LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The House and Senate sessions begin this Wednesday (2/5) at 10:00 AM and run through May 6, 2020. Several committee meetings will commence this week to schedule raising bills and begin public hearings. As mentioned previously, 25 judges will come before the Judiciary Committee for public hearings for renominations.
CAPITOL UPDATE VIDEO
Our
first 2020 Capitol Update video features Bill Chapman, CBA Director of Government and Community Affairs, and the introduction to the 2020 Legislative session and his 14th session with the CBA.
NO SPECIAL SESSION
Though there was a plan to hold a special session to vote on funding for transportation infrastructure, including tolls on big trucks at 12 gantries on state highways, it was decided that this proposal would be introduced to the legislature the week of February 10th.
RICHARD COLANGELO NEW CHIEF STATE’S ATTRORNEY
The state's top prosecutor was sworn in to the chief state’s attorney position in a ceremony at the Stamford courthouse Friday afternoon.
The Criminal Justice Commission unanimously appointed Richard J. Colangelo Jr. to the top state spot Thursday at a public meeting at the Legislative Office Building. Colangelo has served as state’s attorney for the Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk since July 2015.
Colangelo is the eighth person to hold the title of chief state’s attorney since the position was established in 1973. Colangelo will serve the remainder of the five-year term, to which Kevin T. Kane was appointed in 2016. Kane retired Dec. 1, 2019, after 47 years as a prosecutor, the last 13 as chief state’s attorney.
NYBSA SUPPORTS LEGALIZATION OF RECREATIONAL CANNABIS
The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is endorsing the legalization of recreational marijuana, a move that comes as state lawmakers consider proposals this session to legalize the drug. Under the governor's proposal, sales to retail dispensaries would be taxed at 20 percent and people could have one ounce of marijuana. A separate proposal, backed by Democrats in the legislature, would permit people to have to have three ounces of marijuana. The legislation would set one of the largest limits for legal marijuana possession in the nation. The bar association announced that they support legalizing adult recreational marijuana on Friday.
YOUNG LAWYERS SECTION (YLS) LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
Save the Date
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Legislative Office Building.