After years of legal back and forth, the state's congressional district maps have been finally been approved, and singed into law by the Governor.
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly: after years of legal back and forth, the state's congressional district maps have been finally been approved and signed into law by the Governor.
David Lombardo, host of WCNY's The Capitol Pressroom, and Jeff Wice, a senior fellow with the New York Law School’s Census and Redistricting Institute, explained the state of the district maps after the vote. The bipartisan map was redrawn by the legislature after rejecting the map from the state's independent redistricting panel.
"As we've heard from some Republican leaders around the state, we're unlikely to see a meaningful legal challenge to the lines that we've gotten this week from the state legislature. So the congressional maps that we've got are likely going to be the maps that we're running candidates on in November." said Lombardo.
"The Republicans have said that this plan doesn't have anything to it to go to court over, that the districts are fairer, that they comport with the law, and I think the wind is just out of the sails to keep going to court." said Wice.
Also this week, the governor announced a 20 million dollar project aimed at helping mental health providers set up clinics at schools around the state. Deborah Kavanaugh, an administrator at Mohonasen Central School District, explained that many students are still feeling the effects of the disruptions caused by the pandemic, and that she hopes the clinics can help them get back on track.
"We want our students to know what mental health looks like, where they can get support, what their red flags look like, and how they can cope. We want them to have their person in the school district, we want them to have their person in the school community. This is all about creating an opportunity for them to be connected to both people who understand, and also resources and people that can help them when they're feeling challenged by some of these mental health issues." said Kavanaugh.
To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York:
