Tension and confusion tend to fill the hallways and backrooms of the New York State Capitol in the days leading up to April 1, as the governor, lawmakers and staff scramble to meet deadlines to pass a state budget that serves as a policy blueprint. vie for the lead. Because it's a spending plan.
This year was different.
Budget talks have dragged on, nearly three weeks past the April 1 deadline, leading some to wonder if Gov. Kathy Hochul, a first-term Democrat, has lost control of the process.
But by the time Congress formally passed the budget on Saturday, it was clear that Mr. Hochul had achieved his goal of a final $237 billion budget that included a checklist of priorities. These include new resources to fight retail crime, a state-wide artificial intelligence consortium, and a landmark housing deal aimed at spurring homebuilding, all without raising taxes on the wealthy. It will be done in
The governor's long-game approach appeared to reflect lessons learned in achieving three budget deals since taking office in 2021. This means that the governor can demonstrate leadership while respecting the spirit of cooperation, and that an agreement can be reached better than a quick one.
After Hochul announced Monday that the leaders had reached an agreement on a budget framework, negotiations continued over the next few days, most notably using the budget to extend the mayor's control over New York City schools for two more years. He persuaded state lawmakers to extend it.
The final budget includes $2.4 billion to support New York City's immigration services, an increase of $500 million from last year's funding to cover case management, medical costs and legal resources. It also includes significant new tax breaks for developers, expanded tenant protections and new enforcement powers for local governments to crack down on unlicensed cannabis stores.
The total budget is $4 billion higher than Hochul's original proposal, in part because Congress rejected cost-cutting measures.
One of those measures was school aid. Lawmakers rejected a plan that would have allowed for a broader reallocation of aid from districts with declining enrollment to those with increasing enrollment. Still, some of the funding mechanisms will change, and some districts will see smaller increases than expected.
The other area is health care, where Congress secured more than $825 million in Medicaid increases for hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living programs to help prevent the closure of struggling hospitals and New York State Hospital in New York, New York. In total, more than $1 billion has been raised to stop it. In Brooklyn.
Still, lawmakers were forced to give up most of the pay raises for home health aides they had hoped to win, and they were forced to give up millions of dollars in consolidation of management of health care services for patients with chronic illnesses and disabilities. We were forced to accept the governor's plan to save money. This consolidation was an unpopular proposal among Democrats and Republicans alike.
Sen. Gustavo Rivera, chairman of the health committee, barely managed to muster a brave face in his assessment of the health plan. He called it “the shittiest deal” a Senate majority could extract from the governor.
“This is not where I wanted to be,” he said on the Senate floor. “I'd rather not be here.”
The budget also authorizes the creation of a new tax package that Democrats hope will bring in billions of dollars in federal Medicaid funding, but they promise not to spend any money until federal officials approve the package. ing.
One of the final issues to be resolved concerned the mayor's control of schools, and Hochul was eager to deliver the political award to his New York City ally, Mayor Eric Adams.
Democrats in Congress have resisted giving Adams, a fellow Democrat, full power without state oversight. The issue was declared settled in a consultation several weeks ago, reflecting MPs' desire to further consider and discuss the issue outside of the budget process.
But in the final hours, Mr. Hochul exerted his influence, bringing the issue back into budget negotiations just as Congress was seeking concessions on another sensitive issue: tenant protections.
These protections supported the big deals at the heart of housing transactions. In exchange for new developer tax credits to increase housing supply, left-leaning lawmakers called for measures that would provide new protections from eviction for tenants in market-rate units.
Hochul is primarily opposed to restrictions on so-called “just cause” evictions, siding with landlords who say the protections make real estate an unattractive investment and reduce the supply of housing. .
Over the course of months, the governor successfully won various cuts, including exemptions for so-called “luxury” homes, landlords with fewer than 10 units, and even new construction. Perhaps the most important change is limiting the protections to New York City and allowing other parts of the state to choose their own versions.
Housing advocates and left-wing lawmakers decried the deal as a weak rehash of the protections they had sought. Lawmakers representing New York City's high-rent neighborhoods say the luxury exemption threshold is twice the federal fair market rent, or about $5,000 for a one-bedroom (a rent not unheard of in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn). He was particularly dissatisfied with the fact that it was set to . and Western Queens.
Eager to expand the number of tenants eligible for just-cause eviction, councilors have restarted consultation on the mayor's control alongside several other final issues. These include a last-minute deal to allow New York City to lower speed limits and a measure dubbed “Sammy's Law” in response to a boy killed by a van outside his Brooklyn home. Ta.
Ultimately, the luxury exemption standard for just cause eviction was set at 245 percent of the federal fair market rent (approximately $6,000 per month for a one-bedroom apartment), and Mayor Adams said that with some conditions However, he was granted two more years of school management rights. attached.
“There are a lot of issues that are important to the people of New York and, by extension, to my colleagues,” said Sen. John Lieu, chairman of the Senate New York City Schools Committee, “and the governor knew how to push the buttons. ” he added.
Claire Fahey Contributed to the report.