Good afternoon — It’s Friday and Paperclip Day.
Did someone forward you this email? Sign up here or scroll down for a free 30-day trial.
In today’s CapCon:
Lawmakers are still finalizing language to change New York’s redistricting process, with legislation expected early next week.
But another area of redistricting is also on the table; lawmakers are considering a revival of legislation to reorganize judicial districts upstate.
A moratorium on data centers is still under discussion among Democrats but there’s disagreement over the extent of that potential pause.
Bills that have now passed both chambers: Pepper spray sales, domestic violence lethality assessments, plug-in solar and ammunition purchase restrictions.
This Week in New York History: The NAACP, and Madame C.J. Walker.
Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Lea Webb, Sarah Clark, Michael Gianaris, Chris Eachus, Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, Emily Gallagher, Liz Krueger, Jeff Dinowitz
(Will Waldron/Times Union)
🗺️ Redistricting amendments expected as early as Sunday with new judicial districts also in play
Democrats in the state Legislature are considering a revival of legislation vetoed this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul that would create new judicial districts upstate and change the counties of jurisdiction in others.
That’s separate from a pair of promised amendments to the state constitution under discussion by Democrats in the state Legislature that would overhaul the state’s process for redrawing districts in Congress, the state Senate and Assembly.
Those amendments, according to sources in the state Legislature, have not yet been finalized by Democrats but are expected to be introduced early next week, possibly by Sunday.
“We’re just trying to figure out what choices we want to present the next Legislature,” state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said Friday.
An amendment to the state constitution has to be approved twice — once during an initial two-year legislative session and again in the next two-year legislative session — and approved by voters. This would be the first passage of those amendments.
One of the amendments is expected to be the measure sponsored by Gianaris that would allow the state to reopen its redistricting process more than once each decade if another state does so first; the other amendment remains unfinished.
One thing it’s not expected to do, according to Gianaris, is change the composition of the Independent Redistricting Commission, the entity created by a constitutional amendment in 2014.
The 10-member commission is evenly divided between appointees chosen by Democrats and Republicans. It’s supposed to produce a set of maps for the state Legislature to approve after the U.S. census each decade.
But because of that partisan split, the commission couldn’t agree on a single set of maps after the 2020 census. Each side drew its own maps and sent them to the state Legislature, which rejected both.
Gianaris said the anticipated amendment could contemplate what should happen when the commission can’t come to an agreement but that changing its partisan divide isn’t expected to be part of that. The rest is up in the air.
But lawmakers are also considering a different kind of redistricting before they depart the state Capitol next week as well.
Start your 30-day trial to read the rest
Experience full access to Capitol Confidential New York—expert reporting, policy analysis, and clear insight into what’s moving and what comes next.
Start Free Trial