| | | | |  | | By Shawn Ness and Joseph Spector | | Presented by |  | | | With help from Irie Sentner
| | - County executives head to the southern border.
- Home care workers descend on the state Capitol.
- A shakeup at the New York City Department of Education.
- A renewable energy record reached this month.
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Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, left, and other county executives in New York from both parties are headed to Texas to better understand the migrant crisis and how they can help address the surge. | Mike Groll/AP | TO THE BORDER: A bi-partisan group of county executives in New York are headed to Texas on Tuesday to visit the southern border as they press for help with the increase in migrants in their communities. The trip is being organized through the National Association of Counties and led in New York by Albany County Executive Dan McCoy, the president of the New York Association of Counties, and Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, the group’s former president. Representatives from Erie, Oneida, Orange, Albany, Clinton and Chautauqua counties are also going on the trip, which will include a stop in El Paso. “This is a federal issue that impacts New York; it impacts the counties of New York, and the same holds true in counties in the other states,” said Mark LaVigne, a spokesperson for the state Association of Counties. The goal, he said, is to help counties better understand the migrant crisis and how they can advocate on ways to help address the surge. More than 180,000 migrants have come to New York City over nearly the past two years, and some of them have been shipped to upstate counties. But the relocation of migrants to other parts of New York has drawn strong rebukes in some counties, with lawsuits and emergency orders trying to block them. “It’s bigger than counties; it’s bigger than states, but we’ll call for the need to be working toward a solution,” LaVigne said. The trip also comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature this week work toward a budget deal for the fiscal year that starts April 1 and includes $2.4 billion to help the city address the migrant flow, up $500 million from the current fiscal year. McCoy wants to use the work he’s done in Albany County as a blueprint for other counties dealing with an influx of migrants, which the county has housed at various hotels and facilities. He said it would take a coordinated effort among everyone to figure out what they are dealing with and how to solve the issue. “I can show what we've done in this county without pointing fingers and without playing politics. These are people; they're not cattle. These are real people that are trying to better their lives for whatever reason,” McCoy said. “They’re leaving the country they grew up in for the American dream.” The trip will take place from Tuesday to Friday. — Shawn Ness and Joe Spector
| | | | A message from New York State Nurses Association: Tell Albany: Invest in New York Healthcare! More nurses means better care, but New York’s broken healthcare system has created a staffing crisis in hospitals and nursing homes. Tell Albany to listen to the nurses and prioritize: Holding hospitals accountable for safe staffing. Fixing the nurse staffing crisis through education, loan forgiveness, recruitment, and retention programs. Protecting quality care by protecting New York’s nursing practice standards. Fairly funding underserved communities and prohibiting hospital closures of maternity and other essential healthcare services. Visit: www.nysna.org/more-nurses | | | |  | From the Capitol | | |  State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chair of the Health Committee, spoke at the Capitol today in front of a 12-foot-tall cutout of Gov. Kathy Hochul in protest to her proposed cuts to home care systems. | Shawn Ness/POLITICO | HOME CARE WORKERS: Dozens of home care workers and many elected officials gathered at the Capitol today in protest of Hochul’s proposed $1.2 billion cuts to home care funding. The rally featured a number of artistic showings: including a 12-foot-tall cutout of Hochul, and people dressed as the grim reaper with labels of various insurance agencies slashing at a life-sized $1 billion bill. “The people who should be benefiting from state money that is going to long-term care should be the patients and the folks who take care of them,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat and Senate Health Committee chair, said. “And I don’t want those folks [pointing at the grim reapers with insurance company name tags] to be the ones that benefit from it.” Instead, they want Hochul to slash $3 billion in annual spending for managed long term care plans, which they called “wasteful.” The Home Care Savings and Reinvestment Act, sponsored by Rivera, would do just that. “It is absolutely what needs to be done. Because of the money we're bringing in, we have put a lot of money into home care for the last few years, but it is not getting to the caregivers. And it is about time that it did,” state Sen. Rachel May, a Syracuse Democrat, said. “We've got to stop having it be skimmed off for profit and make sure that the money is getting where it belongs.” — Shawn Ness
| | | | A message from New York State Nurses Association:   | | | | | FROM CITY HALL | | |  The City Council, led by Speaker Adrienne Adams, has filed a notice of appeal to a court decision that ruled its non-citizen voting law unconstitutional. | John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit | VOTING RIGHTS APPEAL: The City Council filed a notice of appeal today to the state’s highest court after its 2022 non-citizen voting law was ruled unconstitutional last month, POLITICO reports. Mayor Eric Adams has stood behind the law and previously appealed a lower court’s ruling against it. But as of this afternoon, he and his team had signaled no intent to appeal to the New York State Court of Appeals. The legislation was intended to allow those with green cards and work authorization — an estimated 800,000 New Yorkers — to cast ballots in city elections. “Empowering New Yorkers to participate in our local democratic process can only strengthen New York City by increasing civic engagement,” a council spokesperson said today, adding the legislative body finds the law consistent with the state constitution, election law and municipal home rule. Local Law 11 was challenged by right-leaning elected leaders, including several Staten Island Republicans, who argue it is unconstitutional and the sacred right to vote belongs with citizens. — Emily Ngo DOE LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP: Schools Chancellor David Banks revealed plans to discontinue the division that oversees his reading curriculum mandate. In a letter to Department of Education staffers, Banks said he’s dissolving the DOE’s Division of Teaching and Learning, which has roughly 2,000 staffers, and fusing its work into the Division of School Leadership. That division is headed by Deputy Chancellor Danika Rux. “I believe that putting the tremendous central Teaching & Learning resources closer to our schools — led by local superintendents — will accelerate the work of NYC Reads, improve math education and set up our students for bright starts and bold futures,” Banks said in the letter, calling the decision part of an ongoing effort to bring resources closer to schools. And in a surprise announcement, he said Carolyne Quintana, who leads the division, is stepping down at the end of the school year. (She also played a key role in other initiatives like a dyslexia screening program). The move could have significant implications for the reading program that Banks has heralded as “legacy work.” Banks has so far rolled out the curriculum in elementary schools in nearly half of the city’s 32 school districts. The chancellor has maintained, though, that the change won’t lead to any layoffs. — Madina Touré
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | | | 
Rep. Marc Molinaro insisted he isn’t running a burner X account named after Mary Poppins. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP Photo | I’M NOT MARY POPPINS, Y’ALL: Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro insisted to Playbook today that he isn’t running a burner account on X named after magical nanny Mary Poppins. “I’m not giving it any credence,” Molinaro, a freshman running in a swing seat in the Hudson Valley, said. “Not me, don’t control it.” Molinaro was in Albany to push more accountability for decisions made during the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, and he wants to focus on more substantive issues than who is operating an anonymous social media account. “Last week, we ultimately negotiated a bipartisan spending plan that kept the government functioning and helps the most vulnerable of America,” he said. “This week, I’m standing in the stairs of this Capitol reminding people that arrogant elected officials made that ultimately led to the loss of lives.” He added: “We all ought to be focused on the real issues facing upstate New York. As I said when I was running for governor, ‘When they go low, we’ll keep high.’” — Nick Reisman
| | | | A message from New York State Nurses Association: Tell Albany: Invest in New York Healthcare!
When it comes to patient safety, Albany should listen to nurses – the heroes who got us through the COVID-19 pandemic.
More nurses at the bedside means better care. But New York’s broken healthcare system has created a staffing crisis. From emergency rooms to critical care units, many hospitals are failing to staff enough nurses to provide quality care. Despite a safe-staffing law meant to protect New York patients, some hospitals are understaffing their units over 90% of the time. New York patients deserve better.
Tell Albany to invest in New York healthcare and:
- Hold hospitals accountable for safe staffing.
- Fix the nurse staffing crisis through education, loan forgiveness, recruitment, and retention programs.
- Protect quality care by safeguarding New York’s nursing practice standards.
- Fairly fund underserved communities and prohibit hospital closures of maternity and other essential healthcare services.
Visit: www.nysna.org/more-nurses | | | | | On the Beats | | | 
On Saturday, March 9, New York saw a new wind record with 12 percent of load or 2,176 megawatts, and Tuesday March 12, saw a new solar record when 3,832 megawatts provided 21 percent of power on the New York grid. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | RENEWABLE RECORDS: New York’s electricity system set two different records for renewable generation over the past few weeks, the state’s independent grid operator announced. For wind, a new record was set on Saturday, March 9, during the 1 p.m. hour when wind projects generated 12 percent of load, or 2,176 megawatts. For solar, the newest record was set at noon on Tuesday, March 12, when 3,832 megawatts provided 21 percent of power on the New York grid. That includes both rooftop and utility-scale solar. The New York Independent System Operator has reported several new records for renewables over the past few months, as more projects have come online. The most recent peaks before the March ones were in February for solar (3,744 MWs) and December for wind (2,134 MW). Between 2023 and this year, five new wind and seven new large-scale solar projects have come online, according to NYISO. Overall, a majority of New York’s electricity still comes from fossil fuels. In 2022, only about 5 percent of electricity used came from wind and solar. Hydropower provided 22 percent; nuclear about 21 percent; and fossil fuel plants generated about 51 percent, according to NYISO data. “These renewable generation numbers are exciting and underscore New York’s notable progress in growing a portfolio of wind and solar projects that will continue to hit new records as we advance toward our Climate Act goals,” said NYSERDA president and CEO Doreen Harris in a statement. The authority is working to reset its portfolio of new renewable resources and is currently short of having enough projects under contract to meet the 70 percent renewable by 2030 target. New awards for onshore renewables are expected to be announced next month. — Marie J. French SENECA LANDFILL CHALLENGE: A new lawsuit citing New York’s constitutional right to clean air, water and a healthy environment is targeting the Seneca Meadows landfill. The lawsuit was filed today by local groups, residents and businesses against the landfill owner and the state Department of Environmental Conservation in Albany County Supreme Court. The lawsuit seeks to halt the current operation of the landfill, block the expansion that’s pending a permit decision and additional actions to address odors. The legal claims primarily rely on the Green Amendment to the state’s constitution, which has also been cited in lawsuits against other landfills — including one that also gets a lot of New York City’s garbage. The landfill has also created a public nuisance due to the odors, according to the lawsuit. DEC “has allowed persistent and noxious odors to migrate from the Landfill in such quantity, characteristic, and duration that such emissions have and continue to unreasonably interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, in violations of Plaintiffs’ right to clean air and a healthful environment under the Green Amendment,” the lawsuit states. — Marie J. French ZELDIN AND COVID PROBE: Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin is demanding Hochul release the findings from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration’s probe into the Covid-19 response. Today is the four-year anniversary of the executive order that placed Covid patients in nursing homes among healthy residents, and Republicans are using the day to rip the policy once more. “Kathy Hochul punted this investigation past the 2022 election because she feared it would cost her votes. Since then, she has tripled down with her insulting and irresponsible delays. Grieving families have not forgotten and will not forget,” Zeldin said in a statement. The investigation was promised to nursing home residents in May 2022. In July of the same year, she said the investigation was unlikely to produce public findings until after the 2022 midterm elections. Six days before the midterms, she announced a $4.3 million contract with the Olson Group to examine the administration’s policies. Last November,the findings were again delayed. There was no immediate comment from Hochul’s office on where the review stands. — Shawn Ness
| | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Former President Donald Trump can post a bond of just $175 million, a panel of appellate judges decided. (POLITICO) — A new super PAC, Abundant New York, will work to elect candidates who support building more housing. (The New York Times) — Fire Island is receiving $3.5 million in federal funding to conduct emergency coastline repairs following a series of devastating winter storms. (Newsday) | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
