The State Senate this week held a hasty confirmation vote for the Governor’s Court of Appeals Nominee, Judge Hector LaSalle. Despite maintaining that their original process of rejecting the nomination in committee was proper under the Constitution and Judiciary Law, the Senate reconsidered the nomination in committee, advancing him without recommendation to the floor of the Senate, and voted largely along party lines against confirmation. Judge LaSalle supporters Senator Kevin Thomas (D) and Senator Luis Sepulveda (D) were both absent and excused from voting.

Senate Democrats argued that even though they believe they acted properly and in accordance with the Rules of the Senate, that the nomination fight would be a distraction to the important work of the house. Republicans contend that they shifted gears to avoid a loss in court, scheduled for Friday, and pledged to continue their lawsuit.

Judge LaSalle was present in the gallery for the vote taken on the floor. He becomes the first Judge to ever be rejected as a nominee to the Court of Appeals since the law on the process for nominations changed 40 years ago. The Commission on Judicial Nomination will now be tasked with creating a new list of 10 judges from which the Governor will choose a nominee.

Senator Gianaris said:

“The failure of some in our state to respect the proper role and independence of this legislature has led to a crisis affecting all branches of government. It now falls to our Senate Majority to again be the adult in the room and move our state past this deadlock that would have otherwise dragged on for even more months while our top court is without a properly appointed Chief Judge and while we are in the midst of negotiating a state budget that must continue our economic recovery. It is the Senate’s Constitutional right to determine how it operates and to reject nominees that do not have the support of a Senate whose confirmation role is critical to the balance of powers. My colleagues and I voted against this nomination because we need a Chief Judge possessed of a diverse professional background and who represents a departure from the tenure of former Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, and this nominee was not that person. It is now time to find a new nominee who can get the required support to be confirmed.”

Governor Hochul said:

“As I have said from the very beginning, the Constitution requires a full Senate vote on a Governor’s nomination for Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. While long overdue, the Senate has finally acquiesced to a vote on the floor on the nomination of Justice Hector LaSalle.

“This vote is an important victory for the Constitution. But it was not a vote on the merits of Justice LaSalle, who is an overwhelmingly qualified and talented jurist.

“Now that the full Senate has taken a vote, I will work toward making a new nomination. I remain committed to selecting a qualified candidate to lead the court and deliver justice. That is what New Yorkers deserve.”

Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Funding Announced

The Governor announced more than $658 million in state funding to support 127 projects the second phase of the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program III and the first phase of Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program IV. Administered by the State Department of Health and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the Statewide Health Care Facility Transformation Program supports facilities serving the inpatient, primary care, mental health, substance use disorder and long-term care needs of communities throughout the state.

The State will award an additional $1.15 billion through additional phases of Statewide IV. Additionally, The Governor’s FY 2024 Executive Budget includes $1 billion in additional funding to establish Statewide V program.

A complete list of the projects being funded can be found here.

Governor Hochul said:

Governor Travels State Announcing Downtown Revitalization and NY Forward Awards

The Governor has been travelling the state to announce regional winners of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward program. The NY Forward program aims to invigorate downtowns in smaller and rural communities in the way that the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) targets larger more urban communities. The State has allocated $100 million for the first round of NY Forward. Each of the State’s ten Regional Economic Development Councils (REDCs) will have the option of recommending two communities for $4.5 million NY Forward awards or three communities one of which will receive $4.5 million and two will be awarded $2.25 million.

New York Forward awards announced include:

New York City Region

Far Rockaway – $4.5 million

Garment District – $4.5 million

Central New York Region

Village of Phoenix – $4.5 million

Village of Moravia – $2.5

Village of Hamilton – $2.5 million

Finger Lakes Region

Village of Geneseo – $4.5 million

Village of Medina – $4.5 million

Downtown Revitalization Initiative, which awards $10 million to each of the 10 economic development Regions in the state, announced the following awards:

Finger Lakes Region

Village of Perry – $10 million

Central New York Region

Village of Homer – $10 million

NYSUT President Announces Retirement

New York State United Teachers President Andy Pallotta announced that he would be retiring in April. Pallotta has led NYSUT since 2017 and has been a longtime and influential teachers’ union advocate in New York. Pallotta endorsed the organization’s executive director, Melinda Person, to become the next president.