In your morning round-up, political news from the capital:
A two percent property tax cap is one of Governor Andrew Cuomo's top priorities for the current legislative session, and he could be getting closer to a compromise with the legislature, reports Rick Karlin from The Albany Times Union:
In the latest development, Senate Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos has softened his earlier position against revisiting an altered version of the cap, which his house passed earlier in the year. "The governor asked me potentially to look at changes ... and I said of course I would," Skelos said Wednesday. "If the governor sends me a proposed change, I'm going to look at it."
State investigating Monroe County project
State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, has subpoenaed a Monroe County local development corporation and its main contractor regarding the management of a $244 million upgrade to the county’s emergency management systems.
The report from David Andreatta and Jill Terreri at The Democrat and Chronicle notes that state Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, also plans to audit the organization, known as Monroe Security and Safety Systems, or M3SLDC:
The local development corporation was established by the Republican-controlled County Legislature in 2009 at the behest of County Executive Maggie Brooks, who said at the time that it would be less costly for the county to upgrade its communications infrastructure by contracting with an LDC than to do the job itself. It was unclear precisely what aspects of M3SLDC's operations the state is seeking to examine.
Hoping to bring back hops
Sen. David Valesky (D-Syracuse) is sponsoring a bill that would help revive hops production around Cooperstown and throughout the Southern Tier, reports Jimmy Vielkind from the Albany Times Union:
Currently, large-scale breweries are licensed by a more stringent mechanism. Farm brewers could brew and sell beer -- up to 15,000 barrels a year -- provided they use a certain percentage of hops grown on their own property in the process. "We grew an awful lot of hops in New York state at one time," said Julie Suarez, director of public policy for the Farm Bureau. "We think farm brewery licenses is one of the key pieces of legislation that will allow some of our farmers to have a little bit more diversification, because guys will spend a lot more money for beer than they will for sweet corn, or onions."
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