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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The debate is playing out in state budget negotiations. Gov. Hochul is proposing spending $2.4 billion to help house and feed some of the over 160,000 migrants who have entered New York during the past year.
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Republicans and Democrats were united in their opposition, calling the cuts "devastating."
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The bill would make New York only the second state in the nation, after California, to seek contracts with drug companies to make its own generic prescription drugs, including insulin, a drug that has sharply risen in price in recent years.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the measure, saying updating the definition is long overdue.
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Hochul wants to increase the benefit for injured workers and to give it parity with the state’s paid family leave program.
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Hochul wants to lower the inflation factor in what’s known as the state’s foundation aid formula. The formula is used to calculate how much money each of the more than 700 school districts receive each year in the state budget.
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They used the occasion to announce steps to further protect abortion rights in New York State.
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It would, among other things, discourage natural gas hookups to new homes by eliminating a practice known as the 100-foot rule.
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Governor Kathy Hochul has her highest numbers in nearly a year, while President Joe Biden’s popularity and performance ranking falls to a new low in blue New York.
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The bill would cut the amount of plastic packaging in consumer products in half over a period of twelve years, and step up recycling efforts. It faces fierce opposition from the plastics industry.