ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - This week in state government, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will travel to Albany to weigh in on the state budget and legislators prepare to scrutinize Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s spending on economic development.
Meanwhile, a state lawmaker wants to prohibit children 13 or younger from playing in tackle football leagues and anti-tobacco groups say they will call on the state to raise the smoking age to 21 to curb youth smoking.
A guide to what’s coming up in the Capitol:
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DE BLASIO GOES TO ALBANY
The mayor will make his annual pilgrimage to the state Capitol on Monday for a budget hearing focused on the needs and challenges of local governments.
As he did last year, de Blasio is expected to urge lawmakers to extend mayoral control of city schools. Despite his pleas for a long-term agreement, lawmakers last year granted the mayor only a one-year extension.
The mayor has had a troubled relationship with fellow Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo as well as the Republican leaders of the state Senate.
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ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT SPENDING
Lawmakers are likely to have tough questions for Cuomo’s economic development officials during a budget hearing on job creation programs Wednesday.
Many lawmakers have criticized Cuomo’s expensive economic development initiatives, saying they are too secretive and have led to only modest accomplishments.
The administration credits the programs with helping to turn around upstate New York’s economic decline. In his budget proposal the governor wants to tweak one of those efforts, Start-Up NY, with new rules and a new name, the Excelsior Business Program.
Start-Up was created to jumpstart innovative companies but a report issued last year showed it generated only 408 new jobs in its first two years.
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LIMITS ON YOUTH FOOTBALL
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, a Democrat, plans to outline his proposal to prohibit children 13 and younger from playing in youth tackle football leagues.
Benedetto’s proposal, which he has introduced before, is intended to reduce harmful injuries to children with developing brains, but it’s sure to face opposition from supporters of youth football.
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SMOKING AGE
Also this week groups including the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and Tobacco Free Kinds will announce a push to raise the state’s smoking age from 18 to 21.
Hawaii, California and scores of cities including New York have already enacted laws prohibiting those under 21 from buying cigarettes.
Supporters say that when combined with public health outreach efforts and tobacco taxes, raising the smoking age will prevent many teens from risking their health by becoming addicted at an early age.
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