The Capitol Pressroom

September 16, 2025- Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden talks about legislation tweaking the tax cap for municipalities to incentivize investments in emergency medical services.

September 12, 2025- In light of an investigation by the state attorney general's office revealing dangerous neglect by a nursing home operator in Syracuse, we explore the oversight of nursing facilities with Richard Mollot, executive director of the Long Term Care Community Coalition.

September 12, 2025- New York State of Health Executive Director Danielle Holahan explains how the Hochul administration is responding to federal changes that impact how the state provides health insurance coverage for 1.7 million low-income New Yorkers.

September 12, 2025- Child care providers have been sounding the alarm about a staffing crisis for years, so we check in on the status of the workforce and their need for investment with Alicia Marks, owner and operator for Marks of Excellence Childcare and Dede Hill, vice president of policy at the Schuyler Center for Analysis & Advocacy.

September 11, 2025- The Medical Society of the State of New York is shining a spotlight on its longstanding complaint about delayed and limited payments approved by health insurers. We talk about their effort to get paid with the group's executive vice president, Dr. Thomas Lee.

September 11, 2025- State financial regulators continued the tradition this summer of approving premium increases for the individual and small group health insurance plans offered in the state marketplace, so we examine how we got to this point of escalating costs and consider what the future offerings will look like. Our guest is Paul Francis, chair of The Two Step Policy Project.

Sept. 10, 2025 - Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, a Syracuse Democrat, makes the case for updating the risk assessment tool used to classify sex offenders in New York.

September 9, 2025- The state Public Service Commission and New York's regulated energy providers are getting a lot of negative attention this summer for proposed rate hikes and negotiated cost increases. We consider what is driving prices up for energy consumers and evaluate some of the proposals to control out-of-pocket costs with Laurie Wheelock, executive director and general counsel of the Public Utility Law Project of New York.

September 8, 2025-In light of two defunct gas pipeline proposals getting new life under the Hochul administration, we explore their initial permitting process under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and consider what is being proposed now. Our guest is Susan Kraham, managing attorney with Earthjustice.

September 5, 2025- SUNY Chancellor John King gives an update on the state's effort to place adults in high-demand degrees at community colleges. He also talks about the structural deficits at some SUNY campuses and addresses the possibility of SUNY drawing the ire of the Trump administration.

September 5, 2025- We consider how many doctors getting trained in New York actually stay in New York (and why), with the help of David Armstrong, project director at the Center for Health Workforce Studies for the University at Albany.

Sept. 5, 2025 - The longtime leader of CSEA, Danny Donohue, passed away this summer, so we wanted to explore how he wielded power, his brash style, and whether anyone was picking up his mantle in Planet Albany. For all that insight we tapped into the institutional knowledge and insights of Liz Benjamin, a former journalist and now a big deal for Marathon Strategies. (This is an excerpt of Dispatches from Planet Albany)

September 3, 2025- New York prison officials are looking to update their procedures for reviewing mail sent from lawyers to their clients behind bars, so we consider the ramifications with Antony Gemmell, supervising attorney with the Prisoners' Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society.

September 3, 2025- We get an update on the state's use of road salt and alternative methods for keeping drivers safe in the winter with Rob Fitch, director of the Office of Transportation Maintenance for the state Department of Transportation.

September 3, 2025- New York State School Boards Association Executive Director Robert Schneider discusses how districts can address a teacher shortage and explains how school boards prepared to implement smartphone restrictions in schools this fall.

September 3, 2025- Food Industry Alliance of New York State President & CEO Mike Durant weighs in on legislation intended to let New Yorkers know if they're paying more for groceries they order online compare to shopping in a store.

September 2, 2025- We check in on the implementation of the state's "bell-to-bell" smartphone restrictions in schools with Bob Lowry, deputy director for advocacy, research, and communications at the New York Council of School Superintendents, and Dr. Donna DeSiato, superintendent of the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District.

September 2, 2025- Assemblymember Bobby Carroll, a Brooklyn Democrat, makes the case for prohibiting financial institutions from writing minimum rent charges into mortgage agreements.

September 2, 2025- We discuss the first four years of Kathy Hochul's time in the executive mansion with New York Playbook co-author Nick Reisman. Catch the entire conversation on the Dispatches from Planet Albany podcast.

Aug. 29, 2025- New Yorkers are poised to lose their government health coverage in the coming years as the result of changes in Washington D.C., but a new report argues that community organizations could help prevent a gap in insurance. We explore this report and next steps for state policymakers with Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York.