Senate To Take Up Paid Surrogacy Tuesday
Albany Update has previously reported on the ongoing effort to legalize paid surrogacy in New York. A vote on the paid surrogacy bill is planned in the State Senate on Tuesday, June 11 despite the fact that, as of June 10, the bill has not been acted upon by any Senate Committee. Furthermore, the Senate’s…
Cuomo Takes ‘Pride’ In LGBT Activism
New York’s legislative session is scheduled to end June 19, 2019. Do you know what your Governor is up to? If you guessed, “Working on LGBT issues,” you’d be right. So far this year, Gov. Cuomo has signed the Bathroom Bill and the Counselor Coercion Bill into law. Apparently, however, he is not satisfied with…
Legislative Session Enters Last Lap
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has laid out his priorities for the remainder of the state legislative session, which is scheduled to end on June 19. As usual, the Governor’s priorities are questionable at best. However, his words offer some encouraging signs for Christian New Yorkers. On May 28, Gov. Cuomo stated that his end-of-session priorities include…
Cuomo Brings Pressure To Bear On Paid Surrogacy
The 2019 state legislative session is scheduled to conclude on June 19, 2019. As the final days of the session wind down, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling for the passage of paid surrogacy legislation. At a May 22 LGBTQ fundraiser in the Manhattan neighborhood known as Hell’s Kitchen, Gov. Cuomo—in his typically heavy-handed manner—asserted that…
New Hope Family Services May Be Heading To Appeal
On May 16, 2019, U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino dismissed the federal lawsuit filed by New Hope Family Services. New Hope Family Services, a Christian adoption agency based in Syracuse, had sued to challenge state regulations requiring agencies not to “discriminate” on the basis of marital status or sexual orientation in connection with adoption placements.…
Sports Gambling Gains Yards in Senate Gaming Committee
On May 13, 2019, a bill that would allow gambling casinos to offer sports betting on digital devices was approved by the New York State Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee. Bill S.17-A-Addabbo/A.6113-A-Pretlow would: Require each casino that offers mobile sports betting to pay the state a $12 million license fee and a 0.2% royalty…
Youth Depression And Attempted Suicide On The Rise
Earlier this year, the Journal of Abnormal Psychology published a disturbing study showing that depression and suicide attempts have markedly increased among American youth in recent years. The causes for this increase are disputed. The study points to suicide contagion, “the phenomenon by which exposure to one suicide death can trigger suicidal behavior in others.”…
Adoption Tax Deduction Bill On The Move
As a Christian organization that promotes strong families, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms advocates for pro-adoption public policy. Over the years, we have lobbied in Albany for bills that would address financial concerns that might discourage families from adoption. While the State Legislature has repeatedly passed such bills, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has repeatedly vetoed them.…
Bethany Christian Services Compromises Biblical Principles
Proverbs 24:10: “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” The topic of today’s Albany Update is compromise. In some circumstances, compromise is a good thing. Philippians 2:4 says, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others”. As Christians seek to live…
Christian Business Owners Should Not Capitulate To LGBT Demands
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms and other like-minded organizations around the country work tirelessly to thwart extremist LGBT legislation, both locally and nationally. However, legislation is only one of the avenues used by LGBT activists in an effort to influence American society. LGBT activists also exert influence on American employers by pressuring them to adopt…
Raging Cuomo Rejects Trump’s Transgender Healthcare Changes
The Trump administration is taking aim at yet another ill-advised Obama-era executive action. Predictably, Gov. Andrew Cuomo isn’t happy about it. The Affordable Care Act (President Barack Obama’s signature health care law) banned sex discrimination in certain health care activities. Significantly, a federal rule “interpreted” this sex discrimination ban to include a ban on—you guessed…
Court Rules Favorably In Private School Case
Christian schools and other nonpublic schools recently won an important case in a state trial court in Albany. On April 17, 2019, State Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba found that so-called “guidelines” issued by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) in November 2018 regarding the monitoring of nonpublic schools violated state law. On that…
NYCF’s May Prayer Needs
During the month of May, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms humbly asks that our friends and supporters throughout the Empire State remember the following prayer requests: That the 2019 legislative session would come to an end without the passage of any more destructive and ungodly laws; Specifically, that bills to legalize recreational marijuana, paid surrogacy,…
Assembly GOP Advocacy Aids Gold Star Families
Earlier this month, the New York State Assembly Higher Education Committee voted 15-11 to kill the Gold Star Family Bill. The Gold Star Family Bill (Bill S.193-Ortt/A.2991-Hawley) would expand an existing law that provides free college tuition at SUNY and CUNY schools to surviving spouses, children, and dependents of New Yorkers who have died, become…
‘Mayor Pete’ Criticizes Vice President Pence’s Christian Faith
Recently, a longshot Democratic presidential candidate criticized Vice President Mike Pence for his Christian beliefs and contradicted Biblical doctrine at the same time. Pete Buttigieg, the 37-year-old Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is an Episcopalian who is “married” to a male partner. At a recent LGBT event, Buttigieg said: “I can tell you that if…
Manhattan Parents Object To Sex Ed Without Parental Consent
A recent article in the New York Daily News raises questions about parental involvement in public school education. According to the article, a teacher at Public School 184 in Manhattan showed a video about abortion to her fifth-grade dance class without prior parental notice. The video appears to have been created with a pro-life purpose…