Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helene E. Weinstein will hold the first hearing in a series of 13 hearings on the 2019-2020 Executive Budget on Wednesday, January 23rd, at 9:30 a.m. in Hearing Room B of the Legislative Office Building, Albany.

During the Environmental Conservation Hearing, government officials and representatives of environmental, conservation and state park advocacy groups from across the state will have an opportunity to address the Senate and Assembly fiscal committees.

These joint hearings will continue through February 12th and will be available for viewing on the Senate and Assembly websites. The Legislative Channel (on cable systems throughout the state) also will carry the proceedings, which will be preempted when the houses are in session. At the conclusion of the legislative deliberations, the channel will resume televised coverage of the hearings.

Testimony is scheduled from New Your State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos; New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Commissioner Rose Harvey; and New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball.

Also among those testifying are New York State Public Service Commission Chair John B. Rhodes and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President and CEO Alicia Barton.

Also providing testimony are Elizabeth Wolters, Deputy Director of Public Policy, New York Farm Bureau; Samantha Levy, New York Policy Manager, American Farmland Trust; Jessica Ottney Mahar, Director of Policy, The Nature Conservancy; Daniel Gatti, Senior Transportation Analyst, Union of Concerned Scientists; and Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

Others expected to testify include Peter Iwanowicz, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of New York; Patrick McClellan, NYS policy director, New York League of Conservation Voters; Sarah Braymer, Park Program Director, Parks and Trails New York; and Richard Schrader, Legislative Director, National Resource Defense Council.