ALBANY — This is the latest a state budget has been in 16 years, and on Thursday New York’s lawmakers voted on another temporary extender to keep things running until Monday, then left town.
Governor Kathleen C. Hochul met reporters last Thursday to outline a ‘general agreement’ on major policy issues, with a suggestion that the final deal, and the actual budget legislation to be voted on, would be coming in short order.
That hasn’t happened as negotiations continued behind closed doors. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, on Tuesday said that things were not yet done, and on Thursday Senate Majority Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris, D-Queens, said that chances were “very slim” that all the legislation would come together by Memorial Day, May 25.
The delay is pushing budget talks closer and closer to the end of session this year, which is June 4. Both houses of the legislature have passed hundreds of fewer bills than they do in a typical year. While both houses typically pick up the pace after budget talks end, as of Thursday there are only 12 voting days left this year.
The Assembly Minority Leader, Ed P. Ra, R-Garden City, blasted the long delay in a statement after the chambers voted on Thursday.
“The Legislature passed its 12th budget extender today. A competent, functional government would need to pass zero. Now 44 days past the April 1 deadline, Democrats are entering a level of historic dysfunction,” he said. “It’s possible that on Tuesday, New Yorkers will vote on their local school budgets before legislators vote on a state budget bill. This is state government at its worst.”
He criticized the last-minute tweaks that will give $4 billion more in operating revenue to New York City, mostly in changes that will allow the city to save on mandatory expenses. He also criticized the lack of transparency in the process; no real details on the policy or financial specifics of the negotiations are being shared publicly, with details only coming in bits from some senior lawmakers, the legislative leaders and the Governor.
“We will soon be tasked with reviewing thousands of pages of budget language before making decisions that will impact millions of New Yorkers,” Ra said. “The people of this state deserve more than chaos and delays; they deserve a government that plans responsibly and delivers.”