Good morning! Today in your trail mix:
State Comptroller, Tom DiNapoli calls out the governor's budget as a power grab.
Could student debt be the next housing crisis?
Why did New York fine a small business owner thousands of dollars for his lack of polo t-shirts?
Economy
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli says that Governor Cuomo’s budget is mostly in balance, but he warns that some proposals would give the governor too much power (Karen DeWitt, New York State Public Radio).
Undeterred, Governor Cuomo continues to pitch his budget plan around the state. Today he's in Syracuse (Teri Weaver, Syracuse Post Standard).
Rising student debt could be the next economic bomb, according to a new report from the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (James Goodman, Democrat & Chronicle)
A silver lining for students? The Princeton Review has ranked Binghamton University #4 on its best-value list (William Moyer, Gannett).
The battle for and against expanding gaming in N.Y. is heating up (Charles Bagli, New York Times).
Environment
Fracking is not a "fait accompli," DEC Commissioner Joe Martens told lawmakers yesterday (Mireya Navarro, New York Times).
Environmental advocates are worried state cuts will threaten the Adirondacks (Associated Press).
Small business
A Capital Region small business owner is complaining that New York isn't really "Open for Business" after he was slapped with a $5,500 fine from the Department of Labor for failing to provide enough polo t-shirts to his employees (Rick Karlin, Times Union).
Paper Battery Co., a small startup outside Albany just received a $200,000 investment to develop its paper-thin battery power device called the PowerPatch. As we reported last year, the company also received a million dollar grant from NYSERDA (Eric Anderson, Times Union).
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