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In today’s CapCon:
The developer of the Trump-supported Constitution Pipeline is trying to get the public on its side through a new mailer pushing the project. See it.
30 bills were sent to Hochul’s desk for consideration Thursday, including one that has implications for New York City’s finances.
New York’s 157-year-old mandatory retirement age of 70 for judges does not conflict with age discrimination prohibitions, the Court of Appeals ruled.
The state court system has made significant changes to how, and when, attorneys can solicit clients in what an opponent said was a “blank check” for trial lawyers.
New York will become the first state to require judges to visit at least one prison or detention facility each year.
The state has proposed regulations to require cameras to be placed in most areas of state prisons after high-profile deaths prompted legislation.
Hochul will soon consider a bill that would require stronger penalties for people who buy sex from minors.
Names in today’s CapCon: Donald J. Trump, Lee Zeldin,Kathy Hochul, Gary LaBarbera, Michael Makarski, Tom Ryan, Marcus Williamee, Edward Nadeau, Donato Bianco, Jr., Greg Lancette, Vincent Albanese, John M. Leventhal, Rowan Wilson, Tom Stebbins, Robert L. Brooks, Messiah Nantwi, Zohran Mamdani, Amy Paulin, Zellnor Myrie
🚨 CapCon Note: You’ll get a break from us Friday due to the Juneteenth holiday. See you next week, and thanks for reading!
Trump and U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin (Evan Vucci/Associated Press)
🔥 Constitution Pipeline mailers sent to New Yorkers as project remains in federal limbo
Lee Zeldin, a former congressman from New York who now leads the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is getting help in his pursuit of a new pipeline upstate.
Zeldin and the administration of President Donald J. Trump, have long supported the approval of the Constitution Pipeline, a project that was first proposed more than a decade ago but was rejected by the state.
The pipeline would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to Schoharie County, where it would then be distributed elsewhere. Trump earlier this month said Gov. Kathy Hochul had promised him her approval of the project.
But now “we’re getting held up by the governor of New York,” Trump said. “She made a deal with us to allow us to build it and she’s holding it up.”
Hochul has said no such deal was made and that the state would consider the project if the company behind it, Williams, sought a new permit for its approval.
Williams initially sought that approval last year before rescinding its request for permits. It’s instead seeking to bypass state review, arguing that New York has waived its ability to block the project based on a federal court decision.
That disagreement is now in the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has a proceeding open to determine if Williams needs to seek the state’s review.
The proceeding led to a lawsuit from the state against the commission over its handling of that matter.
But Williams is now adding another plank to its strategy: It’s going straight to the public through a mailer sent to households in New York.
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