Governor Hochul and NYS lawmakers are working through final details as they move closer to completing the fiscal year 2027 budget. The budget was due on April1, marking this the latest budget since 2010.

Yesterday, the Legislature passed a twelfth budget extender, allowing the current spending plan to remain in effect until May 18th. The Senate and Assembly are scheduled to return to Albany for session Monday morning. With negotiations continuing over several policy and financial issues, a thirteenth budget extender is expected, though leadership has not indicated its duration.

Some lawmakers remain hopeful that the budget will be finalized by the middle to latter part of next week, while others believe it won’t be wrapped up before Memorial Day.

Early last week, Governor Hochul announced that she and state lawmakers had reached a “general agreement” on the $268 billion state budget, while noting that some items still needed to be finalized.

She outlined agreements on several key priorities, including a path to universal child care, lowering auto insurance premiums, strengthening protections against ICE, reducing utility costs, and improving affordability.  She also stated agreements had been made on enhancing online safety for children, streamlining infrastructure project approvals, improving public safety, cracking down on 3D-printed guns, and investing in infrastructure and other affordability measures.

Notably, several high-priority issues, including health care and increased tax revenue, were not addressed in this announcement.

Shortly after the Governor’s announcement, however, Assembly Speaker Heastie appeared to contradict that announcement, saying, “There is no deal.” “I think it was very premature for the Governor to make this announcement.” Speaker Heastie later followed up and clarified his remarks, explaining that while there is a conceptual agreement on many policy issues, several major financial matters remain unresolved. He added that he believes the parties are close to reaching a final agreement and expects the budget to be completed soon.

Similarly, this week, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she expects the budget to be finalized next week, describing current negotiations as “the beginning of the end,” though neither the Majority Leader nor the Speaker pinpointed an exact timeframe.

The large volume of high-level policy items in the budget has been the key factor slowing progress toward a final budget. Lawmakers have expressed their eagerness to reach a deal while also expressing frustration with the complexity created by the scope of policy proposals inserted into the budget process. Still, all sides have emphasized their strong working relationships and expressed confidence that an agreement is within reach.