TENANT PROTECTIONS: Senate and Assembly Democrats are advocating for right to counsel legislation to provide tenants facing eviction with an attorney to fight for them. The Right to Council coalition members are asking for $260 million to fund the program and expand it to include tenants who are above the income threshold for qualification. “If they've got an attorney, they're far more likely to win and to be able to stay in their homes. We also know if they have access to an attorney, they're more likely to challenge an eviction rather than just self evict,” Syracuse Sen. Rachel May, the bill’s sponsor, said at a news conference this afternoon. “And for all of these reasons, we've got to get this done this year in the budget and get the money to make sure that we can have the attorneys and the support that tenants need to stay in their homes.” Syracuse has the second highest child poverty rates in the country, and it is harder to find an apartment in Syracuse than it is in New York City, she said. The coalition estimated it would provide legal representation to 46,000 families across the state facing eviction, decrease eviction filings by 19 percent, and default evictions to decrease by 32 percent. “When we talk about housing, it's not just about shelter, it's about stability. It's about dignity. It's about having the essence of a home. It's about making sure that individuals and families facing eviction and other housing related legal issues have a path to address it,” Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, a Long Island Democrat, said. — Shawn Ness GAS BATTLE REDO: The need to reduce emissions from the state’s natural gas system — which heats 60 percent of homes — is set to divide Senate and Assembly Democrats once again. Last year, lawmakers and Hochul ultimately cut a deal to enact nation-leading limits on fossil fuel combustion in new buildings that begin to take effect in 2026. This year, Senate Democrats and Hochul want to take another sweeping step to enable the state’s utility regulator to limit expansions of the gas system further and even, in future years, begin dismantling sections of it. While a majority of Assembly Democrats support the legislative measure dubbed “NY HEAT,” those more expansive provisions were excluded from the one-house budget proposal. But Assembly Democratic leadership did officially signal openness to a smaller step: ending subsidies for new gas hookups. The conference is “exploring” that idea, a summary of the Assembly’s budget position posted before sunrise states. “Any resulting proposal would include strong labor standards and protections and workforce development programs to train, retrain, and transition the fossil-fuel workforce.” The Assembly also proposed $200 million aimed at keeping utility bills below 6 percent of income for low-income ratepayers. “We want to deal with the heating costs, the cost is an issue for low wage earners,” he said. Heastie said the other components of the NY HEAT Act weren’t included because they’re considered policy. That’s not enough to satisfy environmental advocates, who see a need to end the “obligation to serve” new gas customers and more flexibility for the Public Service Commission to regulate gas utility expansion and mandate additional steps as essential. The state’s climate plan also backs such changes. “The real driver of the gas rates is the maintenance and replacement of old gas mains,” said Jessica Azulay, executive director Alliance for a Green Energy Economy. Addressing the obligation to serve is “also the key to allowing gas utilities to plan their system.” The broader proposal to potentially enable the PSC to downsize the gas system and block existing buildings using propane or other fuels from hooking up faces opposition from some gas utilities, labor unions and business groups. Sen. Liz Krueger, who sponsors the measure, after a rally at which advocates chanted “HEAT Act now, Heastie,” said she’d like to get the whole measure in the budget, but that passing it afterward was also an option given growing support in the Assembly. — Marie J. French SENATE AIMS TO BLOCK LEGAL REIMBURSEMENTS: The Senate included a proposal in its one-house budget to block the state from reimbursing campaign committees for some legal defense fees. Current law says taxpayers will reimburse office holders for their legal defenses after an acquittal on criminal charges — even if that defense was paid for with a campaign account. That law gained prominence when former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno was reimbursed $2.4 million following a 2014 not guilty verdict. More recently, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s campaign account received $565,000 after prosecutors dropped a forcible touching charge against him. Cuomo’s account is expected to receive several million more from the state. Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris, who has sponsored legislation to ban this sort of reimbursement since the Bruno case, said that it might not impact the ex-governor if the language stays in the budget. “It takes effect immediately,” he said. But “it would apply when the claim was made, so any claims that have already been made would not be subject at all.” — Bill Mahoney
| 
