Collections : [New York State Modern Political Archive]

The main purpose of the reports issued by the Citizens Budget Commission is to recommend how New York City, and beginning in 1984 New York State, could save money and better their financial situation. The reports include long-term and short-term studies. The size and complexity of New York City's budget has resulted in a need for continuous revision over the years. The first folder is undated, but due to its significance of listing some of the reports is housed first in the series. The remainder of the series is in chronological order. These reports document financial issues of concern from the 1930s to the 1990s.

This series contains photographs of special events held and sponsored by The Center for Law and Justice. There are some notable people from the Capital District that are featured as speakers or being honored.

The moving images in this series are visual documentation of the projects and issues of interest to the Rensselaer County Greens. The series includes commercial and non-commercial films documenting public hearings dealing with Besicorp and community meetings dealing with Troys waterfront. The VHS about BASF titled Locked Out! is based on the companys so-called attack on workers and the environment at their company located in Louisiana.

The Subject Files of the Bill and Andy Spence Papers contain records of folk events, organizations, and conferences that the couple were involved with; calendars; newspaper clippings; photographs; literature; and more related to folk music and the arts. Publications from Andy's Front Hall Records, Andy Spence's folk music storefront, are included in the series. Individual files on figures involved in the folk music scene such as Don McLean, Pete Seeger, and Capital District folk music cafe-owner Lena Spencer were compiled and retained by Andy. Records of the musicals created and directed by Andy and starring Bill have their own files in this series. Files on both the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance and Folk Alliance Conference comprise a significant portion of this series. Records and photographs related to Bill and Andy's personal interests such as the launching of the Hudson River Sloop "Clearwater" are also included. A variety of LPs and CDs are also available in the series.

The series contains documents produced by the Environmental Forum class and public forum. These are primarily class handouts, class notes, and publications related to the class and the speakers who attended. In addition, there are materials related to the production of the first three issues of the "Environmental Issues" newsletter, produced for the Environment Studies program at the State University of New York at Albany.

Contains correspondence to members, state politicians, the Governor's Office, and ACUSNY's lawyers; Association newsletters and legislation updates; copies of legislative documents; reports from the Board of Regents and the State Department of Education; statements by ACUSNY before the Joint Legislative Committee on Education. The series provides complete and detailed information about ACUSNY's concerns and activities. Records throughout the series document the Association's involvement with legislation concerning financial aid to students and institutions, taxation exemption, and state labor legislation. Other issues that are particularly well documented include state aid to private institutions, 1955-1956; the establishment of SUNY at Stony Brook, mid-1950s; establishment of a state corporation to provide financial aid to students, 1957; Amendment # 6, concerning the state's guarantee of bonds 1961; expansion of SUNY, 1964; CUNY financial crisis, 1966; campus unrest, 1969-1970; improvement of the State's Tuition Assistance Program, 1982; the Right-To-Know Law, 1986; crime on campus, 1989; the effect of the budget crists on the Einstein/Schweitzer Chairs, 1992.

Series 8 is made of the administrative files of the Center. This includes annual reports, legal documents, certificate of incorporation, tax forms, financial statements and board meeting minutes. The documents are incomplete and there are several gaps in time for some of the files.

Included is correspondence between the Coalition and prisoners. Prisoner correspondence concerns membership information, coalition updates, access to legal bills, references to other organizations, and asking of employment agencies able to help them after their time is served. The series also contains official prison descriptions of the facilities and its activities. Access to this series is restricted.

This series contains information related to state reinvestment plans, Medicaid concerns, managed care, and housing. While materials on all of these topics also can be found in Series 5, 6, and 7, the documents in this series were all kept specifically by the director of legislative and government affairs and therefore remain together in their own series.

Vera Michelson collected and maintained subject files relating to various groups and people relating to her criminal justice reform efforts and community activism. This series includes records Michelson collected about different figures in the Albany area, including friends she made through her activism. The series also has records used by Michelson for research into some of her social activism organizations. This series is comprised of mostly newspaper articles and organizational ephemera like pamphlets and business cards.