Plugged In @ Hinman Straub

June 14, 2024

What’s Inside

• Legislative Session Concludes
• New York Primary Election Preview
• Complete List of Administration Appointees Confirmed by the Senate
• Attorney General James Distributes Funds from Settlement with JUUL
• Judge Orders Ethics Commission to Halt Case Against Former Senate IDC Leader
• OCM Leadership Appointments
• In the News
• Coming Up

Legislative Session Concludes

The New York State Legislature concluded their regularly scheduled 2024 session Saturday, June 8th. The Senate finished its work in the evening hours on Friday and the Assembly adjourned eleven hours later at around 7:17 am on Saturday morning. The legislative session ended more than a month after lawmakers completed work on a new state budget.

While fewer bills passed both houses in 2024 than in recent years, largely due to the delay in enacting a new budget (805 in 2024, vs, 839 in 2023), several hundred bills were considered in just the last ten days.

The Legislature may or may not return in the coming weeks or months to address the MTA budget shortfalls caused by the Governor’s indefinite pause of the congestion pricing toll. In the final days of legislative session, the Governor put forward a NYC payroll tax and legislation that amounted to an IOU for the bond market, without success.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said the Senate would return, but that they want to deal with all three of the issues caused by pausing the toll; solving the traffic congestion problem, cleaner air and less emissions, and funding to pay for debt service for the MTA’s capital program. “I and my members are always willing to come, but not just to deal with one issue out of three,” she said. “How are we going to mitigate the congestion? How are we going to mitigate the environmental impact and make sure we have a sustainable source of revenue for the MTA?”

New York Primary Election Preview

New York’s Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, June 25, with early voting beginning Saturday, June 15. All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for reelection in November, including the 26 across New York state – several of which will feature competitive primaries. All 150 State Assembly and 63 State Senate seats are up for reelection this year as well, with a number of primaries that will be settled on June 25.

For a closer look at each race, click here.

Complete List of Administration Appointees Confirmed by the Senate

The following Commissioners were confirmed by the Senate:

• Daniel Martuscello, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner
• Robert Rodriguez, Dormitory Authority of the State of New York Executive Director
• DaMia Harris-Madden, EdD, Office of Children and Family Service Commissioner
• Barbara Guinn, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner
• Walter Mosley, Secretary of State
• Steven James, New York Superintendent of State Police
• Frank Hoare, Thruway Authority, Executive Director

The following appointments were confirmed by the Senate:

Administrative Review Board for Professional Medical Conduct

• Heidi B. Miller
• Richard Milone, M.D.
• Jill Rabin MD
• Michael Reichgott

Allegany State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission

• Margaret Gray

Battery Park City Authority

• Clinton Plummer
• Angela Sung Pinsky

Behavioral Health Services Advisory Council

• April Aycock
• Traci Donnelly
• Debbian Fletcher-Blake
• Alicia McFarlane

Board for Professional Medical Conduct

• Carmela Torrelli

Board of Visitors (“BOV”) Creedmoor Psychiatric Center

• Ellen Gordon

BOV Elmira Psychiatric Center

• Salvatore Garozzo
• Susan Gray
• Jill Kasprzyk

BOV Finger Lakes DDSO

• Kathleen Button
• Jeffrey Thomas
• Wendy Cheplick

BOV Helen Hayes Hospital

• Robert D’Amelio
• Ivonne S. Santos

BOV Home for Veterans and Their Dependents at Montrose

• Susan A. Branam
• Daniel Griffin
• Katherine Ward-Buckley, DPM
• Albert P. Zawiski

BOV Home for Veterans and their Dependents at Oxford

• Larry Bourque
• Cecelia Lange

BOV Home for Veterans at Batavia

• Daniel Burling
• Richard Oleksyn
• Laura Stradley

BOV Home for Veterans at St. Albans

• Michael O’Kane
• Gregg Porter
• Ashton J. Stewart

BOV Kingsboro Psychiatric Center

• Maryellen Goble
• Katrina Jeffries

BOV Manhattan Psychiatric Center

• Deborah Wance

BOV New York City Children’s Center

• Jonnel Doris

BOV Rockland Psychiatric Center

• Anne Marie McGrory

BOV South Beach Psychiatric Center

• Joseph Conte, PhD

Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA)

• Jacqueline (Jackie) McDonough

Citizen’s Policy and Complaint Review Council

• Tammi Chaboty
• Troy Adrian Lavern’e Hurley
• Roy Diehl
• Signe Nelson
• Kenneth Rosenblum

Continuing Care Retirement Community Council

• Michelle Gramoglia
• J. Brian Nealon
• Janet Schloat

Convention Center Operating Corporation (CCOC) (Javits Center)

• Lee Perlman

Cornell Board of Trustees

• Eric Gonzalez

Correction Medical Review Board

• Judith Cox

Council on Human Blood and Transfusion Services

• Joanne L. Becker, MD
• Rachel Elder, MD
• Philip L. McCarthy, M.D

Dormitory Authority (DASNY)

• Kent Syverud

Financial Control Board, New York State

• Dean Fuleihan
• Marjorie Henning

Finger Lakes State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission

• James C Smith

Gaming Commission

• Marty Mack

Health Equity Council

• Sara A. Boerenko
• Alberto Jose Cardelle, PhD
• Mill Etienne, MD
• Mario Ortiz, PhD
• John R. Pamplin, PhD
• Raul Vazquez, MD

Higher Education Services Council (HESC)

• Jennessa Perez
• Isaac Torres

Job Development Authority (JDA)

• Calvin Corriders
• Paul Quintero
• Javier Zapata-Rodriguez

Justice Center Advisory Council

• Michael Agovino
• Ijaz Ahmad, MD
• Geno DeCondo
• Kathleen Gaffney-Babb
• Winifred Schiff

Lake George Park Commission

• Thomas Jarrett
• Michelle Jebb
• C. Walter Lender
• Jeffrey Zappieri

Long Island State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission

• Keith Corbett

Major General, NYS Air National Guard

• Brig. Gen. Michael Bank
• Brig. Gen. Michele Kilgore
• Brig. Gen. Jack James, Jr
• Brig. Gen. Isabel Smith

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)

• Samuel Chu
• Michael Fleischer
• Daniel Garodnick
• Marc Herbst
• Meera Joshi

New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)

• Amy Hau
• Brian Higgins
• Janet Langsam
• Maria Lora
• Peter Pockriss
• Monica Ramirez-Montagut
• Patrick Willingham

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)

• Dale Bryk
• Lindsay Greene
• Jennifer Hensley
• Joanne Hewett

Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA)

• Treneeka Fields

NYS Housing Finance Agency (HFA)

• Steven Weiss

Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority (OBPA)

• Megan Jean McCarthy Whitton
• Diane Para
• Jennifer Quirk-Pickman
• Nicole Terminelli

Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA)

• Jennifer Holderied

Palisades Interstate Park Commission

• Jeannette Redden

Parole Board

• Laura El-Bahtity

Port Authority of NY and NJ

• Elizabeth Fine

Public Employment Relations Board (PERB)

• Timothy Connick

Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC)

• Lawrence Eisenstein, MD
• Lindsay C. Farrell
• Marcus Friedrich, MD, MHCM, MBA, FACP
• Gary Kalkut MD
• Jeffrey A. Kraut
• Scott LaRue
• Harvey Lawrence
• Michelle Mazzacco
• Ann F. Monroe
• Mario Ortiz, PhD
• Stanfort J. Perry
• Wendy Wilcox

Public Service Commission (PSC)

• Uchenna Bright
• Denise Sheehan
• Radina Valova

Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA)

• John Trott

Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC)

• Conway Ekpo

Saratoga-Capital District State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission

• Barbara Linell Glaser, EdD

State Board for Historic Preservation

• Molly Garfinkel

State Camp Safety Advisory Council

• Michael Clarke

State Commission of Correction (SCOC)

• Elizabeth Gaynes

State Insurance Fund (SIF)

• Eric Dinallo
• David Ourlicht

State Liquor Authority (SLA)

• Lily Fan
• John Maya

Taconic State Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commission

• Randall Fleischer
• Frederick Osborn

Tax Appeals Tribunal

• Jon Kaiman

Thruway Authority

• Joan McDonald
• Paul Tokasz

Urban Development Corporation (UDC)

• Francine DelMonte
• Laureen Harris

Attorney General James Distributes Funds from Settlement with JUUL

New York Attorney General Letitia James distributed a portion of funds from a $462 million multistate settlement with JUUL Labs Inc. New York will receive a total of $112.7 million through this settlement, which will be distributed to every county, Board of Cooperative Educational Services (“BOCES”), and the five largest cities in the state to support programs to help reduce and prevent underage vaping.

So far, $27.1 million has been distributed to New York City which will be split between the New York City school District and the City. Long Island also received $16.4 million in funds, which were divided in the following manner:

• Eastern Suffolk BOCES will receive $2,485,668.67
• Western Suffolk BOCES will receive $1,243,194.94
• Suffolk County will receive $5,156,358.84
• Nassau BOCES will receive $3,220,883.36
• Nassau County will receive $4,318,689.49

The settlement funds must be used for evidence-based measures to combat underage vaping and e-cigarette addiction. Counties and BOCES must dedicate the settlement funds they receive to programs in five categories:

• Public education campaigns to prevent e-cigarette use among young people
• Community, school, and university-based anti-vaping programs
• Vaping cessation services in communities, schools, and colleges
• Enforcement of vaping laws and regulations
• Public health research into e-cigarette use among young people and the effectiveness of anti-vaping programs

Judge Orders Ethics Commission to Halt Case Against Former Senate IDC Leader

Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle has issued a temporary restraining order to the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government ordering the commission to halt its prosecution of former state Sen. Jeffrey D. Klein. Klein recently filed a petition arguing the panel was formed in violation of the state constitution and lacks the authority to investigate allegations that he forcibly kissed a female staff member nine years ago.

Marcelle is the same judge that ruled in favor of former Governor Andrew Cuomo when he made a similar argument that the new ethics commission was unconstitutional and had no authority to investigate a $5 million deal that he received for writing a book about his administration’s handling of the pandemic.

Marcelle’s decision in Cuomo’s case was recently unanimously upheld by a state appellate court. The case is scheduled to be reviewed by the state Court of Appeals.

OCM Leadership Appointments

The Governor announced three new leadership appointments at the Office of Cannabis Management, part of an operational overhaul of the agency launched last month. The Governor also announced a nationwide search for a permanent Executive Director of OCM to lead the agency as it works to grow and support the nation’s most diverse and equitable legal cannabis marketplace. The Governor’s Appointments Office will work with an experienced recruitment firm to identify qualified candidates from across the state and the country.

Appointments include:

Felicia A. B. Reid, Executive Deputy Director and Acting Executive Director
Susan Filburn, Chief Administrative Officer
Jessica Woolford, Director of External Affairs

Governor Hochul said:

In The News

City & State NY’s weekly Winners and Losers of this week here.

Assembly Asks Court to Prohibit Public Hearing in Member Sexual Harassment Complaint.

Stewart-Cousins: Any congestion pricing bailout must still address traffic and air quality.

Two Democrats vie to unseat assemblyman in 107th district.

NY16 Poll: George Latimer Leads Jamaal Bowman, 48% to 31%.

Hillary Clinton endorses George Latimer in challenge to unseat Jamaal Bowman.

Charges of racism mark final stretch of nasty NY House primary.

Shrestha challenged by former statehouse staffer in Assembly primary.

For both Tenney and Fratto, it’s a question of character in 24th Congressional GOP primary.

Heastie was responding to pressure from environmentalist to enact some climate change legislation.

Hochul’s congestion pricing pause was the right move.

Is third time the charm for New York wrongful death statute expansion?

NYS plan would drop requirement to pass Regents exam to graduate.

Major retailer speaks out against NY bill requiring panic buttons in retail stores.

Lawsuit seeks to keep Robert Kennedy Jr. off ballot in New York.

Democratic 102nd Assembly district primary pits retired educator turned activist against physical therapist.

Bowman Makes Amends With Democratic Socialists After Rift Over Israel.

Nancy Goroff wants another shot in the 1st District. John Avlon says he’s more viable.

House Republicans don’t need to be so scared of New York City.

Mondaire Jones is sorry, not sorry about endorsing against Jamaal Bowman.

The evolution of Ritchie Torres: “I didn’t leave the progressive movement; progressive movement left me.”

Hakeem Jeffries Taps Hollywood Top Donors.

NYC broker fee bill set for Council committee hearing on Wednesday.

Coming Up

The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on June 10 and 11.

The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on June 20.

The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government will hold their next meeting on June 26.