Legislative Update: Jan 23, 2007

By: Prospector

Today was very busy and very crowded at the Legislative Office Building. I started with 6 appointments and 2 were cancelled when I arrived. Legislators were hard to catch up with because the Senate had session and there were also hearings to select the new comptroller, who almost undoubtedly will come from the Assembly. We are seeing the effects of these hearings because Assembly committee assignments will not be announced until the new comptroller is appointed. So this was one of those days when I came away without much of a sense of accomplishment, which happens from time to time. I did meet with 2 new Assembly members and the staff of 2 new Senators. Much to my surprise and delight, D. Janele Hyer-Spencer, new Assembly Woman from Staten Island is a rider. We had a great talk and I expect she will support our issues. I also received the bad news that Assemblyman John Lavelle, one of our supporters and past co-sponsor of some of our bills, suffered a stroke over the weekend and is not expected to recover. All attempts at making appointments for next week were futile, so it will be another week of phone calls. I did get a callback for one appointment and I will follow up on that tomorrow.