Here is what you might have missed from this week in state and local politics:

Kasich campaigns in Syracuse

Presidential candidate and Ohio Gov. John Kasich is set to come to Syracuse on Friday night for a town hall meeting. Announced earlier this week, the event will be held in Le Moyne College’s Campus Center, according to Syracuse.com.

Kasich is trailing both of his Republican opponents with a delegate count of 143. GOP candidates need 1,237 to secure the Republican nomination.

Donald Trump also announced this week that he would campaign in Syracuse. The time and location of the rally has not been announced, but it is scheduled for April 16.

 

Governor prohibits state travel to Mississippi

New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned all state-funded travel to Mississippi on Wednesday in reaction to the state’s anti-LGBT legislation. Only essential travel there is prohibited while the law is in place, according to the governor’s executive order.

The Mississippi law allows for discrimination against the LGBT community and unmarried individuals, according to the executive order.

Cuomo announced a travel ban to North Carolina last week for similar reasons.

 

$10 million downtown revitalization program

New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the implementation of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative on Thursday, which was first proposed in this 2016 State of the State address. The initiative will give funds to a chosen downtown in multiple New York state regions.

One region set to receive these funds is central New York. The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council will choose which community receives the $10 million grant, according to a press release.

 

Lobbying report is released

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) released its annual lobbying report on Thursday. The report outlined how much money was spent on lobbying in New York state during 2015.

There were 6,119 individual lobbyists and a record $243.1 million dollars was spent on lobbying state and local governments, according to the report. This represented an 8 percent increase from 2014.

 

Crackdown on distracted driving is effective

A concentrated effort to crackdown on cellphone use while driving has resulted in a 840 percent increase in in tickets for texting while driving in New York state since 2011, according to a press release. In 2015, 84,720 tickets were issued for texting while driving.

The number of tickets issued for general cellphone use, though, has decreased every year since 2011.

State and local law enforcement will be participating in Operation Hang Up, a “high-visibility distracted driving crackdown,” from April 8 to 13.

Published on April 8, 2016 at 7:47 pm

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu