NY lawmakers miss deadline, give selves extension on budget deal

ALBANY — The State Legislature approved an emergency spending bill Tuesday to keep New York running as budget negotiations drag on past the April 1 deadline.

The $1 billion spending bill runs through April 7, ensuring state workers get paid, and allows lawmakers to observe the Passover and Easter holidays before returning to the State Capitol. Members of the legislature don’t get paid until a budget is passed. 

Voting was largely along party lines in the State Assembly and Senate; Democrats hold a 2-1 majority in each house.

Discussions surrounding the proposed more than $260 billion spending plan are ongoing with Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, and Democratic leaders who hold a majority in both houses.

Lawmakers are largely divided on policy issues including Hochul’s plan to push back the timeline on the state’s climate goals, to ease or suspend environmental reviews that can delay building projects and her proposal to reduce car insurance by going after fraud.

Leaders also are discussing ways to increase protections for immigrants from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And the Legislature is calling for a tax hike on those earning $5 million or more, which Hochul has said she will not support.

Another high-profile issue — a union push for pension upgrades, first reported by Newsday — hasn't been discussed yet, said Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

"I'm not suggesting that having a late budget is ideal," Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) said after Tuesday's vote. "But I am saying that we continue ... to do what's needed in order to keep government function and to keep things going, and we will also work very, very hard continuously to get this budget done as quickly as possible."

Republicans said Democrats are showing no urgency.

"Here we are again. It's March 31 and there is no sign of a budget deal," Assembly Minority Leader Edward Ra (R-Garden City South) said after the vote. He said lawmakers took the April 1 deadline seriously back when he began his tenure in 2011 but not any longer.

"There doesn't seem to be any urgency, any desire to make this deadline," Ra said. He said the delay hurts school districts and other agencies that need to know funding levels to plan.

Hochul has said she’s more concerned about the content of the budget than whether it’s on time. 

"When it comes to passing budgets that deliver for New Yorkers, the governor’s results speak for themselves," Hochul spokeswoman Kara Cumoletti told Newsday. "Gov. Hochul will continue to negotiate in good faith with the legislature to pass a budget that makes New York safer and more affordable for working families."

Under Hochul the past five budgets have been late, and lawmakers must pass extenders to keep the state running until they come to a final agreement. 

"We don’t have the budget, hence we have to do the extender," Senate Finance Committee Chair Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) told Newsday. "We’re in this La La Land where this will just keep happening."

Newsday's Yancey Roy and Steve Hughes contributed to this story.