Legislative Update: Feb 13, 2007

By: Prospector

Well, according to several sources, "the honeymoon is over". There is some friction between the governor and the legislature over the appointment of the new comptroller. Hopefully this won't throw too big a monkey wrench into legislative business. Also, there are rumors circulating that several Republican Senators may switch parties resulting in a Democratic Majority. We will have to keep an eye on this situation.

Today I met with five Democratic Senators and two new Democratic Assemblymen. One of these Assembly members will support most of our issues, but definitely not the helmet amendment under any circumstances. I guess we can't win them all, and the honesty is appreciated. Our second ad appeared in the Legislative Gazette and looked as good as the first. More importantly, several people mentioned having seen it. I would expect more such feedback in coming weeks. Assembly committee assignments still have not been officially made, though I don't expect any surprises. The Transportation Committee did not meet today.

There is another new Senator from Long Island and I will make an appointment as soon as he arrives in Albany. In light of the expected snowstorm, today's Senate Session was moved up from 3PM to 1PM resulting in some of my meetings being with staff, and there was talk of canceling tomorrow's business altogether.

The Senate version of the helmet amendment was finally introduced yesterday, the number is S2836. Today was Student Lobby Day and the Legislative Office Building was packed (we should only get this kind of turnout, but hey, we're only asking for freedom, not money as they are), one of the worst days I've experienced. It was difficult to even navigate the halls and several times I had to use the stairs because the elevators were packed (not my favorite way to go). It was futile to try and make future appointments because most offices were overflowing and I was unable to even get inside, so I will fall back to Plan B..... making appointments by phone. As I mentioned previously, the Legislature is off next week, so I will be making appointments for the 27th, and so far, I have two. On the plus side, I got to see the New York State Maple Queen. Next report in 2 weeks.