The Climate Change Superfund Act is in the spotlight now that a similar law passed in Vermont’s legislature, putting pressure on the Assembly to get New York’s version across the finish line before session ends in early June.
With the state’s annual spending plan due in less than three weeks, the Senate and Assembly are calling for a housing plan that both incentivizes development and protects tenants from eviction.
Raised in Brooklyn’s Gowanus Houses, Zinerman says she wants to see more secure and better-funded developments in the New York City Housing Authority, and to support local tenants and property owners.
The state Senate and Assembly passed a duo of bills in June aimed at helping rent stabilized tenants dig deeper into their rent histories to challenge suspicious increases. The governor has yet to act on them.
The state legislature—which officially ended its session last week, though the Assembly is expected to return briefly before the end of the month—has so far failed to pass major legislation that advocates say would have a direct impact on the state’s growing immigrant communities.
“We’re at a point where the state needs to begin adopting policies at breakneck speed to meet our climate law mandates,” said Liz Moran, New York policy advocate for Earthjustice. “So far we are headed in the right direction, but there’s still much more to do and we’re looking forward to seeing some of that leadership from the governor.”
Gov. Hochul’s plan to ramp up construction across the state has emerged as a sticking point in delayed budget talks—making now the time, some lawmakers say, to push for the deal to include renter protections like “good cause” eviction. “You try to resolve some thorny issues within a final budget if you can,” said Manhattan Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal.
But Carl Heastie says the next move in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic is the federal government’s to make.
The sponsor of an Assembly measure that would sharply constrain the use of financial bail says she is optimistic her proposal will become law now that Democrats control the State Senate.
‘New legislation shifts schools from punitive, zero-tolerance approaches to discipline, towards restorative approaches that keep students in class and build stronger relationships between students, educators and families.’
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