In the News

Deadbeat drivers racked up $5.1 billion in unpaid MTA tolls and violations over four years — a number likely sent skyrocketing since “cashless” systems replaced the old payment booths, records reveal. The flailing Metropolitan Transportation Authority estimated total uncollected “toll violations” at more than $1.4 billion in 2024 alone and $3.7 billion combined from 2021 through 2023,… Read more »

Republican lawmakers from high-tax New York and New Jersey are pushing to hike the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap for their residents to as much as $100,000 as part of President-elect Donald Trump’s highly anticipated tax package later this year. The GOP lawmakers, who flew down to Palm Beach, Fla, last weekend for some face time with the incoming president, are… Read more »

Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) preemptively slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul’s “State of the State” speech Tuesday — deeming her promises as worthless as her leadership. “She is a feckless and failed governor who needs to be replaced in 2026,” he said in the Albany state Capitol building hours before the governor’s big, policy-setting speech. Lawler, a Republican who is eyeing a… Read more »

Representative Brittany Pettersen, a second-term Colorado Democrat, was not planning to have a second child at the age of 43. “As if our life wasn’t complicated enough!” she said with a laugh as she arranged herself on a couch in her office on Capitol Hill earlier this week, staring down at her pregnant belly just weeks from her due date. She blamed the “mistake” on the confusion of… Read more »

A key Republican congressman is reintroducing legislation to increase the write-off on state-and-local dues for federal taxpayers, doubling down on a proposal to partially restore relief for individuals and families in high-tax states.  Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), a swing vote on Republicans’ marquee tax package this year, re-filed his bill that would increase the current… Read more »

Congressman Mike Lawler (R-Pearl River) said late last week that he will support House Speaker Mike Johnson to retain his role and called out Republican hardliners who have called for Johnson’s ouster as leader. Speaking late last week on WABC Radio’s Cats & Cosby show, Lawler urged all of his GOP colleagues to put aside petty party differences and confirm Johnson as speaker when the… Read more »

As 2024 comes to a close, Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R., La.) allies looked back on a series of his high and low-profile wins that capped an unusual 118th Congress — accomplishments that will be at the forefront of Johnson’s case that he should be reelected as Speaker of the House when Congress reconvenes in January. The biggest ace in Johnson’s hole is that President Donald Trump… Read more »

Prospects looked promising earlier this year for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, the bipartisan legislation that passed the House by a 320-91 vote in May, following shocking scenes of anti-Israel protests on college campuses. The bill was buoyed by advocacy from major American Jewish organizations amid a nationwide wave of antisemitism. The legislation codifies a Trump-era executive… Read more »

A Republican congressman has introduced a student loan reform bill that, if enacted, could benefit millions of borrowers through lower interest rates. Rather than provide immediate relief via student loan forgiveness of a borrower’s principal balance, the Affordable Loans For Students Act would significantly reduce federal student loan interest rates going forward. The… Read more »

Hudson Valley Congressman Mike Lawler (R, NY-17) has introduced legislation that will lower the interest rate on federal student loans from 3.5 percent to one percent. The Affordable Loans for Students Act will retroactively apply the interest rate adjustment to outstanding loans while authorizing the Department of Education to modify the interest rate and refinance student loans… Read more »