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The New York State Legislature held a joint public hearing in Albany Wednesday on the MTA and the transportation issues that have been plaguing west-of-Hudson riders of late. It’s been determined that area riders get about 70 cents’ worth of service for every dollar spent. North Rockland state senator James Skoufis questioned MTA officials about potential projects for the Hudson Valley area…

MTA’s managing director Ronnie Hakim said the projects senator Skoufis mentioned could get underway in the next five years…

Skoufis called the MTA the dirtiest, least reliable, slowest mass transit system in the industrialized world. For that, MTA’s president, Patrick Foye, apologized…

Local officials have ramped up their efforts to get better service for Rockland riders of late, particularly as a potential congestion pricing plan for the city and an increase in tolls on the new Tappan Zee Bridge are expected in the future.

Medicinal marijuana became available in a retail shop yesterday in Bardonia. Valley Agriceuticals’ shop called “Remedy” opened its doors at its newest New York location on Route 304 right across the street from a CVS pharmacy. President Erik Holling says medical marijuana deserves to be a normal part of people’s lives…

The company has shops in Newburgh, White Plains and elsewhere upstate and plans to open more. To get medical cannabis you need a recommendation from a registered health care provider and have a qualifying condition. They don’t have pot brownies or joints or marijuana gummies, just capsules, vape cartridges, and oils, as permitted by state law. The dispensary is open Monday through Saturday from 10 to 6.

Republican Rockland County legislators are suggesting they and their colleagues be limited to three 4-year terms. Minority Leader Lon Hofstein says a resolution will be introduced into committee…

Voters have sent mixed messages on the notion of term limits. A poll last year by McLaughlin & Associates found 82 percent of voters would support a constitutional amendment to limit terms for Congressional representatives. However, according to OpenSecret.org, since 1964, members of the House of Representatives have won re-election no less than 85 percent of the time.

A local lawmaker is concerned about a cut in the governor’s proposed budget that hasn’t gotten as much attention as some of his other ideas on guns or marijuana or other projects. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $176 billion budget would change how the state distributes “Aid and Incentives for Municipalities” funding, or AIM, which is given to local governments to use as they want. Rockland Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski says if the total given to any municipality doesn’t add up to more than 2 percent of its budget, it would be cancelled…

The governor called the funding cut minor, but a significant benefit to the state, saving 60 million dollars. Only two Rockland villages, New Square and West Haverstraw, would still get their funding. 

A Rockland lawmaker isn’t pleased that the governor’s budget proposal does not include a cost-of-living increase for those who work in the mental health field for the state. Rockland state senator David Carlucci called the governor’s failure to boost their pay troubling…

Carlucci said people with longer tenures in the mental health field offer better care with fewer cases of neglect and abuse, and therefore deserve competitive salaries.