What you should know
- This Thursday marks the extended deadline for New York lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul to reach an agreement on the state budget. The decision should have been made three weeks ago, on April 1, but as no agreement was reached, emergency extensions had to be made three times.
- Lawmakers missed the original deadline to adopt a state budget due to disagreements over the governor’s proposals primarily to change the bail law and create new housing.
- While Governor Hochul’s office prefers to remain silent on the status of the negotiations for now, there is talk in the legislature of some progress.
NEW YORK — This Thursday marks the extended deadline for New York lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul to reach an agreement on the state budget. The decision should have been made three weeks ago, on April 1, but since no agreement was reached, emergency extensions had to be made three times, the last one was on Monday in which it was decided to extend it until April 20.
Lawmakers missed the original deadline to adopt a state budget due to disagreements over the governor’s proposals primarily to change the bail law and create new housing.
“Not only with respect to the bail law, but also with respect to the housing laws, because we know that we have had an affordable housing crisis in the state for several years, we want to take advantage of this budget to include measures that really help us to build the affordable housing that is needed,” said Senator Jessica Ramos.
While Governor Hochul’s office prefers to remain silent on the status of the negotiations for now, there is talk in the legislature of some progress.
They are negotiating to give judges more discretion in the bail law, more resources for affordable housing, create more charter schools, and what is off the table is universal health insurance for all state residents.
A negotiation that could take months, as has happened in the past, but an agreement is not ruled out soon.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has in the past highlighted the need for lawmakers to push back the deadline when he sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul urging her to take action to ensure 83,000 state workers are paid in time for the next payroll cycle. .
State legislators will not be paid until a budget is passed, DiNapoli’s office said.
There has been “zero movement in discussions” on any other issue besides bail and housing on a state budget that is now more than a week behind schedule, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters at the time. .
The bill has already been approved by the Assembly and is pending approval in the Senate.
