Politics on the Hudson

The state Senate and Assembly is moving toward passing a bill sought by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that would allow local governments to more easily consolidate local governments.

This morning, the state Senate Local Government Committee, headed by Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, passed the measure and expects to bring it to the Senate floor next week for a vote.

“For many years, in spite of a myriad of proposals introduced,  the State Legislature has failed to enact measures that would provide New Yorkers with the ability to choose the size, scope and cost of their own Government,” Stewart-Cousins said.  “The introduction and passage of this measure will finally change that.”

The bill has bi-partisan support in both chambers. It’s sponsored by Stewart-Cousins and Republican Sen. Betty Little in the Senate, and by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, in the Assembly.

The Assembly Local Governments Committee passed the measure yesterday and moved it to the Ways and Means Committee for review.