N.Y. legislative leaders predict budget progress next week, spending plan nearly four weeks late
Apr. 25—ALBANY — New York's legislative leaders said they're nearly finished with debates over the last parts of the state budget, and could deliver a package of bills for review and approval next week.
It's a light at the end of the tunnel for months of closed-door negotiations on the now nearly four-week overdue state spending plan that is looking to collect and spend upward of $250 billion for fiscal year 2025-26 and make some heavily debated changes to various state laws.
Discussions are nearing their end but not completed yet. The governor, Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker met for hours on Thursday afternoon and on Friday, wrapping up discussions on a variety of topics that they've largely declined to outline publicly with much specificity.
Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul told reporters in the Capitol late Friday that "the process is closing down." Senate Majority Leader Andrea A. Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie gave limited comments to the press in the halls of the Capitol. What they have said indicates that they intend to continue conversations into the weekend and hope to have the legislation put together for voting next week.
"Most of the top line is done," Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, told reporters Friday. "The other areas all need to be cleaned up."
The leaders said on Thursday that they intended to continue discussions virtually over the weekend in anticipation of finalizing the spending plan next week.
For nearly a month now, lawmakers have struggled to come to an agreement on four main topics: involuntary commitment changes, a criminal mask ban, changes to trial discovery laws and a statewide school cellphone ban. Along the way, Hochul, who is empowered to write and submit the budget legislation for approval in the Senate and Assembly, has sought to add in further policy items not directly related to state spending, like lowering the age to hire a corrections officer from 21 to 18, and expanding the state's good behavior and merit time programs to shave down incarcerated people's sentences.
Hochul's remarks to reporters Friday indicate that most of those issues have been nailed down, but she didn't list the mask ban as a settled topic, saying that topic had come up later in discussions and was still being debated. Hochul said her "affordability agenda," which included a number of measures aimed at cutting taxes and costs for average New York families, was also settled Friday.
Hochul has, since April 1, submitted short-term extender bills to fund state government along the terms of last year's state spending plan while discussions continue. Lawmakers passed another short-term extension through Tuesday, and could either start passing budget bills by then or pass another extender to continue discussions.
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