Governor Kathy Hochul announces 2022-23 State Budget deal

New York State legislators and Governor Kathy Hochul have come to an agreement on a $220 billion state budget.

Hochul announced the agreement nearly a week after the budget was due. Lawmakers were expected to begin voting on bills Thursday night and finish those on Friday.

The agreement includes some changes to the state’s bail reform laws, the renewal of a popular pandemic-era rule that allows restaurants to serve alcoholic drinks to go, and a temporary halt to the state’s gasoline taxes.

The changes in bail reform include making several gun-related crimes once again eligible for bail, and to ease some of the timelines on discovery laws, which require that prosecutors provide defendants with evidence against them.

Hochul said there’s also agreement to amend Kendra’s Law, to make it easier for judges to refer mentally ill defendants to mandatory hospitalization or outpatient treatment. The agreement will also include funding for 1,000 additional psychiatric beds and mental health treatment.

The governor agreed with legislators to spend an additional $4 billion in the budget on programs, including expanded access to child care, although it stops short of the universal child care plan backed by some in the Legislature.

Hochul said home health care workers will receive a $3-an-hour wage increase as part of a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar package to raise the pay of health care workers. A plan known as Coverage for All, which would provide government-subsidized health care to undocumented workers, will be limited to those workers who are over the age of 65.

Hochul said the budget will devote 15% of total spending to the state’s rainy-day fund to be used if there’s a future economic downturn.

The budget will also include the suspension of two of the state’s taxes on gasoline, worth 16 cents a gallon, from June 1 until the end of the year. Hochul said the spending plan also includes the continuation of a middle-class tax cut and a property tax rebate.

New Yorkers ordering takeout food will once again be allowed to also order alcoholic drinks to go. The measure, which sunsets in three years, requires that all alcohol be secured in a container with a lid or cap. Full bottles of wine or liquor will not be permitted to be sold.

Liquor store owners, who opposed the measure, will get some concessions, including being allowed to open on Christmas Day.

The spending plan also creates a new state entity to oversee ethics. It will replace the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or JCOPE, with a new commission that will continue to be appointed by the governor, Legislature and other statewide elected officials. The state’s law school deans will vet the choices.

Lawmakers were also poised to approve a deal that Hochul struck with the NFL and owners of the Buffalo Bills football team to fund at least $850 million in expenses for building a new stadium, in exchange for the team continuing to play in Buffalo for another three decades. Critics say the agreement, which could reach $1 billion when other expenses are counted, is too big a taxpayer giveaway to a well-funded league and the billionaire team owners.

Hochul defended the deal, saying some of the money will come from a gaming-related settlement with the Seneca Nation of Indians.

And voters will have a say in November on whether to approve a $4.2 billion environmental bond act that would help combat climate change.

Lawmakers are looking to add another $4 billion in additional spending to Hochul’s record $216 billion plan, but details on the final proposal remained elusive as sources speculated that negotiations could extend beyond Friday.

After blowing past last Friday’s budget deadline, Hochul and the Democratic-controlled state Legislature on Monday passed a last-minute budget “extender” to fund payroll obligations through midnight Thursday.

The delay is due to legislators hashing out details of the controversial criminal justice policy as well as “a host of non-budget issues that were thrown into the mix.”

Lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly were on track to meet privately to discuss outstanding issues Wednesday evening.

One measure still on the table is the controversial expansion of Kendra’s Law, which permits court-ordered Assisted Outpatient Treatment, or AOT, and community supervision in cases of serious mental illness. The amended provision could include the involuntary commitment of people with mental illness following a judge’s decision.

Lawmakers are also close to a deal on rolling back the state’s controversial bail reform laws, mulling changes such as making more hate and gun crimes bail eligible.

They’re deliberating a measure that would allow judges to consider an individual’s criminal history to determine whether they could cause harm to a person or group of people.

For the Buffalo Bills new stadium, Hochul’s $1.4 billion project will be funded with taxpayers covering $600 million and residents of Erie County chipping in another $250 million. The teams’ billionaire owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, will foot $550 million of the price tag.

Measures still under consideration include:

• An extension of the pandemic-era “alcohol to-go” law
• Relief for high prices at the gas pump
• A plan to revamp the state’s ethics agency, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics
• More spending for home care workers, distressed hospitals, and SUNY and CUNY students.
• Increased funding aimed at combating discrimination against Asian-Americans

New York State Capitol

Governor Kathy Hochul and State Legislators have missed the deadline for an on-time state budget.

WXXI News reports the Senate and Assembly adjourned until Monday, when they say they will try again to reach an accord.

The next hard deadline for the budget to be in place is Monday afternoon. That’s when the state comptroller needs to process payroll for 62,000 employees who work at state-run hospitals, prisons and other institutional settings.

In a memo to state agencies, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli warned that if the budget is not completed by 4 p.m., it will delay the direct depositing of checks for the April 7 payday.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she’s hopeful the budget can be in place by then.

The biggest sticking point has been whether to include revisions to bail reform in the budget and make other changes to the landmark 2019 criminal justice reform laws.

The Senate and Assembly did not include unrelated items like bail reform changes to their proposed spending plans.

And criticism continues over the deal struck Monday between Hochul and the owners of the Buffalo Bills football team. That agreement would require at least $850 million of state money. Some lawmakers and Hochul’s political opponents said it is too big a giveaway to the wealthy owners of a lucrative sports franchise.

Proposals including a gas tax holiday and allowing restaurants to serve to-go alcoholic drinks along with takeout food are still on the negotiating table.

On Wednesday night during the county legislature meeting, a motion was introduced encouraging the State to eliminate what the sponsors feel is an outdated precedent that prohibits the sale of alcohol on Sunday before noon at restaurants.  The motion was co-sponsored by county legislator George Borrello (R-Irving).

“Right now in New York State you can walk into a grocery store at 8 a.m. on a Sunday and purchase a case of beer if you’d like, but you can’t go to brunch and have a mimosa, or a bloody Mary or some other alcoholic beverage of your choice,” Borrello said. “This is an unfair targeting of this industry. Places like NY State Restaurant Association strongly support the change to this state law. It is truly unfair and should be corrected.”

However, the motion, which needed two-thirds (13 votes) support from county lawmakers in order to be sent to Albany, failed by one vote. Voting against the measure were Terry Niebel (R-Sheridan), Jay Gould (R-Ashville), John Hemmer (R-Westfield), and Bob Scudder (R-Fredonia). Both Elisabeth Rankin (R-Jamestown) and Lisa Vanstrom (R-Ellicott) abstained from the vote, citing a conflict of interest because they both work for members of the state legislature. Legislator Ron Lemon (R-Frewsburg) was absent.

Scudder said he wasn’t against business, but it was just his personal view that the state law remain unchanged.

“It’s just my personal opinion. I’m not against business and I’m not against anything that a ‘no’ vote could seem to stand for, other than I just personally don’t think it is necessary. Again, this is just a motion, not a resolution,” Scudder said.

While he didn’t have a vote on the matter, County executive Vince Horrigan said that because of the economic benefits the change would have on wineries and restaurants, he is in support of changing the law.

“It can help business,” Horrigan told WRFA following Wednesday’s meeting. “I don’t see a huge negative push-back or negative impact. I respect others that maybe have some personal reasons for not supporting the change. I go to church every Sunday, but I go to the 8:30 mass so I’m good to go by 10 or 10:30. I just think it’s a little outdated.”

Currently, anyone who wishes to have an alcoholic drink at a winery or restaurant must wait until noon to do so. The law also had an especially adverse effect this past fall when the Buffalo Bills played a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in England, with the kickoff taking place at 9 a.m. in the morning here in New York. As a result, many restaurants and taverns across Western New York lost business from fans who typically watched Bills’ games at their establishments.

According to the Chautauqua County Department of Mental Hygiene, a total of 1201 people sought treatment in the county for various addictions in 2015. That number includes residents seeking treatment for alcoholism – which comprised the largest number – along with marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine and other drugs and narcotics.

The latest statistics are based on data reported by all New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse licensed providers in Chautauqua County. These include the County outpatient clinics, WCA inpatient, WCA outpatient clinics and the TLC outpatient clinic in Cassadaga.

CLIENTS SERVED IN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY

The largest increase in treatment was for heroin addiction, which saw 172 resident seeking help in 2015. That was an increase of 36 people, or a 28.6 percent jump compared to the previous year and a 70 percent increase from just two years ago.

Still, those who work in local outreach and support groups say the 172 people listed as receiving treatment is a small portion compared to the residents who are using the drug and also seeking help. Rick Huber from the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County, based at the Gateway Center in Jamestown, explains.

“We only have four doctors in our county that prescribe suboxone, which is a medication that’s used to help people as they’re going through recovery to get off heroin. Each of those doctors is only allowed to treat 100, so that would be 400 total, and they have a huge waiting list for others who are seeking suboxone,” Huber recently told WRFA. “So the number provided for heroin treatment is low, based on the number who are receiving suboxone treatment alone.”

Huber’s concern is that the numbers being reported by the county to the state may not paint the entire picture of just how bad heroin the problem has become, nor does it accurately portray the number of addicts who are actually seeking treatment.

METH TREATMENT ON THE RISE

Another drug that has seen a sharp increase in usage is methamphetamine, and that is reflected in the number of people seeking treatment for their addiction. In 2015, 29 people sought help for meth addiction – four times as many as those who sought help in 2014. And in 2013, just 2 people in Chautauqua County sought treatment for meth addiction.

The largest number for treatment was for alcohol dependency, with 493 people being treated. That’s more than 40 percent of all treatment cases. But that number was down from the 524 who sought treatment in that category just one year earlier in 2014 (46 percent of all cases).

Residents seeking treatment for marijuana addiction also saw a decrease. In 2013, 262 residents sought treatment, but that number saw a slight drop during the past two years and was down to 242 in 2015.

It should be noted the numbers do not include those who are seeking assistance from support services, which are provided by several other agencies in the area, including the Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County. Support services often provide peer-to-peer help when it comes to an addict trying to overcome his or her addiction, but they are not permitted to provide clinical diagnosis or treatment.

Any resident seeking treatment or help with chemical dependency can call the county’s 24-hour  Crisis Hotline at
1-800-724-0461 or contact the office in either Jamestown or Dunkirk.