On Wednesday, Assembly members returned for a second day of extra session to wrap up the last of the important work that they didn’t have time to finish last week – like debating the merits of hunting coyotes. In fact, members spent more time discussing the topic than they did debating bills that would protect abortion care providers in New York and make it easier to appeal prior convictions.

For over an hour, Republicans peppered Assembly Member Deborah Glick with questions about her legislation to ban many wildlife-killing competitions in New York. A sponsor memo argues that most animals hunted for these competitions are discarded afterwards, and cites studies that say that such contests are not an effective means of population control while orphaning vulnerable offspring. At the end of the debate period, the legislation passed by a vote of 86-54.

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