After years of debate and relentless partisan battles, the impact of the Affordable Care Act – also known as Obamacare – is starting to become clear. According to reports released last week by the Gallup polling company, the Commonwealth Fund and the Urban Institute, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of uninsured.

Gallup found that the uninsured rate in the U.S. fell an additional 2.2 percentage points to 13.4%. This is the lowest quarterly average recorded since 2008.

That translates into a significant impact on the number of uninsured. Nationwide, roughly 1 in 4 people who were uninsured last fall now have received coverage, which translates into a whopping 11 million Americans. In New York State, almost 1 million have received coverage as the result of the federal health care reform law.

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A top environmental debate over the past six years has been whether New York state should allow a natural gas drilling method known as hydraulic fracturing – or fracking.  During those six years, effectively New York State has had a moratorium on fracking.

Concerns about the public health and environmental impacts from fracking have been the reasons for inaction.  Fracking, which injects a mix of water and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to break up shale deposits and release natural gas, is very controversial

But some localities, which thought that the state may ultimately approve fracking, have taken matters into their own hands.  The towns of Dryden and Middlefield – among others – passed local zoning laws prohibiting oil and gas mining activities – including fracking – within their respective town’s borders.

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Now that the 2014 legislative session is finished, the question is what got done?  During this session, high profile bills got passed – such as a new law allowing, in select circumstances, the medicinal use of marijuana.  Over the past four years, the budget was completed in time for the beginning of the new fiscal year, a streak unheard of in modern New York State history.

But what are lawmakers actually doing during the legislative session other than passing budgets and bills?  Thanks to my colleague, Bill Mahoney, the New York Public Interest Research Group has been reviewing the legislative process at the state Capitol.  Here are some tidbits from the most recent review:

658 bills passed both houses in 2014.  While this is a bit more than in the past two years, the overall historical trend in terms of bills passing has been down.  Since 1915, the four years that saw the fewest bills pass both houses are 2009, 2012,2013,and 2014.  It seems that a smaller number of two-house bills is a new reality in New York State.  There are several reasons this might be the case, and they seem to be rooted in both structural changes in the legislative process and in changes in the productivity and total output of legislation (for better or worse) of the state Legislature. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the lackluster 2014 legislative session is in the books, New York’s elected officials turn their attention to November.  The statewide offices of governor, comptroller, and attorney general are all up.  All 213 legislative seats and 27 Congressional House of Representatives are up for a vote.

In addition, New Yorkers will have three questions on the ballot.  New Yorkers will vote to approve a bond act which will allow the state to borrow up to $2 billion to purchase classroom technology, access to the Internet, and to upgrade some school structures.  A second question will allow lawmakers to have access to legislation electronically, instead of only in printed form.

But the third question will likely be the most contentious:  Changes in New York State’s process for drawing legislative district lines.  Every ten years, New York is constitutionally required to adjust its legislative districts to reflect changes in the state’s population.

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Lawmakers are set to wrap up the scheduled end of the 2014 legislative session. Typically, this week is “show time” for lawmakers – hundreds of bills are likely to be approved, many more will fail.

One important bill that is seriously under consideration is the “Toxic Chemicals in Children’s Products” Act. If approved the bill would establish a framework for identifying potentially harmful chemicals in everyday children’s apparel, toys and other consumer products. The type of chemicals would include those likely to be a carcinogen, severely toxic or cause significant health problems. Nine toxic chemicals and their compounds, including lead, benzene and arsenic, would be designated as “priority chemicals.” The legislation is designed to promote the removal of the most dangerous toxic chemicals—those that cause cancer, reproductive injuries and interfere with children’s development—from everyday children’s products and promote safe substitution. Read the rest of this entry »