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In today’s CapCon:
There’s two weeks left in this year’s legislative session. Here are five things to watch as things wind down at the state Capitol.
Hochul and lawmakers have finalized a deal on changes to the Tier 6 public pension program. Here’s what we know.
Thursday night’s debate between Democrats running for state comptroller got spicy, including one candidate opening his shirt. Here’s what happened.
This Week in New York History: The Brooklyn Bridge and the first flight across the Atlantic.
Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Carl E. Heastie, Edward P. Ra, Tom O’Mara, Robert G. Ortt, Peter Harckham, Letitia James, Thomas P. DiNapoli, Drew Warshaw
🚨 CapCon Note: We won’t be sending a newsletter this coming Monday due to the Memorial Day holiday, but we’ll be back Tuesday.
Today’s Capitol Confidential is sponsored by the Coalition for Ticket Fairness
The “Ticketmaster Protection Act” is the wrong answer.
While the courts are trying to break up Ticketmaster’s illegal monopoly, Albany would undo that work with a bill that saves their monopoly.
News on the state budget, including proposals, negotiations and results.
(New York Governor’s Office)
💰 Here are the details on the Tier 6 deal
Hochul and lawmakers have struck a deal on changes to the Tier 6 public pension program, according to a source in the governor’s office.
The full cost of the changes are estimated to be $557 million — about $118 million for the state and $440 million for all other public employers, meaning municipalities.
That’s a lot less than the $1.5 billion proposal first put forth by labor groups.
The changes in the deal vary depending on the type of public employee in the program.
Teachers will now be able to retire at age 58 after 30 years of service instead of having to wait until they turn 63.
State and local public employees will see their contributions capped to a range of 3% to 5.75% depending on their salary.
Police and fire department employees will see the cap on the amount of overtime that can be included in the calculation of their retirement benefits rise from 15% to 25% of their wages.
All other public employees, mostly sheriffs and correction officers, will see the cap on overtime that can be included in the calculation of their retirement benefits rise to $30,000 from $22,000.
Those changes are expected to be included in one of the budget bills set to be taken up by lawmakers next week.
The state Assembly (Will Waldron/Times Union)
🕛 Five things to watch in the last two weeks of the legislative session
State lawmakers have left Albany with two state budget bills passed. They plan to resume voting on Tuesday.
We don’t know yet which bills will be introduced and brought up for a vote next. But they expect to finish the remainder of the state budget next week.
That will leave them with little time to consider legislative matters after those votes are done. This year’s legislative session is scheduled to end on June 4, and Democrats don’t intend to extend their stay in Albany.
That doesn’t mean this year’s legislative session will fizzle out. There’s plenty on the table between now and then. Here are five things to watch over the next two weeks.
(Jim Franco/Times Union)
1. Two redistricting constitutional amendments are expected
Democrats plan to give first passage to a pair of constitutional amendments to tweak the state’s redistricting process.
The current process is the result of an amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 2014 that created the Independent Redistricting Commission. That 10-member commission is divided evenly between members appointed by Democrats and Republicans.
It’s responsible for redrawing the state’s districts for Congress and the state Legislature based on the results of the census. Absent a court order, that’s only allowed to happen once each decade.
Democrats want to make two changes to that process and intend to split them into two amendments to the state constitution that they plan to send to voters for consideration in November 2027.
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