Governor Kathy Hochul announces tentative deal on state budget (April 27, 2023)

Governor Kathy Hochul has announced a tentative deal on the 2024 State Budget.

According to reports by WXXI, Hochul called the news conference after Senate and Assembly members left the Capitol for the weekend, saying that there were too many unresolved issues to approve a spending plan this week.

The governor said in a release that she had reached an agreement with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on the budget plan

Hochul announced adjustments will be made to the state’s current bail laws. The governor said judges will have more authority to set bail and detain dangerous defendants. The agreement that has been reached removes the least restrictive means standard and gives judges discretion to hold violent criminals accountable.

The budget also includes $40 million for public defenders to retain staff and enhance their services. Assigned attorneys will receive a pay increase for the first time in two decades.

The state plans to invest in violence prevention, including $36 million to Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE), increasing stabilization units for the New York State Police, and $40 million to district attorneys.

The state would raise the minimum wage. Starting next year, the minimum wage would rise to $15 in Upstate New York, with additional 50 cent increases in 2025 and 2026 to bring it to $17 by 2027. Future increases would be tied to the rate of inflation.

The budget also appears to include a ban on natural gas in new buildings and funding for free meals for school children.

The next step in the budget process is for the bills to be printed, so that state lawmakers can vote on them. The budget was due April 1.

Governor Kathy Hochul delivers remarks at NYS Bipartisan Pro-Choice Legislative Caucus press event in Albany (May 3, 2022)

Governor Kathy Hochul is working to develop potential legislation and executive actions to strengthen New York’s abortion laws codified into state law and improve protections for out-of-staters and abortion providers.

The governor reiterated in the state Capitol on Tuesday she is “horrified” by the U.S. Supreme Court‘s leaked draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, as reported by Politico on Monday night, “And as a woman, this is personal. This is something that we have fought against for my entire life. In fact, this is a battle my mother’s generation, it’s a battle from my generation, my daughter’s generation, and it seems like even my three-day old grandchild Sophia’s generation will have to be fighting this same fight. Something that we had thought we had put to bed a long time ago.”

Hochul has repeatedly said the state will be a safe haven for any person seeking reproductive health care, including an abortion, as several states move to impose sweeping abortion bans if the U.S. Supreme Court decides to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer.

She said under her direction, the “Department of Health is working closely with experts and advocates to issue regulations to ensure that telemedicine abortion is available here, to offer clear guidance to providers, and provide information to patients about their right to abortion.”

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she would not rule out a constitutional amendment.

State Senator Liz Krueger sponsored three pieces of legislation to protect abortion providers in New York and women seeking treatment from other states. She added that, “Everything has to be on the table.”

New York passed reproductive rights laws in 1970 — three years before Roe v. Wade — under a Republican majority in the Senate, and with 12 Republicans joining the Democratic majority to vote for the legislation at the time.

State Republican leaders have remained publicly silent about the leaked draft decision.

U.S. Representative Lee Zeldin, a Republican, is pro-life and supported a bill in Congress to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks and joined his Republican colleagues in 2020 in calling to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Hochul presided over the state Senate in 2019 to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which codified protections to legal abortion by any licensed health care practitioner in state law, and permits abortions after 24 weeks if the woman’s life or health is at risk or the fetus is not viable.

Governor Kathy Hochul

Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing state lawmakers to change the state’s election law and allow candidates on the ballot to be removed as she searches for a replacement to her former lieutenant governor, Brian Benjamin.

Spectrum News reports the effort to change the law included a phone call to at least one of the Democratic leaders in the Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who has been ambivalent about making the change with only weeks to go before early voting begins in the Democratic primary.

Hochul is calling for the law after the resignation of Benjamin from the lieutenant governor’s office following his indictment on five counts of felony corruption charges. Currently, a candidate for office after accepting a nomination cannot be removed from the ballot unless there are narrow circumstances, such as leaving the state or dying.

Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Hochul indicated Benjamin is unlikely to leave the state. The governor acknowledged the time line for replacing Benjamin is constrained by the political calendar.

Early voting begins June 18 and absentee ballots must be printed and mailed in the coming weeks.

State Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Democrat from Westchester County, has indicated she will introduce a bill that would allow for the removal of candidates facing criminal charges or a terminal illness. The measure could gain a floor vote in her chamber.

But Democratic lawmakers who control the state Senate and Assembly have been hesitant to support making changes to the election law ahead of the primary vote.

Benjamin has suspended his campaign. Activist Ana Maria Archila, the preferred running mate of New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and former New York City Councilwoman Diana Reyna, running with Representative Tom Suozzi, are competing for the nomination.

The New York Daily News reports the budget is expected to exceed Governor Kathy Hochul’s initial $216 billion ask.

Insiders said both the Assembly and the Senate were mostly in agreement on a framework for changes to the state’s bail and discovery laws, an 11th-hour request from Hochul that has stymied and slowed down talks.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were expected to present the pubic safety proposals to rank and file lawmakers late Tuesday evening.

Criminal justice advocates, fearful that changes to bail reforms enacted in 2019 will lead to more people being imprisoned simply because they are poor, pleaded with lawmakers to reject any overhauls.

One legislative source said that moving past the public safety reforms will allow negotiations on other issues including child care funding and subsidies and a potential suspension of the state’s gas tax to advance.

While the state’s revenue bill was one of the measures expected to be prepared late Tuesday, the gasoline tax reprieve and Hochul’s plan to fast-track licenses for a trio of downstate casinos were not likely to be included. They could still appear in other budget bills later in the week, the source said.

An agreement appears to have been reached on an overhaul of the state’s beleaguered ethics panel that has so far failed to appease good government groups.

At the same time, sources confirmed that an extension of a controversial tax abatement for real estate developers that Hochul was seeking after a revamped version in her original budget proposal was rejected appears to be off the table.

The governor on Monday defended the secretive nature of budget negotiations, maintaining that everything has been “normal” despite the delays and frustration from lawmakers over the last-minute inclusion of her public safety proposals and millions in state funds for a new Buffalo Bills stadium.
Hochul also defended the deal she struck with the Bills’ billionaire owners that could cost New York up to $1.13 billion in state subsidies despite backlash from political opponents and lawmakers.

She said, “It is not majority taxpayer-funded, I want to be clear on that. The state share is 43%. So that’s not the majority, but that’s historically low for any public financing from the state.”

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.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie in a joint statement on Wednesday said, “The statutory deadline for the Independent Redistricting Commission to submit congressional and state legislative maps has passed. As per the New York State Constitution, it becomes the Legislature’s responsibility to consider fair maps that ensure all New Yorkers have equitable representation in their government. That is a duty we take very seriously. Given the expedited nature of the political calendar, we fully expect the Senate and Assembly to consider new fair maps in a timely manner. The plan is to vote on these maps next week.”

Spectrum News reports Democrats hold supermajority control of both the state Senate and Assembly, giving them an advantage in the redistricting process. Earlier this month, lawmakers voted to reject a set of competing maps drawn by Democratic and Republican-leaning members of the commission.

The commission itself was devised as a “reform” by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo through a constitutional amendment meant to remove the process from the state Legislature. Critics have long argued elected officials have used redistricting as a way to ensure incumbents are re-elected and parties in power can maximize their advantage by, in essence, choosing their voters.

Redistricting this year comes also as Democrats are facing an uphill battle to retain control of the House of Representatives. With the margins narrow, Democratic victories in key House districts in New York could potentially make a difference in who ultimately wins majority control of the chamber.

New York is expected to lose one seat in the House of Representatives due to its stagnant population growth compared to the rest of the nation.

Kathy Hochul

The private ceremony took place at 12:01 this morning with the public swearing in ceremony set for 10am.
Hochul plans to meet with legislative leaders later this morning and make a public address at 3 p.m.

Andrew Cuomo in his final address as Governor yesterday, continued to attack the State Attorney General’s report for saying he sexually harassed anyone. He also cited his past accomplishments while adding that Kathy Hochul will be able to step up to the challenge as Governor.

Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, released a statement saying the governor was exploring his options for his post-gubernatorial life but had “no interest in running for office again.”

Cuomo’s resignation won’t end his legal problems.

An aide who said Cuomo groped her breast has filed a complaint with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. Separately, Cuomo was facing a legislative investigation into whether he misled the public about COVD-19 deaths in nursing homes to protect his reputation as a pandemic leader and improperly got help from state employees in writing a book that may net him $5 million.

For the first time, a majority of the most powerful figures in New York state government will be women, including state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Attorney General Letitia James and Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. The state Assembly is led by a man, Speaker Carl Heastie.

Hochul made some initial staff announcements yesterday, saying she is adding Karen Persichilli Keogh to be the Secretary to the Governor and Elizabeth Fine to be Counsel to the Governor.

Keogh served on then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s senior staff as New York State Director and campaign manager for her successful 2006 Senate re-election.

Fine is Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of Empire State Development (ESD), New York’s economic development agency.

Hochul, who has already said she plans to run for a full term next year, is expected to pick a left-leaning New York City politician as her lieutenant governor.

George Borrello

ALBANY – Sen. George Borrello’s office was recently requested to alter a mailing that he wanted to mail out to his constituents because it failed to follow State Senate mailing guidelines.

According to Borrello’s office, the Hanover Republican wanted to send out an information piece on the state budget to his constituents after the budget’s passage in early April. The mailer was submitted for review on May 4, but it wasn’t until June 23 that Borrello’s office was notified that some changes would have to take place before it could be sent out.

The process of mailing correspondences to constituents involves the use of the Senate’s mail service, which is paid for by taxpayers. As a result, all mailings are required to follow established guidelines and must be reviewed ahead of time to ensure those guidelines are followed. The guidelines state that a mailer can’t be overtly political and also must contain accurate information.

The review is conducted by the Secretary to the Senate, a position that has oversight over the administrative side of the chamber. The position is appointed by the Senate Majority Leader. In January 2019, Albany-based attorney Alejandra Paulino was appointed Secretary to the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins after the Democratic Party won control of the upper chamber.

According to Borrello, three different statements in his draft mailing were flagged. They read as follows:

• “An agenda-driven budget was enacted that ignores the needs of taxpayers, cuts funding to schools, hurts small businesses and will negatively impact our already fragile economy”;
• “Elements of the budget that prompted me to vote ‘NO’ include: $100 million for taxpayer-financed political campaigns“; and “A bail reform ‘fix’ that lacks the number one provision that law enforcement experts agreed was most critical: restoration of judicial discretion.“

The mailer, including the highlighted text that purportedly violated mailer guidelines, is also posted below.

The mailer that was submitted by State sen. George Borrello to be mailed out to constituents in early May. The mailer was reviewed and flagged for not following mailer guidelines with the text in question highlighted in yellow (click image to enlarge)

Borrello said the decision to not send out his mailer as written was politically driven, was hypocritical, and also a form of censorship.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for a party that prides itself on tolerance and champions the freedom of speech protections in the First Amendment to exercise censorship over the mailings of Republican Senators,” Borrello wrote in a statement addressing the issue. “After a two month delay, the Senate’s Democrat Majority notified my office that they would not print and mail an informational piece on the state budget unless we revised or removed sentences they found objectionable. Using political power to stifle the speech of an independently elected state legislator is unconscionable and runs counter to the values of openness and integrity that the Majority claims to revere.”

On Friday afternoon WRFA reached out to Secretary to the Senate Paulino for comment on what specific guidelines were violated, as well as why there was a delay between when the mailer was submitted and when the review was completed and are awaiting a reply.

However, we did hear back from Gary Ginsburg, Senate Majority Spokesperson.

“Decisions on mail are not made by the Majority but by the Secretary to the Senate,” Ginsburg explained. “But all Senators have to ensure that their mail is not overtly political and is factual and not inaccurate. It sounds like Senator Borello had an issue with one of those criteria.”

Borrello, however, felt that everything he wrote was above board.

“The constituents in the 57th District work and pay taxes like New Yorkers across the state. They elected me as their representative and it is my responsibility to inform them of the Senate’s legislative actions, through my own perspective. Using its control of the Senate’s taxpayer-financed, in-house printing operation to censor my communication is reprehensible.”

Borrello is also calling for a change in the process of reviewing tax-payer funded mailers from elected officials in Albany.

“The entire situation underscores the need for the Senate to contract out its printing operations to an independent firm to eliminate the possibility of political censorship and assure fair and impartial service to every Senate member,” Borrello said.

Heastie has publicly been the staunchest advocate of the law, but the The New York Post is reporting closed-door meetings have been taking place on the issue and it appears to be the speaker’s first admission that bail reform should be revisited.

The new bail reform measures went into effect at the start of this year and involve eliminating the potential to impose bail on those accused of misdemeanor and some “non-violent” felony crimes. Since the law went into effect there has been public outcry over the release of individuals who were then re-arrested and charged with committing more crimes.

Criticism of the law is coming from both upstate and downstate Assembly Democrats, who control the chamber. They join Republican lawmakers along with members of law enforcement. Both those groups have been critical of the reform measures even before the new year began.

Already this year both Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) have indicated they are open to changes to the law.

Local Sen. George Borrello (R-Irving, 57th Senate District) has also been an outspoken critic of bail reform and was recently appointed chair of the newly established ‘Repeal Bail Reform Task Force’ by Senate Republican Leader John Flanagan.

Early Sunday morning, on the final day of 2019 fiscal year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced that they had reached an agreement on the 2020 Budget.

A summary of the agreement released by the governor’s office said the budget includes a permanent two percent property tax cap, reforms of the cash bail system and pre-trial discovery process, and an additional $1 billion for education.

The budget would be $175.5 billion, holding spending at two percent growth. Cuomo’s announcement also said there are tax cuts for the middle class – but those were established in a previous budget and are not new.

Both the Assembly and Senate convened Sunday to begin passing bills. Democrats in both houses confirmed that at that time they were notified by their leaders of plans to pass a special resolution authorizing a pay raise for the governor and lt. governor.

As part of the final plan, the governor flexed his budget powers with the distribution of new revenues that will come from collecting sales taxes on all online purchases.

Instead of splitting an annual windfall of $220 million, counties outside of New York City will divide $160 million, because $60 million will be siphoned off to offset a cut in state aid the governor proposed for towns and villages.

The shifting of sales tax revenue was initially proposed in the governor’s February budget amendments after municipalities and state lawmakers rallied against the proposed cut in state aid.

On Sunday, New York State Association of Counties Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario said the shifting of funds was a “fair compromise.”

Another measure in the budget that could impact commerce is the ban on plastic bags.

By March 2020, grocery stores and other retailers will have stopped providing single-use plastic bags for most purchases. Exemptions for the ban set to take effect March 1, 2020, include bags for uncooked meat, fish or poultry; sliced or prepared foods; delivered newspapers; prescription drugs; trash bags; food-storage bags; garment bags, and bags for restaurant carryout orders.

Counties will be allowed to opt for a 5-cent charge for paper bags, with 3 cents going to the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and 2 cents kept by local governments.