DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 37
WHEELIN’ AND DEALIN’: Gov. Kathy Hochul claimed this morning she has a budget deal. Moments later, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters that, actually, nothing is final.
It’s a Planet Albany pantomime that’s played out over the last several years — a governor anxious to tout what’s generally been agreed to after a weeks-long impasse and an Assembly speaker who denies anything is truly finalized.
Only this year is different.
Heastie was noticeably more exasperated than in prior years when he told reporters this morning that the Legislature has yet to sign off on a budget agreement, contradicting the governor’s victory lap.
“There’s no budget deal,” the Bronx Democrat said. “There’s no deal. I said to her last night I was comfortable with saying we’re close. It’s close.”
He pledged to no longer discuss policy-related matters with Democratic lawmakers until the budget’s financial picture was in clear focus — suggesting he’s at something of a breaking point with a governor he considers an ally.
“We’ve signed off on nothing major,” he said. “This is what’s wrong with this process.”
Earlier in the morning, Hochul stood in the Red Room praising the “general agreement” (a chestnut that will join the pantheon of other state budget-deal upspeak like “tentative framework”).
She ran through a list of what has been, well, generally agreed to: Protections for undocumented immigrants, changing the environmental review process in order to fast-track home building and a package of car insurance laws meant to reduce premium costs.
Budget details tend to matter, not just to the 19 million New Yorkers who the document will impact, but to the army of advocates, lobbyists, staffers and lawmakers who have sweated the specifics for the last four months. And what’s yet to be determined is consequential.
The pied-à-terre tax on pricey second homes?
“We are working to come up with the right way to calculate,” Hochul said. “What you have is a rather bizarre property tax system in New York City right now.”
Changing the Tier 6 pension, a move that may cost $1.5 billion?
“We’ll release those numbers as soon as it’s absolutely done, but it won’t be the scale that was out there in the news,” she said.
Why come out now with so much TBD?
“All these financial details — as we’ve done in the past — we talk about initially the policy agreements, and this is a policy agreement we’ve accomplished, working tirelessly with the two leaders I have such respect for, Carl Heastie and Andrea Stewart-Cousins,” Hochul said.
It’s true that this has been Hochul’s strategy in the late stages of the budget — to fete the policy wins and leave the financial stuff written in pencil.
It’s also true that most voters aren’t following the blow-by-blow of the arcane Albany process and care far more about the results. As she runs for reelection, Hochul can show voters victories on issues like a school cellphone ban.
But while the governor has long placed a bet on voters not minding late budgets, Republicans are eager to trot out the “D” word — dysfunction — to describe the Albany fracas.
“We’ve gone so far away from having responsible leadership in this state and caring about what it means to have a budget on time,” Republican Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra said. “It’s May 7 — the latest budget in my time in the Legislature — and she’s out here announcing a deal that doesn’t actually exist.” — Nick Reisman
From the Capitol
WONKS WEIGH IN: As noted above, details on the state’s spending plan remain scant. But some experts are seeing good news in what’s out there.
The fiscal hawks at the Citizens Budget Commission applauded policy measures like changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act that were made to spur more home building, as well as the car insurance changes
Still, the group has concerns even as the final numbers aren’t yet clear. The $268 billion topline spending figure may increase once the dust settles.
“What we do know is that the budget is bigger, but not likely better for fiscal stability compared to the governor’s proposal,” the group said. — Nick Reisman
FROM CITY HALL
ICE CLASH: Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing mounting pressure from progressive leaders to enact stricter rules on how the NYPD can interact with federal immigration authorities — the latest sign of a broadening chasm between the mayor and his own supporters, our Chris Sommerfeldt reports today.
Attention on the issue intensified Saturday when police officers blocked protesters advancing toward U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who were transporting an immigrant detainee from a Brooklyn hospital. As video of the chaos went viral, accusations that Mamdani’s NYPD had coordinated with ICE in violation of local sanctuary laws quickly accumulated. The mayor has rejected that claim.
In a letter to Mamdani, Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and four other elected Democrats who endorsed the mayor’s 2025 campaign wrote that they believe the NYPD “coordinated on the ground with ICE agents” outside the hospital. And they implored him to immediately overhaul NYPD policies in response.
“Officers arriving at a scene where federal agents are already operating cannot be left to improvise. They need a bright-line rule, communicated up and down the chain of command, that informs them when to disengage, when to step back, when to refuse a request for assistance, and how to document what they observed,” they wrote in the Wednesday letter, which was obtained by POLITICO. “The absence of such a standard, or the failure to enforce one, is how we ended up with NYPD officers visibly working alongside ICE outside a hospital.”
Specifically, they called on Mamdani to release new rules within 30 days that “clearly outline” how NYPD officers should interact with ICE agents in the field. The rules, they wrote, should dictate when “disengagement” and “refusal of assistance” to ICE is appropriate so NYPD officers “do not aid, facilitate, or appear to facilitate civil immigration enforcement.”
Among the letter’s other signatories was state Sen. Julia Salazar, one of the earliest supporters of Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign and a fellow democratic socialist.
The fact that Mamdani’s elected supporters opted to call him out in such a direct way is a strong indication elements of his base are growing frustrated with his handling of public safety issues — and his perceived drift to the political center since entering City Hall.
Read more from Chris in POLITICO Pro.
SECOND TRY: Council Speaker Julie Menin is moving forward with a controversial bill that would boost pay for home health workers — legislation that’s also tangled up with her run for the leadership post last year.
As POLITICO previously reported, Menin is working with Council Member Chris Marte on a measure that would outlaw 24-hour shifts for home health aides who are only paid for 13 hours. Their collaboration began to unfold after Marte dropped his own bid for the speakership last fall and threw his support behind Menin.
The effort, however, has put the speaker in a political bind. A previous version of the bill drew opposition from major labor unions, the mayor and Hochul over concerns it would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, endanger patients and deprive workers of flexibility.
Menin, in the hopes of blunting that opposition, prepped a new version for a vote last night. The modified bill exempts home health workers covered by a collective bargaining agreement, delays the implementation for a year and allows home health workers to opt into longer shifts through the fall of 2027.
“As part of the ongoing legislative process, the Council has updated the bill after many conversations with stakeholders,” Council spokesperson Benjamin Fang said in a statement. “We look forward to phasing out the 24-hour workday, an outdated practice that places workers under extreme physical and emotional strain.”
The changes to the bill, however, do not seem to have appeased much of the opposition that killed it the first time around. A person with knowledge of negotiations said the modified version sparked backlash this morning. The legislation still sticks the state with the cost — the reason Hochul opposed it last time around. And some of the same critics are now reiterating their opposition, putting the bill on shaky ground should Menin attempt to bring it to a vote.
“This bill still leaves people with disabilities without care, creates legal conflicts with State Medicaid rules, lacks the funding necessary to keep from endangering the lives of people with disabilities, and risks destabilizing access to critical care for thousands of New Yorkers,” a Legal Aid Society spokesperson said in a statement. “We can and must pursue reforms that protect home care workers from exploitation without jeopardizing the health, independence, and dignity of the people who depend on these services every day.” — Joe Anuta
IN OTHER NEWS
— QUOTE CONTROVERSY: A recent TV ad from Anthony Constantino’s congressional campaign used a fabricated quote attributed to the Times Union. The dubiously sourced claim? “Constantino is now guaranteed to be a major entity in Congress.” (Times Union)
— STUDENT EXODUS: Enrollment in New York City’s public schools could plunge by as many as 153,000 students over the next decade. Falling fertility rates and more charter schools are driving the downturn. (The New York Times)
— ICE UPHEAVAL: Nigerian immigrant sues ICE after his arrest sparked chaotic protests in Brooklyn. Chidozie Wilson Okeke’s lawsuit says he was “unlawfully, brutally and violently detained.” (Gothamist)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.