With State Senate in Dem Hands, Cuomo Sees the Light on Legal Pot
*By Carlo Versano*
Sensing the shifting political winds, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning to introduce a "green new deal" that would legalize recreational pot as part of the inaugural speech he will [deliver](https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-cuomo-budget-state-of-state-addresses-20181209-story.html) from Ellis Island on New Year's Day.
Michael Gianaris, a New York state senator from Queens and member of the new Democratic majority in Albany, told Cheddar that "the time has come" for the Empire State to move forward on pot legalization.
"It's something that people are doing anyway," he said, arguing that the tax revenue generated from pot sales could help act as a form of "recompense" for minority communities adversely affected by decades of Draconian drug laws.
Will Bredderman of Crain's New York Business has been [covering](https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/cuomo-reveal-green-new-deal-marijuana-states-2019-agenda) Cuomo's changing attitudes on marijuana, which the governor called a "gateway drug" just last year.
Now, with the state senate in the hands of Democrats after being controlled by Republicans more or less uninterrupted since the 1970s, liberal groups see this as the moment to chalk up a "fairly easy win" on an issue held dear to many progressives, according to Bredderman.
If New York legalizes marijuana for recreational use, experts believe it could bring in somewhere between $200 million and $700 million a year. That sounds like a lot, but think of it like this: the plan to modernize New York City's failing subway system calls for $40 *billion* in funding.
"It's really not that much money," Bredderman said. The bigger gain would be in jobs created and income tax generated ー from growing facilities to retail dispensaries. "That has potential to be quite large."
There's also what Bredderman called the "spin-off effects" from taking pot off the black market and easing enforcement of low-level marijuana offenses, which some state DAs have already committed to doing.
For Cuomo, the real win would be in the realm of politics, especially after the primary, in which he easily dispatched challenger Cynthia Nixon but was pressured by her supporters to move leftward for his final term in office. Marijuana legalization in a state like New York is likely to have bipartisan support, Bredderman said, and is widely popular among New Yorkers across demographics.
"A lot of people smoke marijuana," he said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-new-york-be-next-to-legalize-recreational-marijuana).
Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning his comeback. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former New York governor and his aides are considering how to make his first public appearance since he abruptly resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations. Jake Lahut, politics reporter for Insider, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss Cuomo's potential return to politics.
The pressure is on for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - after his closest aides handed in their resignations this week.
It comes after a report found that 16 parties had taken place at Downing Street while Covid lockdown protocols were in place in the region. Ari Aramesh, Attorney & National Security/Foreign Policy Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden has ordered about 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia refuses to back off its pressure on Ukraine. The deployments to Poland, Germany, and Romania are a show of support to NATO allies concerned about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is in addition to the 8,500 troops put on high alert. David Tafuri, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former State Department official, joined Cheddar to discuss what this move means for U.S.-Russia relations.
After tennis player Peng Shuai made an explicit sexual assault allegation toward a former Chinese government official, she disappeared from the public eye. Her recent reappearance with the IOC alongside a Chinese Olympic committee official raised eyebrows and renewed concerns for her safety. Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Peng Shuai's retraction and the various human rights controversies swirling at the Beijing games. "It's clear that the IOC was working with Beijing to make sure that she did not express herself freely," Chang said. "So really this is the IOC being complicit in these mechanisms of control over Peng."
The opening ceremony of the 2022 winter Olympics has kicked off at the Beijing national stadium. 150,000 spectators are in attendance for the games inside the 'closed loop' system separating Olympic personnel from the public. Cheddar News spoke with Brian Cazenueve, Sports Illustrated contributor, to share the highlights you may have missed and much more.
The Biden Administration is set to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from foreign-owned apps, mainly Tiktok. This comes after the White House opted not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video sharing platform. Under these new rules, federal oversight would be expanded to explicitly include apps that could be used by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data. Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Craig Singleton, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
After two NYPD officers were killed with an illegal gun, President Biden made a trip to New York City to speak on the issue of gun violence fed by the "iron pipeline" of illegal firearms that make their way from the South to the Big Apple. Kris Brown, the president of the gun violence prevention organization Brady United, joined Cheddar to discuss what this visit from the president could mean for the future of gun laws in America. "He's asked Congress to pass things like expanding the Brady background check system, but with the filibuster a barrier to so much action right now in the Congress, he's looking at solutions that involve funding at the federal level and really involve enforcement."
