Legislation would push elections to even years

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, new proposed legislation would change when several local elections take place. The bill would push some elections held on odd years to even years.

State Senator James Skoufis, representative for District 42, sponsored the bill to move local elections to even years, the same years that larger statewide federal elections and national elections are held. He argued the move would increase voter turnout in a "broken" system.

"We need to fix it because it is broken. And you just have to go back three weeks to see how broken it is, where you had 20-30% turnout, per usual, in these odd-year elections, so a small minority of eligible voters coming out and choosing who should be running the town's offices, the county's offices for the entire community, 100% of the community" Said Skoufis.

Also this week Tomoko Udo, an associate Professor at UAlbany's School Of Public Health gave additional insight on the outlook of respiratory illnesses heading into the winter. According to recent data from the National Respiratory Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) current RSV cases total more than COVID and flu cases in the state.

"This is not one of those virus where once you get it you're set. It keeps changing the way it gets into your body and your body may not be able to recognize the virus when it comes in… And so that's another reason it's important to get the updated vaccine so that your immune system can respond appropriately when it's exposed to the virus" Said Udo.

To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: