New York lawmakers agreed to pass a short-term spending bill Monday to ensure state workers get paid this week after Legislature leaders failed to reach a broader budget deal with Gov. Kathy. Hochul.
The state’s fiscal year began Friday, but Hochul and lawmakers failed to implement a roughly $216 billion spending plan as they bickered over major issues like reforming controversial bail bond law, New York City casinos and a controversial proposed $600 million state subsidy for a new football stadium for the Buffalo Bills.
The talks are taking place behind closed doors, as has been the tradition in New York, where the governor, the Senate leader and the Assembly speaker make important decisions of billions of dollars.
The office of State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli warned that some 62,000 state workers could have had their paychecks interrupted this week if a budget had not been approved by 4 pm Monday.
With a year’s budget out of reach, lawmakers agreed to a $360 million short-term plan that runs over the next three days, though the Assembly missed the comptroller’s deadline by more than an hour, raising the possibility that some workers may see their pay a day late.
“At this point, we really didn’t have a lot of options,” said state Sen. Diane Savino, a Democrat representing Staten Island. “If we don’t approve an extension, then the government technically closes. So we have no choice. We have to do it”.
The budget extension will keep the state payroll funded through Thursday, at which point Hochul and lawmakers hope to reach a full budget deal.
Speaking to the Capitol press corps for the first time in 10 days, Hochul rejected the notion that this year’s budget process was particularly secretive.
“This is a very normal process and we are going through what we think will be a very good budget,” Hochul said after receiving his second COVID booster shot on Capitol Hill. “It will be resolved in a matter of days. We’re getting close.”
Meanwhile, much of Hochul’s negotiating team contracted COVID last week, though the governor said most are resuming activities.
Lawmakers have expressed frustration that Hochul dropped two important issues in budget talks in the weeks and days leading up to the budget’s due date.
The first came in mid-March, when Hochul laid out a 10-point plan that she said would improve public safety in New York. But the plan included significant changes to recent bail reforms, which progressive lawmakers are reluctant to change.
Then last week, Hochul announced a deal with the Buffalo Bills to build a new $1.4 billion stadium for the NFL club. Of that, taxpayers would pay $850 million, including $600 million from the state, which would need to be approved in the budget.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat who represents the North Bronx, has expressed frustration with governors forcing policy issues into the state budget when they have little to do with New York’s finances. Speaking to reporters Monday, he said that creates tension between the state Legislature and the governor’s office. However, he expressed confidence that they would soon reach a consensus.
“Sometimes it’s not always sunshine and rainbows in those discussions,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you have a job to do. And we will get there.”
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