The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is pushing Indian Point to make some safety upgrades. This week the commission decided to stop granting the plant exemptions for certain regulations, and also reassessed its earthquake standards. Former Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has been an outspoken critic of Indian Point, and said he’d like to see the NRC continue stepping up its enforcement.

Following a massive public outcry, Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure decided to keep Planned Parenthood eligible for grant money. Dianne Patterson of Family Planning Advocates of New York is confident that this means Planned Parenthood will continue to receive grants from the foundation- but does not think this will be the last fight over funding for Planned Parenthood.

Governor Cuomo included a four percent increase in education funding in his executive budget. But some advocates are concerned that not enough of that money is going to high-need school. Alliance for Quality Education Executive Director Billy Easton and Cecelia Tkaczyk, President of the Duanesburg Central School Board of Education, discuss their concerns.

This week the new ethics watchdog, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, picked a new executive director. They chose state Inspector General Ellen Biben. David Grandeau, who headed the state lobbying commission under Governor Pataki, says he thinks Biben is a great choice.

Following the overhaul of the personal income tax code in December, progressive groups have turned their attention to corporate taxes. And they’re pointing to a new report that says some large companies are paying a lower rate than middle-class families. Matthew Gardner is the author of that report.