Blog

As we celebrate Memorial Day this weekend with remembrance and cook outs, the unofficial and traditional start of summer with the school year winding down and college graduations concluding, we also move into the final two weeks of the scheduled legislative session. As is typical for the end of session, nominations are now being sent to the legislature for confirmation for various vacancies on boards and other governmental entities, committees are closing down in at least one house, and active lists are heavy with local priorities. The session is scheduled to end on June 10.

The final four weeks of the 2021 legislative session will kick off with a two-day session week next week and the volume and pace of bills moving through both houses continues to accelerate as members press to move priority measures through the process. This week saw the CDC relax their recommendations related to mask wearing by those fully vaccinated against COVID-19, more movement toward reopening the state, final Assembly passage of election related concurrent resolutions, and yes, daytime outdoor temperatures finally hit mid-May norms.

With just 15 session days remaining on the legislative calendar, the first week of May saw a swirl of activity. The Governor announced continued loosening of pandemic restrictions, the legislature acted on the perennially contentious hospital and nursing home staffing ratio issue; the telecom industry sued the state; and hopes for a snowmobile trail system in the Adirondacks met a constitutional roadblock in the courts.