NYS Budget deadline extended to April 4

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)—The state budget is now due on April 4, giving lawmakers and the governor more time to come to an agreement, so they don’t have to be in Albany over Easter weekend.

“It’s a holiday weekend, but we’ve got work to do,” said Senator Pete Harkham. “And hopefully, we can get this wrapped up next week.”

State lawmakers on Thursday passed a budget extender so state workers can continue to get paid. They also passed the debt services bill, which is typically is the first budget bill to be voted on. This year was no different.

“New York will pay its full faith in credit to Wall Street, to the capital markets,” explained Harkham. “When people think of debt, unlike Washington, Albany— we don’t borrow for operating expenses. So the debt we have are capital expenses. Like if someone would take a home equity loan to build their garage, this is for the infrastructure that we fund through state bonds.”

On Tuesday, Speaker Carl Heastie gave reporters some insight on how negotiations have been going.

“I feel like we are on the same planet,” said Heastie. “I don’t know if we’re in the same country or in the same state yet, but we are at least on the same planet on what has to happen on all of the big items.”

One of those big items is education funding. The governor has proposed making changes to the formula that helps determine school aid. Both the Senate and Assembly rejected her proposal.

On Wednesday Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, was asked where things stand.

“We continue again to talk about how to move forward as it relates to school funding and the importance of doing a study that will allow us with updated data, to look at how we fund our schools prospectively,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters at a press conference.

Lawmakers will be back in Albany for session on Tuesday.

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