Politics and Government

Governor Andrew Cuomo says he is taking steps to speed up insurance claims processing after Superstorm Sandy. Cuomo says 360,000 Sandy victims have filed insurance claims for damage to their homes, cars and other property.  And he says insurance companies have not been quick enough to respond.

Governor Andrew Cuomo says he is staying out of the on-going battle for control of the New York state Senate, maintaining that he will work with whoever ultimately wins the struggle.

A legal expert says that the Cuomo administration’s move to delay for another 90 days the decision on whether to allow hydrofracking in New York makes sense. Meanwhile, some health care professionals say a review underway on the health effects of fracking is a sham.

The state’s environmental agency confirms it will miss a key deadline and delay approval of hydrofracking in New York once again. Anti-fracking forces see an opportunity in the new delay, while those waiting to benefit economically from the gas drilling process are feeling frustrated.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says a health study of hydrofracking will make it impossible to meet a looming deadline for regulations on the drilling process, which would pushing a much-delayed decision on the contentious issue into 2013.

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has notched another win in her efforts to get the city's major nonprofits to begin chipping in for the city services they use.

Gas drilling companies in New York state says they’re “exhausted” by a more than four-year long review process on whether to allow hydrofracking in New York, that they say they now fear will drag on into 2013.

Advocates for a minimum wage hike rallied at the state Capitol Monday, amid growing signals that there might not be a special session to deal with the issue, or any items at all this year.

The new frontier in international diplomacy is something called "public diplomacy"--it involves expanding the domain and practitioners of diplomacy beyond traditional government-to-government communication, and threatens the long-standing emphasis on controlling the message.  Tara Sonenshine, the State Department's Undersecretary for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy, guides the United States' efforts in this area.

A leading Democratic Senator says wayward Democrats should get in line with the others in their party, and form a majority to run the Senate when the new session starts in January.