Albany's second shot at gun control, abortion rights

From: POLITICO New York Playbook PM - Friday Jul 01,2022 08:27 pm

Jul 01, 2022

Let’s try this again: After negotiations over mayoral control, gun legislation and a constitutional amendment on abortion stretched late into the night, the Senate and Assembly gaveled back in Friday morning for a new “extraordinary session.”

The Senate kicked things off before noon, quickly passing a resolution that will enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution — an item Gov. Kathy Hochul officially added to the special session agenda early Friday morning.

Senators then turned their attention to a bill that would severely limit where permit holders can carry concealed guns in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the state’s century-old firearm law. It cleared the chamber on a 43-20 vote after three hours of debate.

The Assembly had yet to begin voting before the Senate left town. It reconvened just before 3 p.m. and is expected to pass the two measures this afternoon.

Shelley Mayer, a Yonkers Democrat and lone senator to speak on the proposed constitutional amendment prior to her chamber’s vote, said it addresses protections that have “long been neglected” in New York’s constitution.

The resolution adds new protected classes to the constitution’s existing Equal Protection Clause — which prohibits discrimination based on a person’s race, color, creed or religion — to bar intentional government discrimination based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy.

Lawmakers’ approval of the abortion measure triggers a multiyear process to amend the state’s constitution that will culminate with a vote on the statewide ballot either in 2023 or 2024.

The firearms legislation would define “sensitive locations” where weapons are off-limits for most permit holders. Lawmakers have been trying to thread the needle designating areas as gun-free zones without instituting a blanket ban, which the Supreme Court said would not pass muster.

While the high court found the state cannot arbitrarily refuse concealed carry permits, the state aims to require applicants display “good moral character," pass a firearm safety course and provide data from their social media accounts as part of strengthened background checks.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Friday’s action on the constitutional amendment and gun bill “is the latest proof that state legislatures must lead and not bow to national pressure or yield to extremist forces.”

“Here in New York we will always step up on behalf of our constituents and New Yorkers’ best interests,” she said before casting her vote on the gun bill.

IT’S FRIDAY: It’s an extra-special session day in Albany, and the Independence Day holiday weekend is beckoning. Stay with us as we keep you updated on the latest New York news from the campaign trail, in Albany and from City Hall.

Programming note: As Albany wraps up its business, we too are saying goodbye for the year. This is the final edition of New York Playbook PM until 2023. We’ve had a blast keeping you abreast of mid-day politicking, and we’ll still be here to get you up to speed at the crack of dawn with our morning edition by Anna Gronewold and Erin Durkin. We hope you have a great summer. Stay frosty, New York.

From the Capitol

N.Y. → U.S.: Gov. Kathy Hochul urged federal lawmakers Friday to ensure that all Americans — not just those in states like New York — have access to abortion in wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

Hochul, in a video call with President Joe Biden and her fellow governors, touted New York's steps to shore up abortion access for its residents, as well as anyone who travels to the state for the procedure. But, she argued, that’s not enough.

“The rights of millions of women across this country are now falling on the shoulders of just a handful of states,” Hochul said. “We believe, as you do Mr. President, that what’s available to New Yorkers and [those in] the other enlightened states should be available to all Americans and no one should have to travel. That’s why … Congress has to act.”

She also asked Biden to consider using federal facilities — like veterans hospitals, military bases and other places — to provide abortion access “in some of the states that are hostile to women’s rights.” — Shannon Young

FROM CITY HALL

DEMANDING DETAILS: City Council Member Pierina Sanchez, chair of the body’s housing committee, had strong words today for Mayor Eric Adams’ housing plan at a hearing with top administration officials, arguing a lack of metrics makes it difficult to hold City Hall accountable for its progress.

“The plan is called a blueprint, yet in some ways if I handed this blueprint to builders today — architects, engineers — the structure they would build might fall for lack of detail and specificity,” Sanchez said to Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz, housing commissioner Adolfo Carrión and other officials.

Adams has declined to state a specific goal for how many homes his administration will build and preserve — a response to criticism of the previous mayor for focusing too much on total unit count. Katz and others have argued the lack of a numerical goal allows them to focus more on issues like public housing and home ownership.

“To be clear, I’m not advocating for the big shiny production and preservation numbers that have been put out by previous administrations,” Sanchez said at the hearing. Yet she raised concerns with a “continued lack of specificity with respect to detailed policy solutions, robust funding targets, numeric goals where appropriate.”

Katz noted the city is putting record funding towards affordable housing — $22 billion over 10 years — and said the city will “make every effort to continue building at the same rate as recent years to ease the housing shortage.” While the city will still track the units it is financing, the intention is to “move beyond this singular focus,” she said.

She cited new metrics the city will track including the vacancy rate in supportive housing units, how many affordable and supportive housing units the city is actually filling and how long it takes to lease those homes up. — Janaki Chadha

ON THE BEATS

HEALTH CARE: State Health Commissioner Mary Bassett commemorated the end of Pride Month by touting her agency’s efforts to promote and protect LGBTQ New Yorkers’ health. “By studying the health challenges facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming New Yorkers, we will design and develop programming based on identified needs,” she said in a statement. “New and annual funding will be deployed to increase the support we provide for LGBTQ+-affirming health care and supportive service providers, so they can expand their capacity, resources, and infrastructure.” Bassett added that while the Department of Health is “making meaningful progress,” there’s “still more to do.” — Shannon Young

ENERGY: Comments close today on the state’s draft climate plan to achieve ambitious mandates to slash emissions 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. A recent report card from the Rocky Mountain Institute found that, without additional policies, the state will not hit that target. Among the deluge of comments hitting the state agencies (and our inbox) tasked with collating the information, the state’s independent grid operator weighed in to highlight the need for careful planning to keep the lights on. The New York Independent System Operator said fossil fuel retirements must be lined up with replacement resources.
Additionally, new long-duration storage resources will be needed before 2040 to achieve the state’s goals, according to NYISO, which also said that an economy-wide emissions market would be the best way to reach the state’s goals. The final plan is due by the end of this year. — Marie J. French

REAL ESTATE: A significant share of Manhattan office space remains available for lease as many New Yorkers continue working from home years into the pandemic. The borough had a 17.2-percent office availability rate during the second quarter of 2022, according to a new market report from Colliers. That’s down from a record-high 17.4 percent in February of this year — a 72.2-percent increase in available office space since March 2020. "Manhattan’s availability rate still poses a barrier to a true recovery with direct and sublet inventory continuing to increase in some corridors,” said Franklin Wallach, an executive managing director at Colliers. — Janaki Chadha

The Campaign Trail

DEMS TARGET MAGA REPUBLICANS from POLITICO’s Sarah Ferris: The House Democrats’ campaign arm will spend the next several months campaigning against what its chief calls the “MAGA Republican” brand — on everything from abortion to Donald Trump-backed election subversion. “There’s all these dangerous people running under the new MAGA Republican brand. They’re going to pay a price for it,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who leads the House Democrats’ campaign arm. Using the term “MAGA” nine times in a roughly 9-minute interview, he said: “We’re going to beat them over the head with that.”

HOCHUL TOO: Congressional hopefuls aren't the only ones employing the strategy. Hochul’s post-primary campaign has already ramped up its attacks on her GOP opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin, painting him as “so out of the mainstream, so devoted to the extreme fringes of the Republican Party, that it’s hard to believe he’s a New Yorker,” in a release this morning. Hochul’s campaign pointed to his pro-gun and anti-abortion stances, as well as his vote against certifying the 2020 election results, saying “Zeldin isn’t just any Republican. He’s dangerous.”

Zeldin has countered that his top focuses are not the SCOTUS decisions Hochul has emphasized, but are public safety and boosting the economy. He believes his positions on both are most in line with the majority of New Yorkers. — Anna Gronewold

AROUND NEW YORK

— A “liquor license denial was quickly reversed” for a Hochul donor, the Times Union reports.

— Sandra Lindsay, a New York critical care nurse and first American to get vaccinated against Covid-19 outside of a clinical trial, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

— DO THIS THIS WEEKEND: Watch Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

— DON’T DO THIS: A solo hiker from Singapore wandered desperately and aimlessly in the Adirondacks' Dix Pond Swamp for three days before being rescued.

Follow us on Twitter