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March/April 2012
March/April 2012


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Blog Contributors

Jarrett Murphy
City Limits
Helen Zelon
Johann Hamilton
Neil deMause


What’s Not to Like About the Cuomo Budget?

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NYgov/City Limits

Cuomo's budget delays an already postponed increase in the basic welfare grant.
For a budget address, Governor Cuomo's speech on Tuesday spent relatively little time on the nuts and bolts of the state's fiscal 2013 spending plan. Seeking to turn a symbolic page from last year's nasty budget fight, the governor argued that closing New York's $2 billion fiscal hole is a simple matter of eliminating waste and cancelling automatic budget increases. The bulk of the gov's talk was about his "reform agenda" of economic development, government streamlining, avoiding future pension obligations and teacher evaluations. Read More»


Related topic categories: Activism and Volunteerism, NYCHA, Albany, Urban Planning and Policy, Workforce and Labor, Housing and Development, Government, The Economy, Andrew Cuomo, Budget




Cuomo Calls For Easier Food Stamp Access

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Marc Fader/City Limits

The governor's annual speech cataloged the accomplishments of the Democrat's first year in office.
Echoing a call made by anti-hunger advocates for years, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday argued for the elimination of the requirement that most food stamp applicants be fingerprinted before receiving benefits.

Advocates have long said the requirement was an unnecessary barrier, and in his annual State of the State speech, the governor agreed. "For all of our progress, there are still basic wrongs to right. There is never an excuse for letting any child in New York go
to bed hungry," he told a crowd of legislators, mayors and other dignitaries. "We must increase participation in the food stamp program, remove barriers to participation, and eliminate the stigma associated with this program. And we must stop fingerprinting for food."

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Related topic categories: Activism and Volunteerism, Albany, Hunger, Government, Andrew Cuomo, Budget




A Fracking Film As Cuomo Deadline Nears

Driving through much of upstate New York, you'd think there was an election on, what with all the lawn signs and banners supporting or opposing increased use of hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—in New York State.

Supporters say the method (which entails injecting a pressurized mix of water, sand and chemicals deep into underground shale formations to create tiny cracks that then release natural gas) is safe; what's more, they say permitting far wider use of the method will create jobs in depressed Empire State counties and help reduce reliance on other, more problematic fuel sources.

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Related topic categories: Environment and Energy, Health and Environment, Andrew Cuomo, Energy Policy