Mayor Mike Bloomberg is the latest elected official to lobby Republicans in the New York State Senate to pass a bill to legalize gay marriage. Bloomberg said he told GOP senators who have been leaning against voting for same-sex marriage that, in the end, they will be on the wrong side of history if they do not change their minds and vote yes this session.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is wrapping up the first week of his statewide tour to tout his legislative agenda and taunt the legislature.  With stops in Syracuse and Buffalo so far, Cuomo has been talking up his agenda for a property tax cap, ethics reform and gay marriage while dressing down the legislature and the Capitol’s political culture.

New York's Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy told a major gay marriage rally at the State Capitol that his boss, Governor Andrew Cuomo, remains committed to the issue.

Advocates for same-sex marriage in New York got a boost from more than 700 members of the clergy, as Governor Cuomo says he’s optimistic that a marriage equality bill can become law this year.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced grants for the four State University Centers in New York. The schools will compete for a total of $140 million dollars for what Cuomo says will be “seed money” for plans to expand the centers and create jobs.

The State Senate held a panel discussion with major health care stakeholders, on how New York will implement the federal health care reforms proposed by President Obama and passed by Congress.

The federal health care reform act requires states to set up health care exchanges to give the uninsured access to the health care that they will be required to buy when the new law takes effect in 2014.

College students from around the state concerned about the natural gas extraction process known as hydro fracking presented Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office with petitions to study the practice more carefully.

Governor Cuomo may have achieved an on-time budget for only the third time in 25 years, but there is one April 1 deadline that he missed.

Former New York city Mayor Ed Koch launched robocall attacks on state legislators, many of them Senate Republicans, whom Koch says have violated a pledge they signed to back non-partisan redistricting. And it’s not just the Republicans who are wary of changes to the way New York designs it’s legislative and congressional district lines.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has settled his first union contract with the prison guards union, which includes benefit and pay concessions.

Senate Democrats, including Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan, are calling for public hearings next month on several ethics reform proposals that they say need to be passed this session.

Republicans in the Senate and Assembly are stepping up the pressure on Assembly Democrats to approve Governor Andrew Cuomo’s two-percent, across-the-board property tax cap for schools and local governments.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has made reforming New York City's rent laws a top priority. The Assembly made the first move in what will likely be long, drawn out negotiations, approving a one house bill that Silver said will ensure that more renters can stay in their homes. He said affordable housing is "disappearing" every day.

A federal government shutdown would have repercussions for New York, said the State’s Comptroller, who noted a long term federal stalemate could even threaten the precarious balance of the state budget.

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who now leads a reform group, declared the Leader of the State Senate "an enemy of reform," and said senators have broken a pledge to carry out non-partisan redistricting.

Governor Andrew Cuomo scored a major victory when he convinced the state legislature to approve a budget that closed a $10 billion dollar gap through cuts to health care and school aid. But some think the spending plan could have negative repercussions for the governor later on.

Lawmakers passed a budget in the early morning hours amid loud but peaceful protests. The $132.5 billion budget contains a 2 percent spending cut and eliminates $10 billion, with historic cuts to schools, public colleges, social service programs and health care.

State lawmakers planned to work into the evening in an attempt to finish up the state budget one day before the deadline. Hundreds of protesters, upset with budget cuts, marched and chanted, and decried the near- shutdown of access to the Senate and Assembly chambers.

Hundreds of New Yorkers are expected at the state Capitol Wednesday to protest the approval of a state budget that cuts schools by $1.2 billion dollars, makes reductions to public colleges and universities and tuition assistance programs and rejects a tax on millionaires.

As the days count down to the April 1 budget deadline, Governor Andrew Cuomo is making clear to lawmakers that the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government has shifted.