Albany, N.Y. - State lawmakers will return to Albany today as this year's legislative session gets underway.
In the Assembly, Republicans have chosen Central New York Assemblyman William Barclay to be their new minority leader. He previously served as deputy minority leader and was also the top GOP lawmaker on the Ways and Means Committee. Currently, Democrats outnumber Republicans in the Assembly by a wide margin.
Governor Cuomo will be laying out his agenda for 2020 when he gives his State of the State address in Albany this afternoon. Over the last few weeks, the governor has revealed some of the issues he'll be addressing in today's speech. They include lowering prescription drug costs, bringing high-speed rail to the Empire State, combating the opioid crisis and keeping guns away from dangerous criminals.
The governor may also reveal a plan to close the state's multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall. The roughly $6 billion budget gap that was mostly caused by four billion dollars in Medicaid overspending. The governor's office hasn't said whether he's in favor of raising taxes to cut the deficit.
Other items on the Legislature's agenda are expected to be criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization, education and new vaccination laws.
This year's legislative session runs from Wednesday until June 2nd.