NYS Budget Update 

On Thursday, the Legislature passed a tenth budget extender (A.8115/S.7707) allowing for emergency appropriations through Wednesday, May 7. Assembly Ways and Means Chair Gary Pretlow indicated this should be the last budget extender before a final budget is passed. Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger reiterated that she really hopes budget bills are printed and ready to be voted on by Monday of next week or shortly then after, but could not confirm for certain.

Despite Governor Hochul’s announcement on Monday that a general budget agreement had been reached, a handful of issues still need to be ironed out including school aid, several housing issues, the question of whether the State’s unemployment insurance debt owed to the federal government will be paid off, and DOCCS reform. The DOCCS reforms being negotiated include expanding early releases based on merit time and lowering the age a correctional officer can work from 21 to 18 to address the shortage of workers after the weekslong strikes. Additionally, the Governor is now seeking the authority to cut up to $2 billion in state spending without legislative approval to be able to respond swiftly to emergency situations like increased costs caused by tariffs and federal cuts to state aid.

NYC Mayoral Race Update

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo continues to hold a commanding lead in the polls for NYC mayor with 34% of voters supporting him followed by Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani with 16% of voters supporting the Assemblymember. The rest of the contenders all polled in the single digits. Cuomo’s lead comes despite a technical error denying him millions in public matching funds, which has since been addressed. Mamdani raked in $4 million in matching funds, the largest amount any mayoral candidate has received during this election cycle.

Cuomo faced another setback this week after AI software, ChatGPT, was cited in a section of his housing plan and incoherent text was found throughout the plan, leading his rivals to criticize his use of the AI software on one of the most important policy issues NYC faces. A spokesperson for Cuomo affirmed ChatGPT was not used to craft actual policy, but instead for grammar and spelling, defending the use of the software.

Budget Update 

Yesterday the Legislature passed a second budget extender (A7635/S7156) allowing for emergency appropriations through Monday, April 7 as the April 3 deadline for the first budget extender was not met. Governor Hochul’s policy priorities are holding up the budget process as parties are still dug in on issues like discovery reform, involuntary commitment, as well as a potential mask ban in cases where one is masked while threatening violence, which was not included in the Governor’s initial budget proposal. Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger recently expressed frustration with policy taking up all the air with negotiations as she told Politico “We’re not even discussing numbers. She’s obsessed with her policy, and she doesn’t even want to talk about the other stuff. It’s frustrating.”

Next week will be the last chance to wrap up the budget before the scheduled two-week legislative break to observe Passover and Easter. While it is still possible the budget will be voted on before the break, there is a chance these negotiations could be extended further.

We will continue to keep you updated as negotiations proceed.