| | | | |  | | By Joseph Spector | Presented by Healthcare Education Project | | 
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals nominee, Hector D. LaSalle, gives testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, in Albany, N.Y. | Hans Pennink/AP Photo | Senate Democrats had a choice: Either battle Hector LaSalle's nomination for chief judge in the courts or try to get out ahead of it and hold a vote to reject the governor’s choice. The senators chose the latter in a sudden decision Wednesday afternoon, voting down LaSalle as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s choice for chief judge of the state Court of Appeals in a 39-20 vote. The final outcome was not a surprise: Democrats have long told Hochul and anyone who would listen that LaSalle would not win the 32 votes necessary to take over for Janet DiFiore, who abruptly resigned last year. The fight was really over whether LaSalle’s confirmation would make it to the floor. Senate Democrats stressed they never needed to have a floor vote — that their Jan. 18 vote to reject LaSalle in the Judiciary Committee satisfied their constitutional obligations. Hochul disagreed, saying as much again Wednesday just before the inevitable rejection of LaSalle. “I've said all along, and as recently as Monday, that the constitution requires this to go to the full Senate for a vote,” Hochul told reporters. “That was disputed up until today. So today, we'll have what I said should have happened from the beginning.” Senate Democrats would have preferred Hochul and Senate Republicans just let LaSalle’s nomination fade away. Then Hochul could have simply choosen from among the other six candidates deemed qualified in December by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. Instead, Hochul held firm that LaSalle was required to have an up or down vote in the ornate Senate chambers. And Senate Republicans suing last week to do just that made Democrats recalibrate their strategy. They could have dug in and let the court process play out. The outcome in the courts, which likely would have taken weeks if not months, might have ended up in the same place: They would have had to vote on LaSalle. So rather than wait, the Senate held the vote, the outcome was as prescribed, and now Hochul will have to pick another candidate to go through the nomination process in hopes of getting the seventh judge and deciding vote on the state’s top court. Even though Hochul lost the war over LaSalle, she claimed victory over winning the battle for a floor vote — which is considered precedent setting for future court picks. Nonetheless, it's the first time since governors in New York starting nominating Court of Appeals judges in the 1970s that one was rejected. "This vote is an important victory for the Constitution,” Hochul said in a statement. “But it was not a vote on the merits of Justice LaSalle, who is an overwhelmingly qualified and talented jurist.” IT’S WEDNESDAY: Stay with us each afternoon as we keep you updated on the latest New York news in Albany, City Hall and beyond.
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project: Time to Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap. Despite COVID-19 and rising healthcare costs, there has been no significant increase to New York’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for years. As a result, pediatricians are forced to turn away low-income children, seniors face dangerously long wait times for care, and a growing mental health crisis is threatening our hospitals and putting communities at risk. Governor Hochul and the Legislature must Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap. Learn more. | | | | | | | 
Mayor Eric Adams receives a round of applause from his former colleagues in the New York State Senate after he testified on the city's budget requests earlier in the day on Feb. 15, 2023. | New York State Senate | AWKWARD: LaSalle was in the chambers today as the Senate rejected his nomination. A perturbed state Sen. Anthony Palumbo accused Democrats of holding the vote to circumvent his lawsuit over the LaSalle nomination which… seems like a pretty accurate assessment of the situation. “We have this before us, and we have an entire body making a decision with a little gamesmanship, hoping to render the lawsuit moot so that the courts can't say as a matter of law, folks, every judicial nominee goes to the floor of the Senate,” he said. Palumbo insisted, “It does not render it moot.” — Anna Gronewold and Joseph Spector ‘AN IMPORTANT INDUSTRY:’ Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her decision to propose a $455 million loan to the New York Racing Association to renovate Belmont Park that would lead to the closure of nearby Aqueduct Racetrack. Opponents of horse racing are pushing lawmakers to drop the plan. “That is not a direct grant. All the board would have to do is loan the money with bonds over many years,” Hochul told reporters Wednesday in Manhattan. “I think it's going to be well spent. We'll have a chance to bring new jobs, and people from the community will know that they don't have to go far to be gainfully employed. It's an important industry for us.” She added: “The alternative is what? This is a facility; it's part of a neighborhood; it's part of a community. And to let it deteriorate and decline all of a sudden it can't even host the Belmont Stakes -- that it's just an eyesore; that would be just negligence on our part.” ASYLUM SEEKER MATH: The state is shortchanging Mayor Eric Adams for services provided to more than 45,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in New York City since the spring, state Sen. Liz Krueger suggested Wednesday. Hochul's budget earmarked $1 billion for reimbursement while also proposing the state, city and federal government split the costs three ways. Kruger, speaking during Adams’ appearance before a panel of lawmakers, said the budget allocates closer to 16 percent of the tab. Her criticism was echoed by city Comptroller Brad Lander, who noted that capping the state’s commitment at $1 billion defeats the purpose of promising to pick up a third of the cost. “The city is on pace to spend approximately $4 billion over this two-year period,” Lander said, according to prepared testimony for his turn before legislators. “So the state’s $1 billion cap on aid falls far short of 30 percent." — Joe Anuta
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project:   | | | |  | From City Hall | | | 
New York City Mayor Eric Adams testifies before the New York State Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees in Albany on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office | Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office | TIN CUP DAY: Mayor Eric Adams panned a state budget proposal to increase charter schools in the five boroughs. The mayor was in Albany on Wednesday as part of an annual rite of passage for municipal executives: Tin Cup Day. “If the state raises the charter cap as proposed, we will need more resources,” Adams told a dais filled with lawmakers from both the Senate and Assembly. “We believe it will cost us over $1 billion dollars to site these schools and cover the required per-student tuition — money we do not have.” However, Adams cautioned that he was not philosophically opposed to charters (just to footing the bill). “I’m not attached to charter, district, public, private [schools],” he said. “Scaling up successful schools is what I believe in. What I did today was point out what the cost is.” — Joe Anuta MORE ON ASYLUM SEEKERS: As Adams lobbied Albany for more funding, the mayor’s office announced the city will open a new migrant facility at a Wingate hotel in Long Island City. The facility will be the city’s seventh Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center to address the more than 45,000 asylum seekers who have arrived in the Big Apple since the spring. The relief center will offer 144 rooms for families with children and, according to City Hall, will also ensure that migrants “reach their final destination if it is not New York City.” — Zachary Schermele
| | On the Beats | | EDUCATION: State lawmakers interviewed five candidates vying for three open slots on the Board of Regents. Our Katelyn Cordero has a rundown of who they queried. HOUSING: Assemblymember Al Taylor, who is among several hopefuls to unseat New York City Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan, called on developer Bruce Teitelbaum to get rid of a controversial truck depot in Harlem. Without naming Jordan, Taylor criticized the way talks over rezoning the site have gone. Richardson Jordan opposed a plan to build a mix of affordable and market-rate units on the lot at West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue. It became a truck depot when the rezoning failed. Her opponents seem more eager to green light the project. “I'm asking that the developers shut down this truck stop so we can have a real conversation,” Taylor said. “I think that's what needs to happen. I'm standing here primarily because it didn't get done.” — Zachary Schermele Teitelbaum responded in a statement to POLITICO, saying the “last thing we want to do is use any portion of the property as a truck lot.” He added: “Once Richardson Jordan sidetracked our plans we had no choice but to pivot and re-purpose the site which is how we ended up with the truck lot and unless something changes or someone steps in to save the day, the truck lot will remain.” — Zachary Schermele
| | | | A message from Healthcare Education Project: The Medicaid Coverage Gap is making New York’s mental health crisis worse and putting our most vulnerable communities at risk. It’s time to close it.
Medicaid provides essential health coverage to millions of vulnerable New Yorkers. Yet, despite the ravages of COVID-19 and rising healthcare costs, there has been no significant increase in New York’s Medicaid reimbursement rate for years. Because of the Medicaid Coverage Gap, pediatricians are forced to turn away low-income children, seniors face dangerously long wait times for care, and a growing mental health crisis is threatening our hospitals and putting communities at risk.
To actually address this crisis, Governor Hochul and the Legislature must Close the Medicaid Coverage Gap and raise the Medicaid reimbursement rate by at least 10 percent. Closing the Medicaid Coverage Gap will help address our mental health crisis and protect our most vulnerable communities. Learn how. | | | | | | — New York University will have its first woman, Linda Mills, as the institution’s next president. (The New York Times) — The Buffalo mass shooter who killed ten people in October was sentenced to life in prison. (Buffalo News) — The Buffalo shooter's sentencing hearing briefly erupted into chaos as someone rushed the killer. (New York Post) — The husband of a victim in this week's U-Haul rampage wants to know if the NYPD violated protocol in the sidewalk chase? (Gothamist) — A bill to seal many types of criminal records has gained new backing in the state Assembly. (Spectrum News) | | | | 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 | | | | |
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