New York State Lawmakers Miss Budget Deadline
01 April 2020 - 2:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Jimmy Vielkind
ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York state lawmakers approved parts of the
state budget late Tuesday but missed a midnight deadline because of
disagreements on funding for Medicaid and potential changes to the
state's bail law.
Members of the state Senate voted on three budget bills between
sundown Tuesday and dawn on Wednesday but said they were still
negotiating with Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the overall spending plan.
Democrats, who dominate the state Assembly, passed one bill to pay
the state's bondholders.
During a Tuesday afternoon radio interview, the Democratic
governor didn't say how late the budget would be, but said it was a
difficult exercise because of falling receipts. Lawmakers faced a
$6.1 billion deficit when Mr. Cuomo proposed a $178 billion budget
in January. The coronavirus pandemic caused revenue to drop between
$9 billion and $15 billion below the $88 billion that they
projected in February, the state's Division of the Budget
estimated.
"We have to finish the budget to tell you the size of the
budget," Mr. Cuomo said during a Tuesday press briefing.
Legislators said they would grant Mr. Cuomo unilateral power to
reduce spending below the levels approved in the document if
revenues didn't materialize. Legislators said Tuesday that they
didn't plan to increase taxes on the wealthy as part of the budget,
despite calls from progressive lawmakers and labor unions.
While actual bills detailing spending for health care and state
agencies hadn't been completed as of Wednesday morning, lawmakers
said they had agreed to keep the amount of aid to public schools --
the second-largest state expenditure -- flat. It typically rises by
around 4%, or roughly $1 billion, each school year.
Robert Lowry, deputy director for the New York State Council of
School Superintendents, said districts were grateful to avoid a cut
given the overall economic climate, but were wary of possible
midyear reductions.
"No one wants to contemplate cutting teachers and reconfiguring
classes part way through the school year," he said. "We all have to
hope that Washington comes through with more help for states, local
governments, and schools."
Mr. Cuomo and legislators said they hadn't reached an agreement
on legalizing recreational marijuana as part of the budget and had
abandoned the topic for now. Lawmakers did agree to a new process
for siting wind and solar farms and to increase penalties for acts
of domestic terrorism.
As of Tuesday night, disagreements over possible cuts to the
Medicaid program -- which funds hospitals and provides health care
for more than 6 million New Yorkers each year -- remained a
sticking point.
Mr. Cuomo has pushed for changes in the program that would
reduce spending by $2.5 billion a year and tighten eligibility
requirements for certain home-care programs. Democrats in the state
Senate urged him to hold off on his restructuring and instead
accept up to $6 billion in supplemental federal health-care
aid.
Lawmakers also hadn't reached an agreement on changes to the
state's new bail law, which took effect Jan. 1 and prohibits cash
bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony offenders.
Mr. Cuomo, as well as Republicans, law-enforcement officials and
Democrats from suburban and rural areas have said the law hurts
public safety and that judges should have more discretion over
whether defendants are held before a trial.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, and
other legislators from inner-city districts said the law has
reduced economic and racial disparities in the criminal justice
system and shouldn't be rolled back.
Without a budget in place, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said his
office was unable to process paychecks for roughly 120,000 workers
in state agencies -- including some at the Department of Health who
have been helping to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
State budgets are often adopted a few hours or days after the
March 31 deadline with minimal effect. But Mr. DiNapoli's office
said that a budget needed to be adopted by Monday evening to
authorize direct deposit for a payroll period that concludes
Wednesday.
Mr. Cuomo's office said the Democratic comptroller had the
authority to process the payroll. But Jennifer Freeman, a
spokeswoman for Mr. DiNapoli, said his office was following
longstanding precedent.
"Hardworking state employees should not be held hostage to
budget gridlock," she said.
Write to Jimmy Vielkind at Jimmy.Vielkind@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 01, 2020 09:26 ET (13:26 GMT)
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