Karen DeWitt
Karen DeWitt is Capitol Bureau Chief for New York State Public Radio, a network of 10 public radio stations in New York State. She has covered state government and politics for the network since 1990. She is also a regular contributor to the statewide public television program about New York State government, New York Now. She appears on the reporter’s roundtable segment and interviews newsmakers.
Karen previously worked for WINS Radio, New York, and has written for numerous publications, including Adirondack Life and the Albany newsweekly Metroland. She is a past recipient of the prestigious Walter T. Brown Memorial award for excellence in journalism, from the Legislative Correspondents Association, and was named Media Person of the Year for 2009 by the Women’s Press Club of New York State.
Karen is a graduate of the State University of New York at Geneseo.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul, in office for less than half a year, is looking to be a strong favorite in the 2022 race for election. Capitol Correspondent Karen DeWitt takes a look at how far the governor has come in a short time, and what could still trip her up. -
Governor Kathy Hochul attached some numbers to what she calls her bold agenda to recover from the pandemic and push the state forward. Hochul has the rare advantage of entering the budget season with a surplus due to better tax collections and generous federal aid packages.
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Bolstered by pandemic relief funds from Washington and higher tax collections, New York's budget situation is in better shape than in recent years. That will help Governor Kathy Hochul fund some of the pledges she made in her State of the State address on childcare, health care pay, tax breaks and more. The budget address is Tuesday.
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Survivors of sexual harassment urged legislators to pass a bill that gives victims more time to take their abusers to court.
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Onondaga County officials are trying to clear up confusion about changing COVID-19 contact tracing protocols as the number of new cases continues to rise. On December 31st, the county said it would no longer be calling individuals to trace infections. The state followed suit Tuesday.
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Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed that the tenant protection law will expire on January 15th. A few dozen tenant advocates with the group Housing Justice for All barricaded one of the entrances to the State Capitol building with tables, chairs and other furniture that they say could end up on sidewalks, along with renters, if the state does not enact new tenant protections before the eviction moratorium ends on Saturday.
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The New York State Senate approves a package of bills to expand voter access, after voters in November rejected two ballot proposals to make it easier to vote. The bills would continue expanded absentee ballot voting that was allowed earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, and permit voters to cite the virus as a reason to skip going to the polls.
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A city court judge in Albany has dismissed a charge of forcibly touching a former staffer against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after the Albany County district attorney declined to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence to meet the burden of proof at a trial.
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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will overhaul the state’s troubled ethics commission and proposed a new structure in her State of the State message this week.
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Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State speech Wednesday to a strictly limited audience with the pall of the pandemic casting a shadow over the proceedings. But Hochul remained upbeat, pledging to lead New York out of the pandemic.
