Assembly does ethics training too

Back To (Ethics) School For State Senate
New state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos is sending every member of the chamber (and all their Staffers) Back to School: For ethics training. "I'm confident that we have built a top-notch team in the State Senate that will work directly with the members of this body to achieve great things for New York, including lower taxes and spending, and more good-paying Private Sector jobs,” Skelos said in a statement this morning. “But it's also essential that we give those w...

Senate Mandates Ethics Training
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos just issued a Press Release mandating that all Senators and their staff to take ethics training before April 1st. It’s similar to the Executive Order Governor Cuomo issued last week, following his State of the State Address. “I’m confident that we have built a top-notch team in the State Senate that will work directly with the members of this body to achieve great things for New York, including lower taxes and spending, and more good-paying p...

NY Millionaire's Tax Extension A Non-Starter For Senate GOP Majority
The state Senate GOP is making it perfectly clear they'll oppose any extension of New York's so-called "Millionaire's Tax," which is scheduled to expire at the end of 2011. "Senate Republicans are 100% in support of allowing this job-killing tax to sunset,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, according to our Glenn Blain. “In fact, we are opposed to all Tax Increases because they have cost us jobs and driven people out of N...

Senate gets in shape for session
ALBANY -- By next week, it will be a re-made state Senate. Staffers will be Laid Off. Senators will settle into new office suites. Committees under new direction will hold their first hearings. And the quartet of senators making up the new Independent Democratic Conference -- well, we'll see what next week brings. "Those things have not been discussed yet," Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, said of the breakaway klatch. "We're still trying to figure out how this works with a Repub...

Ex-DeLay aides thrive in GOP
While former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tries to avoid a three-year stint in Texas Prison, the loyal aides who once worked for him have quietly created a powerful Republican network on and off Capitol Hill — riding the GOP comeback while their former boss appeals his state money-laundering and Conspiracy conviction. These DeLay alums are populating the upper reaches of Republican leadership jobs in the House and enjoying lucrative jobs lobbying and consulting. Their enduring influen...

Legislature Plans Changes To Cuomos Tax Cap Idea
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s Legislature has started reshaping some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s key proposals. Legislative leaders say they are working on changes involving one of Cuomo’s top issues: capping the growth of property taxes that are among the highest in the nation. Cuomo wants those taxes to grow by only 2 percent a year or the rate of Inflation, whichever is less. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says Monday he is considering additions to the proposed list o...

Silver: The Media Ought To Turn It Down
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver expressed concern today about the overheated political discourse that many - including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly - believe contributed to the Arizona Shooting Spree over the weekend. Asked if he’s worried about his own security, Silver at first joked to reporters: “How can I you’re all here in front of me?” He then added: “I obviously am concerned about some of the Rhetoric that comes o...

Living in Albany on $6 a day less
The Assembly chamber had a short session Tuesday as a major storm loomed, leaving only a state cleanup crew. But lawmakers can expect to get their full per diem, even if it is $165, down $6 from last year. The Senate, also hit by the reduction, left early. (Philip Kamrass/Times Union) Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy, left, and Sen. Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Rockville Centre, talk Tuesday in the Senate chamber. As lawmakers face a huge state Deficit, they will lose $6 a day each on expenses. (Mike Gr...

Threats to senators increased in 2010
Data from the U.S. Senate's top Law Enforcement officer show security threats against senators and their aides increased last year. There were 49 threats in 2010 against a senator or a staff member and 29 in 2009, according to Senate Sergeant-at arms Terrance Gainer. He shared the statistics in an interview with Federal News Radio, which reports on the Federal Government in the nation's capital. "We probably in the Senate have about five of these threats going at any one time," Gainer said in th...

Sharron Angle: Don't blame me for Tucson shooting rampage
Former U.S. Senate Candidate Sharron Angle says she's not to blame for the Arizona shooting that left six people dead and 14 injured. The former Nevada assemblywoman who tried to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday she condemns all violence. The Tea Party politician calls the killings Saturday senseless and horrifying. Police say 22-year-old Jared Loughner fired at a crowd gathered at an event hosted by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Giffords was shot in the head but survived. L...

Challenges to threaten new Legislature's bipartisanship spirit
A similar ceremony is set to get under way in the House at noon. Senate Democratic Leader Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, whose Caucus enters the new session at a low ebb with only 12 members, said she was encouraged by the tone set by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder at his inaugural and looked forward to working with the 26-member Republican majority in the Senate. Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, also sounded a note of Bipartisanship, but...

Williams wanted to remain chair of Senate Transportation despite fatal crash
Sen. Suzanne Williams Democrat Suzanne Williams expected to remain as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee despite her involvement in a fatal crash that killed a pregnant mother, according to an e-mail obtained by The Denver Post. Williams sent the e-mail to the Democratic Caucus members on Sunday, the day before Majority Leader John Mors announced he was removing her as chair. From Williams: The last two weeks since the accident have been extraordinarily difficult for me. I want to t...

Job approval of Congress jumps sharply as Republicans take over the House: Gallup
With so much national attention focused on the keen criminology insights of Arizona's Clarence the Talking Sheriff, a stunning new Gallup Poll on Congress almost flew right by. The new national survey finds that within only five days of Republicans taking majority control of the House of Representatives on Jan. 4, Americans' approval of the bicameral body's job shot up more than 50%, from its record low of 13% to 20%. The spurt in support came despite the candidly ominous opening s...

Let's sit together for State of the Union address (Sen. Mark Udall)
Dear Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Boehner, Minority Leaders McConnell and Pelosi:   We, the undersigned members of Congress, believe that partisan seating arrangements at State of the Union addresses serve to symbolize division instead of the common challenges we face in securing a strong future for the United States.  

 As we all know, the tenor and debate surrounding our politics has grown ever more corrosive - ignoring the fact that while we may take different positions, w

House Puts Partisanship Aside After Giffords Shooting
This week, Congress was set for a rhetorical battle over Healthcare Reform and federal spending. But Partisanship, at least within the Capital, has taken a back seat to national grieving. In response to the shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, which left six people dead and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition, Congressional leaders have delayed all major votes until at least next week. [Photo Gallery: Gabrielle Giffords Shooting in Arizona.] On Wednesday, Congress didn't debate a bill to rep...

68th General Assembly set to open today
Colorado's State Legislature will convene for its sixty-eighth biannual session today. The gathering of 65 representatives and 35 senators comes one day after the inauguration of a new Governor, new state treasurer, and new Secretary of State. Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by one seat in the November election. Democrats, as they have since Jan. 2005, continue to hold the majority in the Senate. Both the House and the Senate will convene today at 10 am. Bills may be in...

GOP Leaders: We oppose Rep. King's new gun control idea
The Republicans may just have to agree to disagree. House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are against a new gun-control proposal put forth by a fellow GOPer in response to the Tucson shootings. Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said Tuesday that he'd introduce a new bill that bars anyone from carrying a gun within 1,000 feet of a federal official. He believes the Legislation could have prevented the Jan. 8 Arizona shooting...

Boehner sets 1000-foot perimeter around House to gun legislation
Don’t count the new leader of the House among supporters for Peter King’s new gun-restriction Legislation.  The Hill reports that John Boehner will oppose the bill, which creates a 1000-foot bubble around federal officeholders and judges in which Gun Possession would become a crime.  However, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is still reserving judgment (via Instapundit): Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is rejecting gun-control legislation offered by the chairman of the Homeland Se...

Former House Majority Leader Sentenced to Three-Year Prison Term
One of the Most Powerful Republican politicians in Washington, D.C. during the George W. Bush presidency will now face a three-year Prison term and 10 years of Community Service, as of Monday. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, of Texas, was sentenced by State Senior Judge Pat Priest in Austin for a plot to redirect corporate Campaign Contributions to Texas legislative Candidates. The additional community service sentence is the result of a separate felony Money Laundering charge. Originall...

Colorado senator calls for Republicans and Democrats to sit together at SOTU
Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) proposed that the Speaker of the House as well as the majority and Minority Leaders of both houses of Congress sit together during President Obama's State of the Union Speech later this month, in a letter dated Wednesday. Udall, the senior senator from Colorado, writes in the letter — addressed to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)...

Republicans elect House majority leader
Republicans in the Alabama House of Representatives elected state Rep. Micky Hammon of Decatur as House Majority Leader on Wednesday. In his position, Hammon will help to control the flow of Legislation onto the House floor. "I am touched and honored by the responsibility my colleagues have given me, and I look forward to serving the citizens of Alabama in this role," Hammon said. "Republicans are committed to bringing widespread reforms and changes to the way Montgomery does business, and ser...

Senators reelect Marsh president pro tem
Alabama State senators reelected Del Marsh as president pro tem of the Senate on Tuesday. By law, legislators must meet in January following the November election to elect leaders including Senate president pro tem and House Speaker. But, Gov. Bob Riley called a special session in December and lawmakers had to vote for their leadership then. Lawmakers reelected Rep. Mike Hubbard, R- Auburn, as House speaker and Marsh, R-Anniston, as Senate president pro tem. "We made the right choice in select...

ND Legislators Introduce Bill To Require UND To Keep Fighting Sioux Nickname
What’s interesting is that this may well have a good chance at passing, especially given that the House Majority Leader himself, Rep. Al Carlson, introduced it. BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota’s House Republican majority leader is introducing Legislation that would require the University of North Dakota to keep its Fighting Sioux nickname. Fargo Rep. Al Carlson’s bill says UND and the Board of Higher Education have to stop plans to drop the nickname. It says if the NCA...

11:00 a.m. Today: A Moment of Silence for the Victims of the Arizona Shooting
This afternoon, President Obama spoke about the shooting in Arizona. You can read his remarks in full below. As many of you are aware, earlier today a number of people were shot in Tucson, Arizona, including several who were meeting at a Supermarket with their congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords. We are still assembling all the facts, but we know that Representative Giffords was one of the Victims. She is currently at a Hospital in the area, and she is battling for her life. We also know that at l...

Lisa Kaas Boyle: John Boehner's At-Gavel Song: "Behind Blue Eyes"
Pete Townsend wasn't thinking about Speaker of the House John Boehner when he wrote the song "Behind Blue Eyes," but Townsend has said that the song is about the temptations that come with power, and it seems to be an ideal theme song for Boehner. Boehner came up from Poverty through struggle. It took him 7 years to get through college as he worked several jobs to support his education. Now he is a wealthy man, perpetually tan, and third in line from leadership of this country. Boehner has bee...