Will N.Y. force companies to cut down on plastic and packaging?
Plus: Hochul heads to Europe, and a CapCon Q&A with state Sen. Jeremy Cooney.
Good afternoon — it’s Tuesday, and Buttermilk Biscuit Day.
TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2024
TODAY’S CAPCON:
Will New York force companies to cut down on packaging? There’s momentum.
What’s up with the bill that would prevent another Harvey Weinstein decision?
CapCon Q&A with new Senate Transportation Chair Jeremy Cooney.
Hochul heads to Europe.
It’s the anniversary of the awful 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo.
🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? Yes.
🌷 Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Chance of thunderstorms, rain likely, low 60s. New York City: Rain likely, low 60s. (National Weather Service)
📦 Will N.Y. require companies to cut down on packaging and help with recycling?
🥤 A bill that would enact what’s commonly called “extended producer responsibility” is closer to passing than ever before.
When Democrats in the state Assembly moved the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act through two committees on the same day last week, advocates took that as a sign of progress.
But it’s made less progress in the Senate, where it last moved at the end of February when it was pushed through a committee.
The Assembly, I’m told, is ready to pass the bill as-is, but the Senate is trying to negotiate amendments to the bill to avoid a veto from Hochul, which has been on the table in some conversations.
Hochul has regularly aligned herself with business groups in an effort to push back on claims from Republicans that Democrats are inherently anti-business.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea STEWART-COUSINS said Wednesday that the bill is being discussed in the upper chamber, but that the votes aren’t there to bring it to the floor.
“This particular bill has been working to get to the point where we feel it can be passed,” she said. “It’s balancing what the realities of manufacturers or industries or whatever (are) as it relates to protecting the environment.”
Oh, also: Former Senate Environmental Conservation Chair Todd Kaminsky is involved, but more on that in a moment.
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