x
Breaking News
More () »

What did, didn't get done in Albany this year

New York's 2018 legislative session has drawn to a close without the usual flurry of last-minute deal-making.

ALBANY — New York's 213 state lawmakers are done for the year at the state Capitol, returning to their districts Thursday to gear up for the key November elections.

The state's annual legislative session came to a close late Wednesday and early Thursday, though it was devoid of the usual end-of-session deal-making that usually results in big policy changes across the state.

This year's session-ending flurry was more notable for what didn't get done than what did, with a deadlocked state Senate contributing to a lack of June deals between the two houses and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Here's a look at what did and didn't get done in Albany before lawmakers went home:

What got done

Prosecutor watchdog: A long-stalled bill to create a panel to investigate prosecutors accused of wrongdoing finally broke free.

The Senate and Assembly approved a bill in the last week of session creating an independent panel to handle probes of prosecutorial misconduct by district attorneys and other prosecutors.

It would have broad authority to investigate prosecutors. The governor would continue to have the constitutional authority to remove a prosecutor and district attorney if they are found to have committed misconduct.

The panel would have 11 members and be appointed by the Legislature and governor.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. John DeFrancisco, R-DeWitt, Onondaga County, and Assemblyman Nick Perry, D-Brooklyn.

Ticket scalping rules: The Senate and Assembly were able to reach consensus on a bill to extend and toughen rules for online ticket resellers like StubHub and SeatGeek.

Among the new requirements: Online resellers will have to clearly post that they're second-hand ticket markets, not selling tickets directly from the venue.

The bill also cracks down on the concept of speculative selling — promising to deliver tickets to a buyer before the seller has them in his or her hands. It happens sometimes around big events like the Super Bowl or major concerts.

If Cuomo signs the bill, ticket sellers would be required to make it clear that they don't have possession of the tickets yet. If they can't deliver at the agreed-upon price, a full refund would have to be offered.
It was sponsored by Sen. Terrence Murphy, R-Yorktown, Westchester County, and Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell, D-Manhattan.

Cashless toll protections: New York is expanding "cashless" tolling on the state Thruway and at bridges.
It's already at the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in the Lower Hudson Valley, where the cashless tolling rollout caused major headaches for motorists who were hit with big fines for unpaid tolls.

The bill approved by the Legislature would establish a Toll Payer's Bill of Rights which would, among other things, block the state from suspending someone's vehicle registration for unpaid cashless tolls.
(Cashless tolling is unlike traditional toll booths; A motorist is either charged via E-ZPass or a bill mailed to their home.)

The bill was sponsored by Sen. David Carlucci, D-Clarkstown, Rockland County, and Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, D-Mount Pleasant, Westchester County.

What didn't get done

Teacher evaluations: How hard was the powerful New York State United Teachers union pushing for a bill to decouple annual teacher evaluations from state-mandated test scores?
The union parked two ice-cream trucks outside the Capitol on Wednesday, giving out free treats while encouraging the public to pressure the Senate.

The week before, the union brought bagpipes and bluegrass bands to play inside and outside the state-government complex, trying to bring attention to their cause.

It didn't work.

Ultimately, the Senate and Assembly couldn't reach consensus on the issue, with the Republican-led Senate insisting on an increase in charter schools and new education regulations for yeshivas and other religious-based schools that the Democrat-led Assembly wasn't about to go along with.

A 2015 moratorium on using student scores on the state's standardized tests to evaluate teachers is set to expire in 2020.

Single game sports betting begins at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Dover. (Photo: Jason Minto, The News Journal)

Sports betting: New York has a narrow 2013 law on the books that will allow sports betting in person at four casinos, including del Lago in Seneca County, as soon as the state's gaming regulators approve rules.

But there was a push by Major League Baseball, the PGA Tour and gambling outlets to broadly expand that law to allow online betting and kiosks at race tracks and Off-Track Betting facilities.
The major sports leagues, meanwhile, were pushing for a royalty fee paid by casinos on each bet placed on their events.

It didn't happen, though. Assembly Democrats were split on the measure and never brought it to the floor; It never got a vote in a Senate split evenly among Democrats and Republicans, either.
Economic-development reforms: Some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top economic-development projects are at the center of the bid-rigging trial of former SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros, which kicked off in Manhattan this week.

Government-reform advocates were hopeful the trial-related pressure would force the Assembly to take up a pair of bills meant to provide more oversight of the billions of dollars the state spends to try and boost its economy, including one that would create a "Database of Deals" that would plainly display for the public how much the state is sending to private companies for job-creation deals.

They had no such luck: The Senate passed the bills, but the Assembly never put them to a vote.
Gun control: Cuomo, a Democrat, made a late-session push for a bill that would allow family members, school officials and teachers to initiate a court proceeding to try and remove guns from someone's home if they are found to be a danger to themselves or others.

Senate Republicans pushed back, leaning on Cuomo and Assembly Democrats to support extra funding for police officers in school districts that want them.

They couldn't reach a compromise before lawmakers left town.

Before You Leave, Check This Out