Will Albany do more on antisemitism before session ends? What cannabis manufacturers want

Plus: New York City Mayor Zellnor Myrie? And On The Bill looks at regulations for the fashion industry and more.

Good afternoon — it’s Wednesday and National Receptionists Day.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• Will the Legislature do more on antisemitism and college protests this year?

• New York City Mayor Zellnor Myrie?

• Hochul bill expected to renew cannabis showcase events and what manufacturers want from the Legislature

• AG targets ‘snake oil salespeople’

• On The Bill looks at New York’s fashion industry

🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? No.

🌷 Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Chance of thunderstorms, cloudy, low 50s. New York City: Partly cloudy, low 60s. (National Weather Service)

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Assemblyman Ari Brown and Republicans Wednesday. (Dan Clark/Times Union)

🏛️ Republicans pressure Democrats on college protests, antisemitism legislation

🗒️ Will the Legislature address protests at Columbia University and other colleges before session ends?

Republicans in the state Legislature have turned up the heat on Democrats in recent weeks over their response to antisemitic behavior at college protests across the state.

• Those protests gained more attention in late April when a group at Columbia University set up an encampment and eventually vandalized and occupied a building on campus.

• Those protesters were removed by officers with the NYPD on May 1.

But in the days since, Republicans have called on Democrats in the Legislature to respond to those protests, either through legislation or a public hearing.

• So far, Democrats haven’t signaled that they plan to move forward with either option, but that could change.

“We’re canceling graduations. We’re sending Jewish students home. It’s unacceptable,” said Assemblyman Ed RA, a Republican from Long Island.

He was one of a handful of Republicans who rallied Wednesday around a bill introduced by Assemblyman Ari BROWN, R-Nassau County. 

• The bill would deny tuition assistance from the state to any student who’s found to have engaged in antisemitic actions intended to incite a crime.

“We cannot allow this to happen here at the Capitol. Every cockamamie bill is always passed. This is a bill that has to go forward now,” Brown said Wednesday.

His bill joins a list of several others tied to the Israel-Hamas war that have been introduced this year, all from Republicans.