Housing, policy stall Albany talks on New York state budget; negotiations to stretch into next week

ALBANY — It’s hurry up and wait time at the State Capitol as Gov. Hochul and legislative leaders continue behind closed doors to hash out details of New York’s nearly three-weeks late budget.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) said Wednesday she is hopeful that negotiations are nearing the “beginning of the end” stage as the process has been hampered by complicated and controversial policy items including changes to the state’s bail laws and housing-related proposals.

“I hope we are able to just get to a point where I can come in and tell you that it is the end of the end, very soon,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters, adding that this year’s spending plan has been “the most policy-laden budget” she’s had to deal with.

The Dem leader said a final budget deal is not expected this week despite an extender expiring on Thursday. It’s the longest negotiations have gone past the state’s April 1 fiscal deadline in nearly a decade.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned Hochul and lawmakers that they have until 4 p.m. on Thursday to approve another temporary stopgap measure to keep government operations funded and ensure emergency workers from the Division of Military and Naval Affairs are paid on time.

A source with knowledge of the situation said a stopgap measure covering state expenses will be voted on early Thursday but it’s not immediately clear how much more time it will cover.

Three previous extenders have already been approved by the Democrat-led Legislature as talks continue surrounding what is expected to be nearly a $230 billion spending plan packed with policy items.

It’s become standard practice in Albany for state budgets to include a host of non-fiscal policy items.

Disagreements over bail law changes backed by Hochul last year were responsible for the state’s spending plan being approved nine days late.

Negotiations between Hochul, Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) have largely revolved around the governor’s plan to further rollback bail reforms approved in 2019 limiting pretrial detention for most nonviolent offenses.

Despite reports that a tentative deal had been reached on the issue earlier in the week, Heastie offered a less-than-optimistic take on where things stand following a three-way meeting on Tuesday.

“Nothing is finalized,” he said.

Insiders say Hochul’s ambitious housing compact meant to drive development and address New York’s housing shortage by allowing the state to step in and approve projects if a municipality fails to meet certain building goals has also led to a stalemate between the three sides.

“After weeks of negotiations, the legislature continues to oppose core elements of the Housing Compact, including the requirement that communities across the state meet growth targets,” the governor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Tenant advocates and progressives have called for increased protections for renters and a voucher program for homeless and struggling New Yorkers to be included in the state’s final budget.

Stewart-Cousins on Wednesday said she fully backs the inclusion of tenant protections but stopped short of saying whether lawmakers will hold out for “good cause” eviction, which would give tenants a defense against unwarranted evictions and the right to challenge unreasonable rent increases, defined as more than 3% or 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index.

The long-sought measure, which has faced intense pushback from landlord groups and was not included in Hochul’s initial budget blueprint, has failed to make it through the Legislature since first being introduced in 2019 when lawmakers approved several tenant-friendly measures.

“I guess this is a national problem, quite honestly, but I don’t think we can talk about just building without talking about affordability,” Stewart-Cousins said.