They\u2019re running up the bill. <\/p>\n
Bronx residents in state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie\u2019s district decried spiking utility bills Monday \u2014 as the state Legislature pushes back on Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s cost-saving bid to delay New York\u2019s controversial climate law mandates.<\/p>\n
The complaints come as lawmakers, led by Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, are poised to split with Hochul over her push to delay the climate law, as well as to reform car insurance \u2014 two major sticking points in state budget talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything that you pay less is better for everybody,\u201d said Francisco Perez, 36, a Baychester resident visiting Heastie\u2019s constituent office.<\/p>\n
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has reached an impasse with Gov. Kathy Hochul over her push to delay the state\u2019s controversial climate law. Hans Pennink for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Perez groused that his utility bills have caused a financial strain as they shot up to $160 a month. He supports scrapping the climate law\u2019s mandates if it\u2019d lower his bills.<\/p>\n
As Hochul mounts a re-election bid this year, she\u2019s pushing her proposed climate law delay and car-insurance reform as voter-friendly \u201caffordability\u201d measures.<\/p>\n
The meat of Hochul\u2019s car-insurance proposal aims to cut New York\u2019s sky-high $4,000 yearly premiums by changing the state\u2019s squishy \u201cserious injury\u201d threshold \u2014 part of the state\u2019s broader rules that allow people to collect big bucks<\/a> for vaguely defined \u201cpain and suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n The proposal also calls to cap damages for pain and suffering claimed by drivers who are at-fault, uninsured or committing a felony as crashes occurred. And it proposes allowing prosecutors seek criminal penalties against any person responsible for staging crashes \u2014 a bid to crackdown on fraud.<\/p>\n But the marquee hangup appears to be the climate law delay.<\/p>\n Hochul wants to delay the climate law\u2019s mandates until 2040 \u2014 a move she argues will avert increases to already sky-high utility costs. Hans Pennink for NY Post<\/p>\n Albany lawmakers and Hochul likely will blow past an April 1 deadline to reach an agreement on the state budget. Hans Pennink for NY Post<\/p>\n Closed door talks began in earnest two weeks ago, though little progress was made in the first week as Hochul waited to lay out details of her proposal to effectively move back the state\u2019s Climate Act\u2019s 2030 targets.<\/p>\n