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

Time-Warner Cable news is reporting that AECOM, a consulting firm hired by the state, looked at 13 locations and narrowed it down to the top four sites for a new stadium.

According to the report, the first location suggested is located in the Cobblestone district between Michigan Avenue and Mississippi Street.

It said this site would benefit from available public and mass transit already due to a light rail station and an Amtrak commuter station nearby.

There’s also 15,000 parking spaces within a one-mile radius of this location.

The Cobblestone stadium would require a fixed-roof stadium, per the report.

The second Downtown Buffalo location proposed in the report is located off of Exchange Street between Michigan Avenue and Chicago Street. The third and final Downtown Buffalo location would be located off South Park Avenue between Ohio and Louisiana Streets.

The final short-list location is located in a familiar place — Orchard Park, right where Ralph Wilson Stadium currently exists.

The report says Ralph Wilson Stadium getting renovated would be the least-costly solution, but if Terry and Kim Pegula want a new stadium, one could be located north of Ralph Wilson Stadium.

No timeline has been given on when a site would be selected and construction would begin, but officials say it is unlikely to happen for at least another ten years.

A person with direct knowledge of the sale process confirmed the winning bid to The Associated Press on Tuesday, hours after late owner Ralph Wilson’s estate announced reaching a “definitive agreement” to sell the team to the Pegulas. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the sale was conducted privately.

The price well surpasses  the previous high of $1.1 billion set in 2009, when Stephen Ross completed his purchase of the Miami Dolphins.

The person said the Pegulas went well above the Bills’ estimated value of $935 million to show Wilson’s estate how serious they were in their desire to buy the team. They also wanted to submit a bid they felt would be significantly higher than other prospective ownership groups were willing – or capable – of matching.

The Pegulas, who live in Florida, have established roots in adopting Buffalo as their hometown since purchasing the Sabres in February 2011. Terry Pegula is from Pennsylvania and became a fan of the Sabres in the mid-1970s. Kim is from the nearby Rochester area.

The sale is subject approval by a three-quarters majority of the NFL’s other 31 owners, which is expected to come at league meetings Oct. 8.

Preliminary bids to purchase the team were submitted on Tuesday and according to the Buffalo News, those who’ve been confirmed as prospective buyers include Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and his wife, Kim, as well as billionaire developer Donald Trump.

The Toronto Sun reported that a Toronto group that involves rock star Jon Bon Jovi also submitted a bid. And former Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano also may have made an offer. Other bids also were expected in the highly secretive sales process, which only Sen. Charles E. Schumer shed any light on Tuesday.

In a statement, Schumer said he expects strong bids from several potential owners who would commit to keeping the team in Western New York.

Preliminary bids were due at Morgan Stanley, the Bills’ investment banker, at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The firm will sort the solid bids out from the inadequate ones and then ask for more information from prospective owners who are still in the running.

That’s according to a report over the weekend in the Buffalo News, which says the provisions of the Bills’ 10-year lease on Ralph Wilson Stadium and an accompanying non-relocation agreement are so tough that a new owner who wants to move the team would likely be in for a rough encounter with the law.

The report by Jerry Zremski says that the Bills’ founder and owner Ralph Wilson Jr., who died March 25, agreed that the county or the state could go to court to get an injunction barring the team’s move.

If the Bills’ new owner violated such an injunction, the owner could be charged with civil or criminal contempt of court.

A civil contempt charge and hundreds of millions of additional penalty dollars would be most likely. But in the highly unlikely circumstance that a new Bills owner were charged with criminal contempt after moving the team – he could also face jail time.

Sources have said that Donald Trump, Jeffrey Gundlach, Terry Pegula, B. Thomas Golisano and Jon Bon Jovi could be potential bidders for the Bills. But any bidder would have to contend with Wilson’s wish to keep the team in Buffalo.  Legal experts say the lease’s call for an injunction to prevent the team’s move is the most ironclad stadium lease they have ever seen.