ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, Governor Hochul’s controversial nomination for New York’s chief judge, Hector LaSalle, has been rejected again. The rejection came after a full state senate vote in what has become a lengthy process to find a Chief Judge for the State Court of Appeals.

Capitol Correspondent Jamie Deline joined Empire State Weekly to discuss the unfolding situation at the State Capitol. She explained the process to find the top judge in the state began soon after Hector LaSalle was nominated by Governor Hochul, with lawmakers grilling the judge in a five-plus hour committee hearing. Many members of the Governor’s party had expressed concern that Judge LaSalle held beliefs too conservative to earn their vote. Now that the senate rejected the nomination in a full vote, it is unclear who else the Governor may nominate to fill the position.

Also this week, Fred Kowal, the President of the United University Professions, a union representing professionals who work for colleges, shared his reaction to the Governor’s education spending plan. Kowal explained that while he welcomes the plan to increase spending for SUNY Schools, there is no funding to address the long-standing debt some schools in the system face. He said the debt goes back to the Great Recession in 2008 and was only made worse when cuts were made to the SUNY system under the Cuomo administration.

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