Dan Clark
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danclarkreports.bsky.social
Dan Clark
@danclarkreports.bsky.social
990 followers 98 following 430 posts
I'm a New York government, politics and policy reporter for the Times Union in Albany, NY. I'm the author of Capitol Confidential, our daily newsletter from the Capitol: https://linktr.ee/DanClarkReports
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danclarkreports.bsky.social
The packaging reduction/EPR bill is back and it's proponents are shifting their strategy in the Assembly this year www.capitolconfidential.com/p/packaging-...

- Nursing homes want clarity on Hochul's $1.5b
- Community health centers shocked by Hochul's budget
- NY wants help with regs
- & more
Packaging bill proponents plot new path toward passage in 2026
And health care groups have concerns over parts of Hochul's budget.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 13, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Dan Clark
www.capitolconfidential.com
New York is tracking ICE officer activity at courthouses but officials say they’re using another part of the justice system to make arrests instead.
ICE agents entered New York's courts 59 times last year
And the state took a first step to throttle data center energy demand.
bit.ly
February 12, 2026 at 9:49 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
ICE agents entered NY courts 59 times last year. But they're using a different part of the justice system to make arrests, court officials said Thursday
www.capitolconfidential.com/p/ice-agents...

- PSC takes first step on data centers
- NY's high court rejects Malliotakis appeal
- & much more
ICE agents entered New York's courts 59 times last year
And the state took a first step to throttle data center energy demand.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:53 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Mamdani is seeking a reset of the fiscal relationship between NYC and the state, saying he wants to "end the drain" www.capitolconfidential.com/p/zohran-mam...

- What to expect from tomorrow's courts, crime and corrections hearing
- Lawmakers push a bill to ban surveillance pricing
- & more today
Mamdani seeks to 'end the drain' on New York City by the state
He wants a 'reorienting' of the city's fiscal relationship with the state.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:53 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Delgado is out of the race for governor, adding to the list of hurdles cleared by Hochul's reelection campaign www.capitolconfidential.com/p/good-idea-...

- Hochul's health commissioner on rolling back the Essential Plan
- Mamdani's in Albany tomorrow. Here's what the state's mayors want
- & more
'Good idea': Delgado drops run for governor, ending primary against Hochul
And what New York's mayors will seek from the state Legislature in Wednesday's budget hearing.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:52 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Gianaris is leaving the state Legislature and Ra is stepping up. Here's your Monday CapCon: www.capitolconfidential.com/p/gianaris-d...

- Blakeman has a running mate (for real this time)
- What's up at the Cap tomorrow
- The cannabis school distance debacle now has a fix
- & more
Gianaris, deputy Senate leader, won't seek reelection: 'A new role'
And state cannabis regulators sent a bill to lawmakers to fix the school distance debacle.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:51 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Nassau County's own Ed Ra was chosen as the new Republican leader in the state Assembly Monday, succeeding Will Barclay. Here's what Ra said: www.timesunion.com/capitol/arti...
February 9, 2026 at 6:13 PM
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Hochul intends to issue her second pocket veto since becoming governor www.capitolconfidential.com/p/hochul-to-...

- What's up at the Cap next week, including a Mamdani visit
- a SUNY connection to the Winter Olympics
- & more
Hochul to issue second pocket veto since becoming governor
And here's what's up at the Capitol next week, including a Mamdani visit.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:48 PM
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Child care, Raise the Age and SNAP fraud eyed by New York lawmakers
www.capitolconfidential.com/p/child-care...

- Barclay stepping down and leaving after 23 years
- New cyber regs for utilities proposed
- & more today
Child care, Raise the Age and SNAP fraud eyed by New York lawmakers
And Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay is stepping down.
www.capitolconfidential.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:57 PM
Reposted by Dan Clark
colinreports.bsky.social
Hochul, speaking to @danclarkreports.bsky.social just now, makes clear that she wants to change NY’s emissions accounting standards and maybe revisit other CLCPA deadlines.

“We’re held to a very different standard… we’re always gonna look like we’re coming up short despite our best efforts”
CLARK: You had said I think last year, November, December, that you wanted to engage with the legislature on those climate mandates, the 2030, 2040, 2050, from the Climate Act. Have you talked to them about that? Is that something that’s still on the table? And is that something that you want as part of the budget this year possibly? HOCHUL: What I want and what I have to deal with are two different things. I wanted to meet those goals, okay? They’re great, it’s always fun to be nation-leading. But two dynamics here. One is that the legislature, before my time, put in place a measurement standard that is only used by one other state. And if we were not held to a stricter standard for engaging emissions, we have, more than you need to know, but 20 years versus 100 years, we’d be one of the top in the nation for reducing greenhouse emissions. We’d be almost number one. But we’re held to a very different standard. It’s like, why is that? ‘Cause we’re always gonna look like we’re coming up short despite our best efforts. So that’s the dynamic over there. In terms of hitting the goals, if we miss it by three years, yeah, judge says we’re not in compliance. What would you like me to do about the fact that we had a pandemic that cut In terms of hitting the goals, if we miss it by three years, yeah, judge says we’re not in compliance. What would you like me to do about the fact that we had a pandemic that cut off supply chain networks that were supposed to be building more of our wind and offshore wind and onshore wind, as well as transmission, that all stopped during the pandemic. You come out of the pandemic, you’re now dealing with inflation. You come out of inflation, although it’s not quite out of it, now you’re dealing with Trump tariffs, which affect the cost of all the supplies to build out the infrastructure to deliver the energy that was hoped for back in 2019 when this was passed. I just say to the legislature and others, where am I gonna go? I’m trying my best to meet these goals. They’re great, fine. But change the calculation will look a lot better. We met our goals a year early for community solar, but that’s because Donald Trump didn’t eliminate it. And he didn’t take away the incentives. If you take away the financial incentives for wind and solar from the federal government, they’re not gonna build wind and solar. CLARK: And electric cars too. HOCHUL: That’s right. All of our electrification efforts, they’re great goals. I want to meet them desperately. We just have to look at what options are on the table. I have to deal in reality. … CLARK: So on the climate goals, would you rather, I don’t know, what’s your dream scenario? Do you want to renegotiate the dates of them, or would you rather renegotiate the formula for accounting? Or both? HOCHUL: For my all-of-the-above approach. CLARK: Yeah, this is your all-above approach. HOCHUL: These are the conversations I want to have with the legislature. I don’t want to get ahead of it because this is something that they’re very proud of, and I have to recognize that this is something that is hard for people to change when they really believe in something they did. I get that. I’m just gonna be having conversations with them on, okay, let’s look at the reality. What do you think we should be doing differently? How are we gonna get power? how I’m gonna power this state and make sure, because I have to focus on affordability. I have to focus on resiliency. I cannot have this state go dark.
February 2, 2026 at 8:35 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Heastie, Stewart-Cousins react to Hochul's new ICE proposal www.capitolconfidential.com/p/heastie-st...
Heastie, Stewart-Cousins react to Hochul's new ICE proposal
And a judge in Brooklyn has resigned over alleged 'financial impropriety.'
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 30, 2026 at 10:17 PM
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At the start of the pandemic, price-gouging became a major concern in New York. Lawmakers passed a law allowing the AG's office to write new regs to strengthen enforcement against price-gouging in response.

Those regs were finally adopted this week: www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-yorks-...
New York's pandemic price gouging rules are finally here
And NYSED will soon publish a report on Hochul's universal pre-K plan.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:23 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
New York's climate mandates are facing an uncertain future www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-yorks-...

- NY looking at NJ utility relief actions
- Lawmakers rally for immigrant protections
- State Senate GOP's affordability report
- At the Cap for Jan. 29
- & more
New York's climate mandates face uncertain future
And the state's utility regulator has an eye on New Jersey's recent actions to benefit ratepayers.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 28, 2026 at 10:21 PM
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New York's population grew for a third consecutive year but not enough to stave off the likely loss of 2 seats in Congress, new census data released Tuesday shows www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-york-p...

- Farmers fear ICE raids in NY
- Rikers remediator named
- At the Cap tomorrow
- & more
New York projected to lose 2 seats in Congress, new data shows
And fears remain high for New York's farmers, the state's agriculture commissioner said.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:04 PM
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Redistricting has been ordered to reopen in New York. Here's what's next in that and what the potential outcomes could be www.capitolconfidential.com/p/redistrict...

- Lawmakers and the PSC clashed over Con Ed rate hikes
- The NYGOP HQ in Albany was broken into last night
- & more
Redistricting is back in New York. Here's what's next.
And lawmakers clashed with Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration Thursday over new Con Ed rates.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:00 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Redistricting has been ordered to reopen in New York. Here's what's next in that and what the potential outcomes could be www.capitolconfidential.com/p/redistrict...

- Lawmakers and the PSC clashed over Con Ed rate hikes
- The NYGOP HQ in Albany was broken into last night
- & more
Redistricting is back in New York. Here's what's next.
And lawmakers clashed with Gov. Kathy Hochul's administration Thursday over new Con Ed rates.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 22, 2026 at 10:00 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Here are more than 20 items in Hochul's executive budget proposal that you might have missed www.capitolconfidential.com/p/what-you-m...

Among them are profit caps for traveling nurse agencies, an overhauled Financial Disclosure form for elected officials, rules on fake retail sales and more.
What you missed in Hochul's budget, line-by-line
Here are more than 20 proposals that have been overlooked.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:45 PM
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READ: Hochul's 2026 state budget book and toplines
www.capitolconfidential.com/p/read-hochu...
READ: Hochul's 2026 state budget book and toplines
Here's the full book on Hochul's $260 billion proposed state budget.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:11 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
New York lawmakers are far from done with regulations for AI tools, a hearing Thursday showed www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-york-l...

- A new bill (from a Democrat) would allow NY to create new counties
- Pension fund follows the rules, report finds
- & more today
New York lawmakers plot more AI regulations after RAISE Act
And could New York create new counties? A new bill would make it possible.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:47 PM
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Bruce Blakeman was at the Capitol today to rebut Hochul's State of the State. But what's he looking for in a lieutenant governor? www.capitolconfidential.com/p/bruce-blak...

- Environmentalists target data centers
- New Senate Judiciary and Econ. Dev. chairs
- On The Bill: The REST Act
& more
Bruce Blakeman visits the state Capitol to rebut Hochul's 2026 agenda
And environmentalists have a new top priority for this year's legislative session.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:48 PM
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Hochul is targeting utility companies over New York's high energy bills
www.timesunion.com/state/articl...
Hochul targets utilities over New York's high energy bills
Hochul’s proposals show a state government that’s clearly skeptical of the business practices of those companies.
www.timesunion.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:12 PM
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What's in Hochul's 2026 State of the State agenda
www.capitolconfidential.com/p/whats-in-h...

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What's in Hochul's 2026 State of the State agenda
We went through the 161-page book to save you time.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:52 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Democrats in New York say they have the momentum to do something about rising utility bills this year www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-york-l...

- Moving all local elex to even years still on the table
- Hochul's chat with Robert Brooks' family
- Delgado qualifies for matching funds
- & more
New York lawmakers target utility companies over increased costs
And ending all odd-year elections is still on the table, lawmakers say.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 12, 2026 at 9:59 PM
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Hochul will announce a plan to curb high car insurance rates through the courts www.capitolconfidential.com/p/new-yorks-...

- A $3.75b clean water investment
- At the Capitol next week
- John Mannion's GOP challenger drops out
- Privacy at pregnancy centers
- & more
New York's high car insurance costs eyed by Hochul
And U.S. Rep. John Mannion's Republican opponent has suspended his campaign.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 9, 2026 at 9:58 PM
danclarkreports.bsky.social
Hochul and lawmakers are pushing ICE opposition ideas after the fatal shooting in Minnesota www.capitolconfidential.com/p/hochul-law...

- Here's a portal of 15+ immigrant protection bills lawmakers have intro'd
- John Sarcone's appointment was unlawful, judge rules
- & a lot more today
Hochul, lawmakers push ICE opposition ideas after Minnesota shooting
And a federal judge says John A. Sarcone's appointment as U.S. attorney was unlawful.
www.capitolconfidential.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:23 PM