The 178th New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...

and the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, met from January 8, 1969, to April 20, 1970, during the eleventh and twelfth years of

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1938, and the U.S. Supreme Court decision to follow the

One man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

rule, re-apportioned in 1966 by order of the New York Court of Appeals, 57 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. Senate and Assembly districts consisted of approximately the same number of inhabitants, the area being apportioned without restrictions regarding county boundaries. At this time there were two major political parties: the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

and the Democratic Party. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, the

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

, the

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

and the Socialist Workers Party also nominated tickets.

Elections

The

New York state election, 1968 The 1968 New York state election was held on November 5, 1968, to elect a judge of the New York Court of Appeals and a U.S. Senator, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Nominations The Republican ...

, was held on November 5. The only two statewide elective offices up for election were a seat on the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by ...

and a

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before th ...

. The incumbent office-holders were re-elected: Judge

Adrian P. Burke Adrian Paul Burke (October 2, 1904 in The Bronx, New York City – September 3, 2000 in Lauderhill, Broward County, Florida) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He was the son of Thomas F. Burke and Rose Mary (Daw) Burke. He graduated from ...

, a Democrat with Republican, Liberal and Conservative endorsement; and U.S. Senator

Jacob K. Javits Jacob Koppel Javits ( ; May 18, 1904 – March 7, 1986) was an American lawyer and politician. During his time in politics, he represented the state of New York in both houses of the United States Congress. A member of the Republican Party, he a ...

, a Republican with Liberal endorsement. The approximate party strength at this election, as expressed by the vote for U.S. Senator, was: Republicans/Liberals 3,270,000; Democrats 2,151,000; Conservatives 1,139,000; Peace and Freedom 9,000; Socialist Labor 8,000; and Socialist Workers 5,000. Two of the four women members of the previous legislature—Assemblywomen Constance E. Cook (Rep.), a lawyer of

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

; and

Gail Hellenbrand Gail Hellenbrand (August 27, 1921 – December 29, 1996) was an American politician from New York. Early life and education She was born Gail Abbey Ginsberg on August 27, 1921, in Brooklyn. She attended Manual Training High School and Spencer-Ea ...

(Dem.), of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

—were re-elected. Rosemary R. Gunning (Cons.), a lawyer of

Ridgewood, Queens Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick and East Williamsburg. Historically, the neighborhood st ...

; and

Mary Anne Krupsak Mary Anne Krupsak (born March 26, 1932) is an American lawyer and politician from New York. She was Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1975 to 1978. She was the first woman to hold the office. Early life She was born on March 26, 1932, in Sch ...

(Dem.), a lawyer of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, were also elected to the Assembly. The New York state election, 1969, was held on November 4. The only statewide elective office up for election was a seat on the

. Two vacancies in the Assembly were filled.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 192nd) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1969; and recessed on March 30. The Legislature met again on April 15; and adjourned ''sine die'' on May 2. Perry B. Duryea, Jr. (Rep.) was elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

Earl W. Brydges Earl William Brydges (May 25, 1905 – March 30, 1975) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Temporary President and Majority Leader of the State Senate from 1966 to 1972. Early life Earl William Brydges was born on May 25 ...

(Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate. On March 28, the Legislature increased the state sales tax by 1 percentage point. Democrats Charles F. Stockmeister and Albert J. Hausbeck voted with the Republicans and subsequently were ostracised by their party. Stockmeister was appointed by Gov. Rockefeller to the Civil Service Commission on July 3, 1969. Hausbeck changed parties in 1970, and was re-elected to the Assembly on the Republican and Conservative tickets in November 1970. On December 3, 1969, the Court of Appeals did not allow a re-apportionment of the legislative districts which the Republican majorities in both Houses intended to enact in time to be used for the elections in November 1970. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 193rd) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1970; and adjourned ''sine die'' on April 20. On April 9, 1970, the Assembly passed a bill allowing

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

without restrictions until 24 weeks of pregnancy.''Abortion Reform is Voted by the Assembly, 76 to 73''
in ''The New York Times'' on April 10, 1970 (subscription required) The Senate passed the bill on April 10, and Gov. Rockefeller signed it on April 11, thus becoming the law.

State Senate

Senators

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Jess J. Present changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of the session. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Secretary: Albert J. Abrams

State Assembly

Assembly members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: Donald A. Campbell

Notes

Sources

''Assembly winners'' and ''Senate leaders''
in ''The Geneva Times'', of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, on November 6, 1968 {{NYLegislatures

178 Year 178 ( CLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scipio and Rufus (or, less frequently, year 931 ''Ab urbe cond ...

1969 in New York (state) 1970 in New York (state) 1969 U.S. legislative sessions 1970 U.S. legislative sessions