ALBANY—There isn't much of a crowd at today's meeting of the State Senate's temporary rules reform committee, where members are hearing testimony from good-government advocates. Blair Horner, legislative director for the New York Public Interest Research Group, spoke about the need to apportion staff and office budgets equally, with differences in accounting for district size and ...

ALBANY—Here's another Obama first: first NYPIRG alum to become president. According to Legislative Director Blair Horner, Obama worked for a semester at the organization's City College branch in 1985, after he graduated from Columbia College. (He's the first Columbia College alum to be President, too.) "You hope he does a good job," Horner said. "I think ...

Blair Horner of the good-government group NYPIRG was just on Fred Dicker's Talk 1300 radio show, saying that Tom Golisano may "undermine his own efforts" if "he gets caught up in the courts." Golisano, who pledged yesterday to put $5 million towards State Senate races, mainly in western New York, says he's launching a political action committee. Horner ...