
Cuomo and top aides (photo: Philip Kamrass/Governor's Office)
At just before 9 p.m. Friday night, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he had reached a deal with state legislative leaders on a $153 billion budget for the new fiscal year, which began one week ago.
Cuomo and the Legislature had passed a budget “extender” on Monday to keep state operations running, but continued to negotiate throughout the week in order to put a full fiscal year budget together. After several fits and starts, many rumors, and several late nights, a deal was reached Friday on the most contentious issues. The two legislative houses are expected to vote the final budget bills through over the next several days.
Speaking from the Capitol’s Red Room on Friday evening, Cuomo said that the deal included a great deal to boast about, and that state leaders had met “all challenges” facing them. He took the most time on four items.
First, calling it a “legacy accomplishment,” Cuomo highlighted a deal on raising the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 years old for most crimes, an issue that had been a major sticking point in negotiations. According to the presentation Cuomo gave, it appears the policy will be implemented as of October 1, 2018.
Cuomo also spoke highly of an agreement on a “first-ever federal funding response plan,” which gives his budget office the opportunity to make mid-year budget adjustments based on cuts from Washington, D.C. The policy allows the Legislature to pass its own response plan within 90 days, or the executive branch proposal would go into effect.
Third, the governor highlighted an agreed upon plan to find county-level efficiencies. And fourth, Cuomo touted a college affordability plan that will, when phased in over three years, make public colleges and universities tuition-free for students from families making $125,000 per year or less. Cuomo had launched his 2017 agenda with this proposal, alongside Senator Bernie Sanders, known as the Excelsior Scholarship.
The governor also announced agreements on almost all other measures that had been causing a budget hold-up or that were on the table generally, including but not limited to a new 421-a property tax abatement program meant to spur affordable housing in New York City; education aid to municipalities; a measured increase in aid to charter schools; release of $2 billion in affordable and supportive housing funds; extension of the millionaires’ tax for two years; legalizing ride-hailing apps outside New York City, where they are already legal; indigent legal defense funding; a major clean water infrastructure plan; union dues tax deductions; and more.
Notably, there is no extension of mayoral control of New York City schools in the budget, meaning Mayor Bill de Blasio will have to seek an extension in the legislative session to come between now and mid-June.
And, there was no movement on government ethics, campaign finance, or voting reforms. At the Friday press conference, Cuomo told Gotham Gazette that he was not able to get the Legislature to agree on reforms. “By the way,” Cuomo added, “if you think Raise the Age was hard, you have to see ethics." Cuomo, who had outlined an ambitious reform agenda in January, did little to push it thereafter and even appeared to forget its existence on Wednesday night at his prior Red Room press conference.
Despite their recalcitrance on ethics, Cuomo was still full of praise for legislative leaders, however. "It's easy to be political. It's not always easy to be a responsible government leader,” Cuomo said in praising Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein, the men who were Cuomo’s top negotiating counterparts. None were in attendance as Cuomo briefed reporters Friday night. The governor was instead flanked by his budget director, Robert Mujica, and his counsel, Alphonso David.
The budget, Cuomo said in a statement, “advances the core progressive principles that built New York: investing in the middle class, strengthening the economy and creating opportunity for all.”
The agreement keeps spending growth to 2 percent, Cuomo also made sure to note, which continues his self-imposed cap. The governor was able to do this by freezing the budgets of most state agencies, as he has done in the past. The budget includes state operating funds spending of $98.1 billion -- this excludes federal funds and capital spending. With federal funds included, the plan reaches $153.1 billion. It includes an increase in overall education aid of $1.1 billion, bringing the total to $25.8 billion, or an increase of 4.4 percent, according to Cuomo’s office. Another area of growth in spending is Medicaid, on which the state will spend $23.5 billion.
In the budget extender, Cuomo had already pushed through billions in funding to continue his economic development and infrastructure programs across the state -- these funds remain, the governor said, and he highlighted the fact that there is funding in the budget to build the Empire State Trail, his proposal to connect a biking, walking, and hiking trail from New York City to Albany, and Albany north to Canada and west to Buffalo.
The millionaires’ tax extension will affect 45,000 taxpayers, Cuomo’s office says, 50 percent of whom are non-residents, and will preserve $3.4 billion in revenue for the year. This helps offset a middle class tax cut that is being phased in.
For his part, Senate Majority Leader Flanagan highlighted, in a statement, that “our state spending plan meets the needs of middle-class taxpayers and their families and advances key initiatives to make our state more affordable.” Flanagan touted that the budget “rejects new fees and protects one of the biggest and boldest tax cuts in state history, makes the largest ever investment in clean water, helps families better afford the high costs of college and ensures all of our schools have the resources they need to give students a high-quality education.”
He also highlighted “workers’ compensation reforms to cut costs and help businesses create jobs,” full funding for “direct care professionals who treat our most vulnerable citizens” and “more than $200 million available to fight and win the battle against heroin and opioid addiction.”
Assembly Speaker Heastie highlighted raising the age of adult criminal responsibility, increased education funding, and affordable housing funds.
It will require more complete review of budget bills to know if a variety of funding cuts and cost shifts from the state to New York City are included. As is typical in Albany, the budget will be passed with little review of the details by legislators or the public, helped along by "messages of necessity" from the governor, which waive the otherwise-required three-day aging period for bills.
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette
With reporting from Albany by Rachel Silberstein.

Cuomo (photo: The Governor's Office)
Though Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders indicated for more than a week they were "very close" to a budget deal, negotiations appeared to collapse on Wednesday, and senators were sent back to their districts for their regularly scheduled Passover and Easter break. Cuomo held a press conference at the state Capitol outlining areas of agreement and major sticking points, but he indicated negotiations would continue - at some point.
Now, seven days into the new fiscal year, it appears that a new compromise on a full year’s budget is close. Final details have yet to emerge, but word began to circulate Thursday that the governor and legislative leaders had ironed out the remaining points of contention, or were on the verge of doing so. Nothing had been announced as of noon Friday.
Having missed the April 1 budget deadline, lawmakers passed Cuomo's budget "extender" on Monday, then kept negotiating to lock down a final spending plan for the full fiscal year before they planned to depart Albany for the two-week hiatus.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed six of 10 necessary budget bills, and the Assembly passed four of them Wednesday afternoon and two more on Thursday. A non-controversial debt service bill had been passed last week. Friday could see the final budget bills printed, debated, and voted on, but the situation remained fluid mid-day Friday. The broad contours of a “framework” deal among Cuomo, Heastie, and Flanagan could come at any moment. Or, negotiations could go on for weeks.
Bleary-eyed legislators from both houses expressed optimism that they would be voting through the final bills Wednesday afternoon, but Cuomo emerged at 6 p.m. -- without Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie or Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan -- to inform the public that there was no deal.
Speaking to reporters in the Capitol's Red Room, Cuomo added that he would prefer holding off on finalizing the document due to the threat of budget cuts from the federal government, which itself operates under a continuing resolution, offering greater flexibility.
"Picking a number now, and saying this is going to be the number, and not knowing what’s going to happen next week and next month and when the federal government passes the budget or when they don’t pass the budget, or when they do the next continuing resolution, is very hard," said Cuomo, who again mentioned that everyone will know a lot more from Washington by the end of May, which is when the state "extender" runs through.
Lawmakers from both houses were quick to lash out at Cuomo over the breakdown, including Democratic Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “What is happening right now is ridiculous. Dysfunction and chaos has descended on Albany. This situation has spiraled out of control and New Yorkers deserve better,” she said in a statement.
Senator Rich Funke, a Republican from the Rochester area, said in a statement, “There is only one reason we don’t have a final state budget right now and his name is Andrew Cuomo...The Senate has been working in good faith to deliver a budget that invests in our communities while protecting our taxpayers, but the Governor has been playing political games.”
Tensions between Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Heastie of the Bronx, who represents New York City’s interests in state budget negotiations, appear to be at least partially behind the blow-up.
During his press conference, Cuomo outlined several areas where agreements had been reached, giving a fuller view of what the $162 billion budget would look like when passed, and explained the major hold-ups in reaching a final deal. The governor indicated agreement on tax policy, ride-hailing for upstate and Long Island, workers’ compensation reform, and more.
Cuomo highlighted three major sticking points: raising the age of adult criminal responsibility, the 421-a property tax abatement program, and education funding, especially around charter schools.
While Cuomo insisted that legislators were headed to break and they’d look to pass the full budget later this month or next, Assembly members said they were staying in town and ready to work.
On Thursday it had become clear that Heastie and Flanagan had returned to the negotiating table with Cuomo, and the three were close to finalizing the loose ends.
As of Thursday night, the final three budget bills -- operations, capital, and revenue -- had yet to be printed and sent to the Legislature by Cuomo's office. The most loaded of the bunch will be the revenue bill, known as the “big ugly,” which is expected to contain the more controversial items in the budget, such as upstate ride-hailing, the millionaires’ tax extension, 421-a, and Raise the Age, as it is known.
Assembly Speaker Heastie told reporters at about 4 p.m. Thursday that they were “headed towards a full budget deal -- today or tomorrow.”
A spokesperson for the Senate majority leader said Flanagan needed to discuss the proposed changes with his conference members, who would presumably be called back to Albany if an agreement was reached. "While we have had these discussions, there is no final deal," said Flanagan spokesperson Scott Reif in an emailed statement at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
As New Yorkers all over the state and Mayor Bill de Blasio and others in New York City await the details of a new state budget, as of Thursday evening a partially clear picture has emerged of what’s in store for the big apple for the coming fiscal year.
Taxes
De Blasio put a good deal of energy into pushing a “mansion tax” he wants the state to allow the city to levy. It would charge the buyers of residential property over $2 million extra in order to pay for senior affordable housing subsidies. The mayor also supports the extension of the millionaires’ tax. Cuomo said Wednesday there is an agreement on extending the expiring millionaires’ tax, which is not expected to include the Assembly’s proposed expansion, but did not indicate for how many years. The governor has argued that the state cannot go without the revenue from the extension of the tax. Earlier this week, Cuomo dismissed the mansion tax de Blasio wants, and there has been no indication it has any life in negotiations.
Infrastructure
Notably slipped into the extender budget is an allowance for billions of dollars a year in spending for all of Cuomo’s signature economic development and infrastructure projects, include major New York City projects -- including an MTA subway expansion and transformations of Penn Station and Laguardia Airport -- and the next phase of the Buffalo Billion. When a full fiscal year budget it passed, it is likely that these funds remain intact in full. On Wednesday evening Cuomo touted the fact that even in the extender he had ensured his signature efforts were fully funded.
Before talks collapsed, there was also a tentative agreement for Cuomo’s $200 million Empire State Trail, which would connect New York City with Quebec, Albany, and Buffalo, reported The Buffalo News.
Charter Schools
A charter school tuition freeze, first implemented after the recession in 2009, is set to expire in June. When the law expires, charter schools would automatically receive a $1,500 increase per student, paid for by the local government.
Charter school advocates and their allies among the Senate Republicans are, naturally, pushing for the Legislature to let the freeze expire. This would mean a $2 million burden for New York City, according to Cuomo, who said he is urging leaders of both houses to move to prevent this increase by finding middle ground.
“The Assembly must act or they are giving charter schools a $1,500 increase. The Senate must agree to act because if the Senate doesn’t agree, the increase automatically goes through in June. So that has taken the normal education discussion of “fair” in upstate and downstate and added a significant wrinkle,” Cuomo said on Wednesday evening.
Politico NY reports that there may be a compromise in the works, in which the freeze would continue, but charter schools would still see a boost in per-pupil tuition reimbursements.
The cap on charter school expansion across the state, particularly in New York City, is also an issue to watch. Cuomo and Senate Republicans want the cap lifted, but it is not clear if there has been any movement on this with the Assembly, which is staunchly anti-charter. Charter school provisions are often traded for things like mayoral control of city schools or additional education aid to the broader public school system.
421-a & Affordable Housing Money
Heastie said Tuesday that there was significant agreement on the new 421-a property tax abatement program that is meant to spur affordable housing development in the most expensive New York City neighborhoods, and that while there were still concerns, the Assembly would pass Cuomo’s version, known as Affordable New York.
Cuomo said Wednesday that the agreement hit a snag, because previously 421-a renewal was linked to rent regulations, meaning both programs would expire at the same time. “They are now separated, because of the delay in passing the new Affordable New York program. So that is an issue of concern more in the Assembly,” said Cuomo. Two years ago, when 421-a expired, the state extended the laws governing rent regulated apartments.
A consensus on 421-a could move along the release of $2 billion in affordable housing and anti-homelessness funds. The funds, allocated last year, will only be released once Cuomo, Flanagan and Heastie a memorandum of understanding (MOU), detailing how the money will be spent.
Mayor de Blasio, who has repeatedly called on the state to release the affordable and supportive housing funding, as well as money earmarked for NYCHA repairs but not spent by the state, has been skeptical about a new 421-a deal.
“421-a in the past was a giveaway to developers and it often funded luxury housing,” de Blasio said on Friday morning’s The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. “We have to be a lot better in terms of what the taxpayer gets for this subsidy....I would say it’s not by any means 421-a at all costs, it’s if there is a fair 421-a – a bill, then the good part is it does help foster the creation of affordable housing we need. But if it’s too burdensome to New York City, you know, it’s a different matter. So, it’s literally being – last report I hear just minutes before the show – things are still being hashed out.”
Raise the Age
A priority for the Assembly, raising the age of adult criminal responsibility from 16 to 18 years old, has repeatedly been cited as a sticking point during the last weeks of budget discussions.
While New York is among just two states in the U.S. to charge 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, previous efforts to end the practice were blocked by Senate Republicans. As New York City eyes a plan to continue reducing its jail population and close down the Rikers Island jail complex, raise the age is seen as one key component. Harrowing stories, like that of Kalief Browder, who was held for three years at Rikers without a trial, following his arrest for allegedly stealing a backpack at age 16 and not being able to post bail, helped push the issue into the limelight.
On Tuesday, Heastie had indicated that his conference was willing to accept a compromise, but by Wednesday the issue was reopened over which agency, corrections or the Office of Children and Family Services, should supervise discharged teens, according to lawmakers.
“Raise the Age, remember, we’ve talked about for many, many years, and it hasn’t passed for many, many years, because it really is the most political, polarizing issue,” Cuomo said Wednesday evening. “Criminal justice laws are usually lightning rods for ideological differences. And raise the age poses a very important, but controversial hearing.”
Asked about Raise the Age and the final negotiations in Albany, de Blasio said Friday morning on WNYC, “I care that whatever we do is going to focus on rehabilitating these young people although, obviously, some young people commit very serious crimes. I don’t take that lightly. But the goal here of course underneath the whole concept of Raise the Age is trying to recognize that a lot of our young people who go astray are particularly redeemable because it’s still early in their development.”
School Aid
Of the $961 million statewide aid increase Cuomo outlined in his executive budget for the 2017-2018 school year, New York City schools would receive an increase of $294.9 million. Both Legislative houses, in their one-house budgets, called for education aid to be increased.
In the absence of a full, permanent budget, Cuomo said schools to plan for the 3.9 percent funding increase outlined in his budget proposal. “If the actual budget winds up being a little higher, then so be it. But the 3.9 percent I think is a safe planning number,” Cuomo said on Wednesday evening.
College Affordability
There also appears to be consensus on college affordability, which is likely to include some form of Tuition Assistance Program expansion, but does not include the Dream Act, which would grant tuition aid for undocumented immigrants. Cuomo had made free tuition at CUNY and SUNY schools for students from families making $125,000 or less annually his top agenda item at the start of the year. It is not clear yet to what extent Cuomo will get what he had outlined.
Mayoral Control of City Schools
Before talks collapsed Wednesday, the Daily News had reported that the parties agreed to include in the budget a one-year extension of mayoral control of New York City schools. It would be the third straight one-year extension for Mayor de Blasio, an ongoing insult to the mayor, but having it done in the budget as opposed to the legislative session to follow would be something of a win for the mayor.
Ethics & Voting Reform
There has been no movement from the governor and legislative leaders on government ethics, campaign finance, or voting reform. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Democratic senators tried to propose hostile amendments to the budget bill that pertains to public protection and general government (PPGG). The amendments related to Planned Parenthood funding, limits on outside income for lawmakers, LLC loophole closure, and no-fault absentee ballots for early voting. The amendments were ruled as non-germane by Acting Senate Chair Joseph Griffo, an upstate Republican. Mainline Democrats moved to appeal the ruling -- which would force a debate and vote on the issues -- but members failed to garner a majority show of hands to support their appeal.
Cost Shifts & Cuts
During his budget testimony, de Blasio pushed back on the more than $100 million in cuts and cost shifts to New York City proposed in Cuomo’s executive budget, primarily related to placement of foster children and special education services. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said it is still too early to tell if those cuts would make it into the final document.
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by Rachel Silberstein, State government reporter, Gotham Gazette
@RachelSilby @GothamGazette

Gov. Cuomo, middle, with two top aides (photo: Philip Kamrass/Governor's Office)
Governor Andrew Cuomo forgot about government ethics reform. At a press conference Wednesday, the governor explained to reporters that state budget talks had fallen apart over a few core issues. He pointed out with pride, though, that virtually everything he had proposed earlier this year he had gotten the Legislature to agree on, other than two major sticking points related to criminal justice and affordable housing. Cuomo had to be reminded by his budget director, sitting to the governor’s right, that Cuomo’s ethics reform agenda was another item without agreement.
In fact, it appears that Cuomo’s government ethics, campaign finance, and voting reform platform, which he unveiled in January along with the rest of his 2017 policy agenda and budget outline, is the only entire category of proposals completely off the table as budget negotiations continue.
It is not surprising that government ethics was not top of mind for Cuomo, who is trying to negotiate a $160 billion state budget under challenging conditions. The state is already a week into its new fiscal year, operating under a budget “extender” in order to keep state government functioning. That extender was passed Monday and is good through May 31, but Cuomo and legislative leaders had continued to negotiate in hopes of passing a full fiscal year budget before legislators left the capital for their customary two-week April break. Cuomo announced Wednesday evening that there was no deal, speaking to reporters during a press conference in the Capitol’s Red Room and flanked by his budget director and lead counsel.
The governor gave a nearly 20-minute explanation of budget negotiations and his take on where things should head, then took questions from reporters, repeatedly stressing all that he had gotten legislators to come to terms on. Virtually all of his proposals, the governor said, had been accepted in some form, other than raising the age of adult criminal responsibility and a new property tax abatement program meant to spur affordable housing development in New York City. Cuomo then asked his budget director for confirmation. “Ethics reform,” Robert Mujica reminded him; “and ethics reform,” Cuomo repeated, adding it as a footnote to the conversation.
Through his omission and then recognition that ethics reform was nowhere to be found, Cuomo acknowledged that even with negotiations set to continue, his lengthy set of “good government and ethics reform” proposals would not pass the Legislature any time soon. The agenda includes closing the infamous LLC loophole, creating a public campaign financing system, instituting early voting, and more.
The lack of movement on these reform measures comes despite the fact that a recent public opinion poll by Quinnipiac showed that 80 percent of New York voters said state government corruption is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem. And, after major corruption scandals brought down both recent leaders of the two houses of the state Legislature and several close associates of and donors to Governor Andrew Cuomo were indicted on corruption charges. On Thursday, a federal court judge set a trial date of October 30 in the case against former Cuomo aides and donors for bid-rigging, bribes, and kickbacks related to the governor’s signature economic development programs.
The lack of movement also comes after New York ranked 41st in voter turnout among states in the 2016 presidential election.
As Cuomo highlighted Wednesday night, many compromises have been reached through negotiation, including billions more funding for the governor’s economic development programs. “We have an agreement on many items,” Cuomo said. “We have agreement on the Millionaire’s Tax, on the middle-class tax cut, on the water program that’s actually passed, on ride sharing, on college affordability, on workers’ comp, on property tax reform and citizen empowerment to get people involved in their state and local taxes...we have agreed on a prescription drug program, which is the first-in-the-nation, on a opioid program, which is a very aggressive program – so, we’ve done a lot of good work.”
But, there has been no movement on the 14-plank reform agenda that Cuomo included in his executive budget, which was released in January just after he concluded his six-stop State of the State speaking tour in Albany with reform measures as a key piece of his final speech.
“State government must do more to restore the public trust because as public servants we earn the trust of the people we serve. Unfortunately, in Albany there have been a series of breaches of that trust,” Cuomo said in January. “We must take action to show the people of this state that we get it, and that when someone does something wrong, they are punished to the full extent of the law and we have a system that is going to catch them.”
Nor has there been any movement on adding new oversight measures to Cuomo’s economic development spending, such as renewed contract vetting powers for the state Comptroller.
“[I]t doesn't look like the issue of procurement reform or much of the other reforms that people have been pushing for seem to be included [in the budget],” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli told Capitol Pressroom host Susan Arbetter on her show Wednesday morning, “so let's hope that that means that those issues will be dealt with post-budget. They're very important issues.”
“We need to tighten up our procurement procedures,” DiNapoli continued, adding that while economic development is important, “more checks and balance, more oversight, is appropriate.”
Those who watch state government closely see that in many cases, Senate Republicans, who control that chamber, form the blockade to proposed reforms. But, it is also evident that Cuomo appears to put little priority in seeing major reforms through. Known for his ability to get passed what he prioritizes, including controversial measures like same-sex marriage to gun control to minimum wage hikes, Cuomo has been notably silent on ethics and voting reform since his January State of the State.
One exception being when Cuomo was asked by a WNYC radio reporter about moving voting reforms through the budget and he replied that he was going to try, but they weren’t really budget matters and could be taken up in the legislative session to follow a budget agreement.
On Tuesday, Cuomo told reporters that raising the age of adult criminal responsibility should be done in the budget because it has financial aspects to it. The same could be said for early voting, which would require polling places to be open leading up to Election Day.
In the Quinnipiac poll from late March, voters were split on whether the governor and Legislature would address government corruption: 44 percent said they would, 43 said they won’t. Meanwhile, 43 percent of those polled said Cuomo is "part of the problem of ethics in government" and 44 percent said he's "part of the solution."
Cuomo’s office did not respond to two requests for comment about the governor’s “good government and ethics reform” agenda being fully absent from the budget.
It is important to note that some of that agenda called for more power for Cuomo, including governor-appointed inspectors general for the Port Authority and the State Education Department, as well as expanded power for already existing, governor-appointed inspectors general of the CUNY and SUNY systems.
While the Legislature did not go along with these proposals, it also failed to adopt measures Cuomo included that would apply more broadly, like closing the LLC loophole -- which the governor has benefited the most from -- and instituting public campaign financing, and a measure that would expand the state’s freedom of information law to include the Legislature.
On the other hand, the Legislature was seeking more transparency from the members of Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Councils through financial disclosures, in part to examine if REDC members had any business stakes in projects related to their volunteer work on the councils, which help dole out millions of state grants. Cuomo strongly objected to this proposal and it also appears to be out of the budget.
New Yorkers won’t know final details until a full 2017-2018 fiscal year state budget deal is reached.
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette