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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Today's "State of the State": Plenty on Spitzer's Plate

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Wednesday, January 9, 2008   

Albany, NY - College football season may be over, but New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is tackling a whole league of issues in his "State of the State" address today. He must balance social initiatives against a multi-billion dollar budget deficit.

Kristin Brown Lilly with the Empire Justice Center ticks off the issues: health insurance, education reform, legal services and sub-prime mortgage foreclosures, all in the face of a looming $4 billion deficit.

"The Governor will be proposing a bill to assist homeowners facing foreclosure, and help stop negative lending practices. We really see this as central to preserving New York's neighborhoods and the state's economy."

The State Assembly is proposing legislation that would create a rescue fund for homeowners facing sub-prime mortgage foreclosures, and provide them with housing-related counseling and legal services.

Empire Justice also supports Spitzer's challenge to the Bush Administration to allow extended health coverage for New York kids under S-CHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

"We know that the Governor is committed to providing coverage to children through the Child Health Plus program. We're excited to see what he's proposing, and we anticipate being able to work closely with his administration to do some good things on health care."

Lilly acknowledges that financial needs for these statewide social initiatives will have to be balanced against an expected budget deficit of nearly $4.5 billion.

"I think the Administration will have thought long and hard and carefully about how to cause as little pain as possible. It remains to be seen what innovative ideas they've come up with when we have such difficult economic conditions."

A detailed budget proposal is due from the governor at the end of the month, along with a second, "Upstate State of the State" address scheduled for Monday in Buffalo.

The Empire Justice Center is at www.empirejustice.org.




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