Legislature prepares for session with elections looming

The Ithaca Journal wrote an article that highlights the Senate Republicans rejection of the formation of an independent redistricting task force, which was proposed by Senate Democrats. Senator Gianaris believes that redistricting reform is an urgent matter and that Senate Republicans have abandoned their promise to fix it.

Lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have spent recent months touting their legislative accomplishments in 2011: an on-time budget, a 2 percent property tax cap, a revamped income tax code and a sense of renewed collegiality in a Capitol long known for its partisanship.

That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't plenty on the table for 2012.

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"One of the most urgent and most important issues we have to deal with is redistricting reform," said Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Queens Democratic heading his conference's re-election efforts. "It's something that is required of us, something we all overwhelmingly promised to fix and something Senate Republicans unanimously abandoned."

Read the full article here.