralty gives a background report on Grand Juries. Assemblyman Arnold Proskin, comments the public considers an indited person guilty, but it is no worse than alternatives. Assemblyman Ralph Goldstein proposes using pre-trial hearings. Interview with Sol Greenberg, Albany County District Attorney discusses the secretive nature of grand juries and the check and balances that make the system works.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on the budget which was agreed on a week late. 2) Gerald Benjamin comments about when the New York State Constitution rights may extend beyond those guaranteed on the national level. Judges recently decided the right to freedom of expression is protected under some circumstances on private property in New York State. 3) Interview with Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell on the pros and cons of deregulating insurance and banking to allow banks to offer insurance and insurance companies to own banks.
1) Governor Cuomo proposed building a domed stadium. Documents the debate between building in Queens or in Brooklyn. 2) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, comments on Governor Cuomo endorsement of raising the drinking age from 19 to 21 in order to keep federal funding. Public opinion supports the change. 3) Fred Dicker, New York Post, describes a fall out between Attorney General Abrams and Governor Cuomo over Abrams appointing a Special Prosecutor for New York City without the Governor's approval. 4) Discussion with Frank Mauro, on the Ways and Means Committee, questions whether sunset taxes should be continued or are needed to afford the personal income tax reductions.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on the controversy surrounding Thomas Coughlin, the New York Corrections Commissioner. Senator Israel Ruiz accuses Coughlin of rigging a prison food contract. Coughlin's comments about black and hispanic crime rates upset the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus. Arthur Eve, Deputy speaker of the Assembly, demands Coughlin's resignation for racist comments, while Governor Cuomo stands firm in support of Coughlin. 2) Fred Dicker, of New York Post, comments on the key issues lawmakers will face when they return to Albany. Issues include: an increase in the drinking age, a switch from indeterminate to determinate sentencing system, clean up of hazardous and toxic waste sites, a dumping ground for nuclear waste and finger printing of child care workers. 3) Interview with Senator Charles Cook on the big issues facing the session, toxic torts and clean up, asbestos, the death penalty, and the increased drinking age.
1) Rick Lapkowski summarizes Sol Wachtler's, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, formal address to the legislature. Wachtler proposed judges should determine if there is enough to indite, individual assignment system, allowing TV cameras in courtrooms and for judges to be selected using a merit system. 2) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, comments on Governor Cuomo's criticizing President Reagan for visiting a S.S. cemetery in Germany and thereby honoring oppression. 3) An interview with State Health Commissioner, David Axelrod, discusses the quality of health care, the need to downsize the health care system in the state and the cost of malpractice.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on Governor Cuomo's call for a task force to investigate possible effects of divesting state money in South Africa. Comptroller Regan opposes divestiture, while Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell and the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Arthur Eve, support divestiture. 2) Gerald Benjamin, legislator from Ulster county, questions whether the budget flexibility gained through state layoffs is worth the of disruption of lives and services. 3) Fred Dicker, of the New York Post, comments on a recent vandalism case in which a man painted over a collection of publicly-owned modern art which were vulnerable to vandalism, due to non-existent security. 4) Interview with Norman Adler, a lobbyist and political consultant, compares Japanese and Chinese governments with New York State legislature.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on the Toxic Tort Bill. Ed Cleary, President of New York State AFLCIO, says the number one goal is to give toxic exposure victims exposure in the courts. Senator Ronald Stafford introduced a compromise bill that extends the statute of limitations. Assemblyman Mel Miller wants to include a one year window for prior discoveries. 2) Bill Gralty reports on the inability of New York companies to meet the deadline for low level radioactive waste disposal. 3) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, comments on voter preferences for 1988 presidential elections and Governor Cuomo's suspended presidential aspirations. 4) Interview with Gordon Ambach, Education Commissioner, discusses the Education budget, Regents standards, the Board of Regents decision to outlaw corporal punishment in schools and handicap education.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on aid packages for senior citizen's with mounting for prescription drugs costs. Senator Hugh Farley's Bill is considered catastrophic while, Assemblyman Paul Harenberg's bill is comprehensive. Jane Murgo, from the New York State Coalition of the Concern of Older Americans, adds her comments on the two bills. 2) Bill Gralty reports on the centennial anniversary of the New York Forest Preserve legislation. George Davis, Program Director of the Adirondack Council, and Governor Cuomo share thier concerns of over-use and the desire to enlarge the forest. 3) Gerald Benjamin, legislator from Ulster county, comments on the increase in the number of suicides in county jails and the testing of new guidelines to prevent them. 4) Interview with Assemblyman Alexander Pete Grannis about not implementing laws to deter smoking in public spaces.
1) Bill Gralty reports on the different opinions on how to slow the increase in malpractice premiums. Dr. James Striker, an Albany surgeon, agrees with the Senate's bill which would place a cap on pain and suffering. Justin Victor, President of New York Bar Association, argues a cap is unfair. 2) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, describes the positive responses to two polls about Governor Cuomo's performance and the public response to the raised drinking age. 3) Interview with the Deputy Majority Leader, William T. âCadillacâ? Smith, about lawyers in the legislature, lawyer registration fees and the client security fund.
1) Bill Gralty and Rick Lapkowski report on the main topics addressed at the end of the legislative session, including: the cap on pain and suffering, which was rejected by Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink, while Robert Elman, spokesman for doctors in Albany, states that caps are essential; Assemblyman Mark Allen Seagull's SUNY Flexibility Bill passed in the Assembly; corporate franchise tax and tax credits were reduced; environmental issues: toxic exposure victims; determinate sentencing; and the death penalty veto. 2) Interview with May Newburger on using telecommunication technology in court rooms to protect children who testify in court.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on the structure and possible overhaul of the court system. Senator John Dunn, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has drafted a bill to consolidate courts and create a 5th division of the appeals court. 2) Bill Gralty reports on George Clark's decision to not seek reelection as state GOP chairman and Clark's assessment of Governor Cuomo. 3) Lee Maringoff, of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, comments on how well Governor Cuomo performed in his third session. 4) Interview with Arthur Malkin, former legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, about toxic tortes and the need to put New York toxic tort victims on par with everyone else in the nation.
1) Bill Gralty reports on the National Federation of Independent Business's reaction to three bills passed in the legislature that affect small business dealing with bad checks, extending workers compensation to non-incorporated small businesses, and protection for small businesses. 2) Gerald Benjamin, legislator from Ulster county, comments on the Wild Bird Law which forbids the sale of birds caught in the wild. The Empire State Pet Industry Council wanted the ban lifted; however, it will go into effect as planned. 3) Interview with Bob Shear, Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, about the services they provide, treatment, effects of alcoholism and alcohol problems.
1) Rick Lapkowski reports on a study group designed, in response to pay raises for legislative members, by Assembly Minority Leader Clarence Rappleyea to find ways of streamlining the legislative process. Democrat Alan Hevesi comments that the rules work well and are open for the public and reporters. John Sheffer, chair of the group, cites his concerns. 2) Interview with Ross Graham about her experience of twenty-one years and changes in the legislature.
1) Host Alan Chartock reports on Governor Cuomo appointment of a new Secretary to the Governor, Gerald Crotty. Jose Rivera criticizes Governor Cuomo for not picking a minority. 2) Bill Gralty questions Fred Dicker, of New York Post, about Gerald Crotty's experience and his role. 3) Interview with Gerald Crotty, about his appointment and his qualifications.
1) Interview segments with various state agencies. Interviewees include: David Axelrod, the State Health Commissioner, Roderick Chu, the State Tax Commissioner, Vincent Tese, the Economic Development Coordinator, Jerome Goldsmith, head of the Special Commission on the future of State/Local Mental Health Systems, Gordon Ambach, the State Education Commissioner, James Larocca, the previous State Transportation Commissioner, and Hank Delay, the Director of State Operations.