PRICE GOUGING EYED BY AG: Attorney General Tish James today launched a rulemaking process to look into whether major corporations are using the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation as an excuse to unfairly raise the price of basic goods. James said this will be the first time the Attorney General’s Office will examine whether “recent price hikes by big corporations were driven by profit not increased costs.” James said the goal is to come up new price gouging rules “that will crack down on pandemic profiteering and corporate greed.” “Throughout the pandemic, hardworking New Yorkers have been struggling to make ends meet, but big corporations have been celebrating record breaking profits,” she said in a statement. “It doesn’t add up.” – Joseph Spector CRITICS SAY NOT SO FAST TO LONG MAYORAL CONTROL EXTENSION: State lawmakers criticized Hochul’s proposal to extend mayoral control for four years as part of the state budget, arguing instead for a two-year extension so they can evaluate how the system is going. Sen. John Liu, who heads the New York City Education Committee, pointed to frustrations over how the system operated under former Mayor Bill de Blasio and said there were concerns about the inclusion of the extension in the budget. “This issue … does not have a fiscal impact so there are some people here who question why this proposal is in the budget itself,” Liu said during a state Legislature hearing on the issue this morning. Lawmakers also called for changes to the structure and operations of some bodies like the Panel for Educational Policy, the Department of Education’s governing body, including having more parent members on the panel. Chancellor David Banks said he's not heard specific proposals to change mayoral control, but argued substantive changes could dilute the oversight and added that half of the panel's members are parents. But he said he wants to change the format of the group's meetings. "I consider the process a disrespect to parents that the whole meeting is spent with parents waiting hours to get two minutes to ask one question and they don't even get a response to a question,” he said. Adams pointed to his experiences as a public school student, noting his learning disability went untreated until he went to college. “A four-year extension of this transformational policy will allow me four years to do what I know what needs to be done based on my time as a student, as a law enforcement officer, as a senator and as the borough president,” Adams said. “This is no time to go back to a broken system.” — Madina Touré TRASH: The City Council held a hearing today to go over the Department of Sanitation’s $1.7 billion preliminary budget. The department cut $48 million as part of Adams initiative to cut spending across most city agencies. The savings were achieved by nixing plans to expand curbside composting to the rest of the city, reducing staff levels through attrition and earning money through the city’s five cent fee on plastic bags. Sanitation Chair Edward Grayson used the hearing to provide some updateson major sanitation initiatives. He said the city is actively pushing the state to mandate the recycling of e-mobility batteries, after a spate oftroubling fires at recycling facilities. Beginning in April, new large residential buildings must also submit waste management plans. The department is also testing new “smart bins” to collect food scraps and launching a pilot to containerize trash bags so it’s not taking up sidewalk space. Grayson didn't give a major update on the city’s ongoing efforts to better regulate the private carting industry. But he did tell Council Member Sandy Nurse the budget cuts won’t affect the program. Grayson also said he believes the city should pursue a mandatory program for repurposing food scraps, amid budget cuts to the existing program. “Do I think that this department and, me personally, do I think we need a mandatory organics recycling law? Absolutely,” he said. — Danielle Muoio Dunn
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