Gov. Kathy Hochul [recently] convened an “extraordinary session” of the New York Legislature in a knee-jerk overreaction to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that determined New York’s gun-licensing laws to be unconstitutional. And in typical Albany fashion, a new level of dysfunction was reached. The public, the legislature and anyone not sitting at the governor’s negotiating table were left completely in the dark on the proposals being discussed. 

In some instances, it is necessary to convene an extraordinary session of the legislature outside of the normal legislative calendar. However, such activity must not be done in secret, with nearly no information about the substance of the bills being discussed made public. Certainly, the legislature should not be called back when there are no agreements in place, no legislation introduced.

Sadly, that’s exactly what happened [in this session]. The timeline [was] astonishing to those involved and insulting to the goals of an open, transparent government.

Lawmakers were told [June 24] they would be expected back in Albany for an extraordinary session on [June 30.]. Imagine their surprise when they came to work ready to debate and vote on legislation only to find there was no legislation submitted for consideration. Not only was there no specific bill text to study, but there was also not even an agreed-upon plan in place regarding the scope of the proposed legislation. Then to make matters even more chaotic, at 2 a.m. [the following] morning, in the dark of night while New Yorkers slept, Gov. Hochul announced she would introduce a measure to include the right to have an abortion in the state Constitution.

 From start to finish, the entire endeavor orchestrated by New York Democrats was wrong on every level — in process and in policy.

This legislative circus, unfortunately, likely does not surprise anyone who has been paying attention to New York’s government in recent months or years. The inability of the governor and majority conferences’ one-party rule to effectively facilitate quality, meaningful legislation has been glaringly obvious. Despite promising otherwise, Gov. Hochul has picked up right where her predecessor left off and continued to use back-door dealings and shadow lawmaking as her preferred method of governing. There isn’t even an attempt to be transparent.

For my entire legislative career, and especially as leader of the Assembly Minority Conference, I have advocated for a more open and transparent process. Late-night voting, rushed bills, and votes taken after the all-encompassing “message of necessity” has been invoked have moved from emergency measures to commonplace procedure. No one is well-served by this type of governance. It is long past time we eliminate lawmaking as an act of political convenience and restore it to its rightful role truly improving the quality of life of New York’s residents. What we saw again [in the extraordinary session] was not helpful and should never have happened.        

William (Will) A. Barclay, 53, Republican, is the New York Assembly minority leader and represents the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. 

The Supreme Court concluded its 2021 term with another blockbuster ruling, this time in West Virginia v. EPA, which struck down the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Clean Power Plan under the Obama administration that sought to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act even though the law never contemplated doing so.

In [this decision] the court restored Congress’ lawmaking power under Article I of the Constitution away from unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. agencies, eviscerating the administrative state.

The ruling struck down the EPA’s attempt “to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme” in regulating carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act without Congressional authorization. [Justice Roberts wrote,] “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible ‘solution to the crisis of the day.’… But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme in Section 111(d). A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”

It also appeared the case overturned the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, a narrow 5-4 ruling by then-Justice Anthony Kennedy that had opened the door for federal regulation of carbon emissions.

The Kennedy ruling set the stage for the 2009 carbon-endangerment finding by the EPA during the Obama administration, and the Clean Power Plan’s rules on new and existing power plants that defined carbon dioxide as a harmful pollutant under the terms of the Clean Air Act.

The goal was to incentivize coal plants to either be retrofitted to be natural-gas plants or else be shut down. But, as Roberts ultimately ruled, Congress never authorized the EPA to pursue such a goal, writing, “our precedent counsels skepticism toward EPA’s claim that Section 111 empowers it to devise carbon emissions caps based on a generation shifting approach. To overcome that skepticism, the Government must — under the major questions doctrine — point to ‘clear congressional authorization’ to regulate in that manner.”

But because there was no such Congressional authorization, the regulatory scheme was legally baseless — nothing more than a green house of cards that fell when put under judicial scrutiny of a Supreme Court finally composed with a solid constitutionalist majority.

To be sure, the Clean Power Plan gutted the American coal industry, wrecking particularly the economy of the state of West Virginia. In 2007, coal-generated electricity made up 49 percent of the total U.S. grid, while natural gas was just 21 percent, according to the Energy Information Administration. [As of} 2021, natural gas now makes up 38.3 percent of the grid, and coal is down to 21 percent.

In the meantime, we have rising demand for electricity, and yet the U.S. is not producing a single kilowatt hour (kWh) more than it was 15 years ago. Despite the U.S. population growing by 30 million to more than 331 million from 2007 to 2021, overall electricity generation in the U.S. has dropped from 4.005 trillion kWh in 2007 to 3.96 trillion kWh in 2021.

As a result, the consumer price index for electricity has increased by 29 percent since 2007, according to data compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

We have a self-imposed national electricity shortage, in large part caused by the Supreme Court, and now thankfully, the Supreme Court has finally undone it.       

Robert Romano is the VP of public policy at Americans for Limited Government (ALG). The organization says it is a “non-partisan, nationwide network committed to advancing free-market reforms, private property rights, and core American liberties.”