Lisa Tyson, the Long Island Progressive Coalition’s director, has suggested a number of reforms to limit campaign contributions to elected leaders from companies that do business with the government. more

Within a few days after you read this, New York state will have a new budget. It will mark the earliest budget passage in the past 30 years. more

Months after Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc and left behind heartache on Long Island, many Nassau and Suffolk County residents who suffered little, if any, damage in the storm are still going to be hit hard in the coming months — in their pocketbooks, with higher taxes. more

Parents have long warned their teens about the dangers of whiskey and heroin. But what about hand sanitizer? Or incense? Or high-alcohol-content beverages sold on supermarket shelves next to sports drinks? more

A CBS news poll found that almost 70 percent of Americans described 2011 as a “bad year.” Friends, I’m optimistic, and I predict that 2012 will be a better year. more

My last two columns, “As promised: keeping tabs” (June 30 – July 6) and “Is the bloom off the rose?” (July 21-27) provided information to evaluate the session-ending accomplishments of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Two fundamental questions were raised. Has there been a real transformation in addressing the way the “people’s business” is being managed in Albany? Do our political leaders really understand that the state of New York is still headed down a path of fiscal instability and requires levels of real reform hardly evident to date? more

Seventh-grade sports might have to be eliminated. The nine-period day might be reduced to eight. And teachers might have to be let go. After that, no one’s sure what might happen, but school districts will have to keep cutting. more

State Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. announced last Friday that legislation banning dangerous drop-side cribs in New York state has been signed by Gov. David Paterson. more

Legislation banning drop-side cribs passed in both houses of the State Legislature on Friday. A fatal design flaw in drop-side cribs killed two Bellmore-Merrick infants. more

Only a year ago, the New York State Legislature was wrangling behind closed doors over a deal to bail out the fiscally troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The agreement, which imposed a commuter payroll tax on counties served by the MTA, including Nassau County, was supposed to put the authority on a sound financial footing. more