A law allowing whistleblower lawsuits that claim wealthy people and corporations intentionally failed to pay taxes.
The fine print of the state budget agreement is finally beginning to emerge ahead of expected final passing by the Legislature this week.
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday announced a “conceptual” agreement on the month-late budget, stating that she, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins had struck a deal on major issues ranging from the state’s bail law to a prohibition on natural gas hookups in new construction.
But the details of those agreements have taken days to emerge as negotiations continued into the weekend. Budget bills began posting online Sunday, and as of Monday morning, five had emerged: one providing funding for capital construction projects; one focused on public protection and general government; one on health and hygiene; one focused on transportation, economic development and environmental conservation; and one with the stated purpose of implementing major components of legislation.
Some of the more contentious issues, however, have not yet emerged in budget language and appear likely to be merged together in one, final bill that will be disclosed last, known in Albany parlance as the “Big Ugly.” For instance, the fine print of the state’s controversial, revised bail law is not in the public protection bill.
One budget document that has been released confirms that the state tax on a pack of cigarettes...
Over the last year, beyond traditional healthcare and federal procurement matters, the government has pursued federal False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and enforcement across high-risk areas, i...