Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie tossed a curveball into the already deteriorating atmosphere at the state capital: a bill that would allow members to avoid having their wages withheld for a late budget, provided the governor included policy recommendations in her speech.
Heastie explained the move in a recent interview “Because quite a few governors use their powers under Silver v. Pataki which gives them a lot of leverage in budget negotiations, governors like to use that leverage and can become cavalier thinking that the promise of (legislators) not getting paid kind of induces members to agree to a budget sooner.”
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Heastie stated that the conflict of interest regarding the matter is not personal, however, it impacts the structure of New York’s executive-powered budget.
“I don’t want anyone to think this is a Kathy Hochul v. Carl Heastie thing, it’s the furthest thing from that. My relationship with the governor is as great as it’s always been,” he noted. “We’re not trying to go to war with Gov. Hochul,” he claimed.
Despite not having studied the legislation, Heastie appeared to have the support of several MPs.
Deputy Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris stated, “I think it’s born out of a frustration that we all share about the continued insistence on non-budgetary policy items into this budget conversation, we’re now a week and a half late.” Gianaris added, “We’re still getting new things dropped on the table that have nothing to do with funding the government.”
Although he is prepared to “stick it out” since he agrees with the governor on some of those policy matters, Assemblymember John McDonald expressed his displeasure with Hochul’s persistence on adding more, even after the budget deadline.
He said that negotiating a budget that is heavy on policies days after the deadline reduces members’ time to actually debate legislation and enact laws. “We’ve covered these policy items, here are three or four more,” he said. “This is precluding that by adding more policy items this late in the game, this late in the process.”
Although state senator Liz Krueger told Spectrum News 1 that she hadn’t read the plan, she seemed unimpressed by the shenanigans that were taking on since she had more important things to think about.
When questioned why the governor couldn’t put down his pencils, she responded, “The real world is burning, and I’m not interested in games here.” She then mentioned, “We should just get the budget done and then it’s going to fall apart any second anyway because the feds keep cutting the money.”
Krueger stated, “Welcome to Albany,” she added, expressing sympathy for the idea behind Heastie’s initiative.
“I get it, people are upset that she controls the budget and we don’t get paid.”
“That’s been the case since before I got here, but I’ve been here as late as August to get budgets done, if that’s what we have to do, that’s what we have to do.”
Speaking about the past, politicians used to receive their paychecks only after reaching an agreement to halt consistently late budgets. It hasn’t worked, but Blair Horner, senior policy adviser for NYPIRG, isn’t convinced that focusing on policy is the best course of action.
“Tying it to policy being added to the budget raises the question: who makes that determination, and why does it matter?” He stated. “The speaker should make the case for why that should be changed.”
Blake Washington, the budget director for the governor, defended her on Wednesday afternoon, pointing out that lawmakers are still putting out legislative suggestions.
“We get a lot of other bills from the houses through this process that we are considering; it goes both ways,” he noted.
Sources claim lawmakers started pressing for changes to campaign financing regulations on Wednesday, a clear example of Washington’s argument. Ironically, they believe the suggestion started in the Assembly.
Hochul, however, is being criticized for being unyielding on modifications to the state’s discovery rules, which are thought to be the real obstacle to talks.
The governor has dispatched district lawyers to present her case to the media on her behalf for the third day in a row, keeping her out of the spotlight and behind closed doors, one story below.
Melinda Katz, the district attorney for Queens, told reporters that the governor and the DAs will not make concessions in response to frustrated lawmakers, “We will not approve, nor will the legislature approve, any language that we feel doesn’t work, we think, for the best of the state.”
Through her spokeswoman, Governor Hochul asked lawmakers to approve her agenda, which focuses on education, mental health, taxation, and crime, claiming that it is in line with the goals of New Yorkers and their financial ties. In response, Senator Gianaris emphasized that all sides must contribute to the negotiation process. “The policy priorities Gov. Hochul announced back in January — holding violent criminals accountable, cutting middle-class taxes, tackling the mental health crisis, and bell-to-bell distraction-free schools, all while providing record school aid and Medicaid funds — have the overwhelming support of New Yorkers.”
Adding, “If the highest-paid state legislators in America are worried about their paychecks, there’s a much easier solution: come to the table and pass a budget that includes Gov. Hochul’s common-sense agenda.”
