Government

Governor Cuomo has  unveiled 50 proposed new outdoor access projects to connect hunters, anglers, bird watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts to 380,000 acres of untapped State-owned lands across New York. The new access points will allow for more than $6 million in projects for access to hunting and fishing, boat launches, and new hiking opportunities.

Next Wednesday, both houses of the legislature are due to release their one house budget proposals, which they will then use to negotiate a final spending plan with Governor Cuomo.  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in an interview with NYS-PBS's New York Now and public radio stations,  says Assembly Democrats are not yet on board with part of Cuomo’s plan to cut the estate tax.

There’s growing unease over Governor Cuomo’s tax freeze plan. 100 local government officials have signed a letter opposing the plan, including Syracuse Mayor and state Democratic Party Co-Chair Stephanie Miner. And there are signs that the legislature may modify what critics have called an overly complex proposal when the Senate and Assembly release their one house state budgets.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is maintaining a strong lead over potential challengers despite a sharp drop in his job approval rating among voters feeling tough economic times, according to a new poll released Thursday. 

The NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll has Cuomo leading just-announced Republican candidate and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino by 40 percentage points, 65 versus 25 percent, and similar margins over other potential contenders, Buffalo businessman Carl Paladino and Donald Trump. 

It’s been a busy week in state politics, and we were joined by our capital correspondent Karen DeWitt to recap the news. We also heard about the worst winter damage in a decade in the Finger Lakes wine industry. 

The New York State Assembly is debating a bill to delay some of the effects of the state’s Common Core learning standards.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says the bill delays the effects of the new learning standards for two more years, for both students, and teachers. Teachers fear that they will be evaluated on their pupils’ test scores when there wasn’t enough time to prepare and teach the new material.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  Under pressure from gun control advocates, Facebook agreed Wednesday to delete posts from users seeking to buy or sell weapons illegally or without a background check. 

A similar policy will be applied to Instagram, the company's photo-sharing network, Facebook said. The measures will be put into effect over the next few weeks at the world's largest social network, with 1.3 billion active users. 

``We will remove reported posts that explicitly indicate a specific attempt to evade or help others evade the law,'' the company said in a statement. 

It’s been five years since the federal government intervened to try to save the American auto industry. Has it worked? Just a couple of months ago, the federal government sold the final remaining shares of GM, ending its involvement. We looked at the numbers and the impact with UAW’s Dan Maloney.   

Carrie Andrews joined us in studio to talk about how Democrats view the ongoing investigation of LDCs. Andrews has called for a legislature-led investigation, to no avail. She talked about Democrats' proposals to protect taxpayers, and we looked at other county business.   

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino announced on You Tube his candidacy to run as a Republican against Governor Cuomo.

Astorino, a Republican who has twice won the county executive’s seat in the democratic dominated Westchester County, painted a grim picture of New York under Governor Cuomo, saying the state is “dying” from highest in the nation taxes and among the poorest business climates in the country.

“Is New York winning or are we losing?” Astorino asks in the video.