How Albany Could Help Cats and Dogs — and Their People — But Probably Won't
Never in a hurry to pass companion-animal friendly legislation, state lawmakers are again sitting on a host of bills.
The original version of this story first appeared on The Scoop New York. An independent 501c3 non-profit news site covering the movement for a true no-kill New York, from Buffalo to Brooklyn, TSNY was founded (in Jamestown) by JAMESTOWNY editor and publisher Brad Aaron.
For JAMESTOWNY subscribers: It turns out The Incident that led me to put the official site launch on hold will unfortunately require surgery, scheduled for April. I will be back up to speed as soon as possible. As announced previously, until that happens, the clock on paid subscriptions remains at idle. Though mine is running thin at this point, I appreciate your patience. — BA
For the second year running, it appears state legislators and Governor Kathy Hochul will not reach a budget agreement ahead of the March 31 deadline — today, that is — mostly because (for the second year running) Hochul is looking to shoehorn unrelated measures into the state budget.
Wish list items are added to the annual spending plan so the governor can please her corporate paymasters (fossil fuel companies; Uber) with relatively minimal blowback from good-government groups and the pesky public. That’s the idea, at least. It also allows legislators to vote for contentious extraneous measures they might otherwise prefer not to be associated with.
As Politico put it, “[I]ssues that aren’t easy to agree on are often the ones members avoid casting stand-alone votes on.”
As far as state politics are concerned, budget machinations will suck up most of the oxygen until the governor and legislators reach a deal. Once they clear that obstacle, state electeds could get to work honing and adopting some of the many bills meant to improve the lives of companion animals and the New Yorkers who care about them.
Unfortunately, if history offers an indication, they probably won’t.
