PRESS - 2024-25 BUDGET

January 17, 2024
"New York Budget Director Blake Washington on the budget process and reforms"
Spectrum (Susan Arbetter)

February 29, 2024
"Let there be light: NY taxpayers deserve transparency on $230billion budget"
NY Post editorial

March 2, 2024
"State Sen. George Borrello Backs Non-Partisan Budget Bill"
Post-Journal

March 11, 2024
"How the New York State Budget Is Made"
Focus (Sam Mellins) 

March 25. 2024
"Few City & State readers think we're looking at an on-time budget"
Rebecca Lewis, Peter Sterne 

March 25, 2024
"Lawmakers, publishers rally in Albany to save local news"

March 25, 2024
"Secret lobbying still possible"
WAMC (Blair Horner) 

March 25, 2024
"NY lawmakers not likely to make April 1 state budget deadline --
but may have deal in place soon"
NY Post (Vaughn Golden)

March 26, 2024
"Assembly Speaker gives update on state budget negotiations"
Daily Gazette (Ashley Hupfel)

March 27, 2024
"Statement from Governor Kathy Hochul
on Ongoing Budget Negotiations"

March 28, 2024
"The New York State budget will be late again"
NCPR (Karen DeWitt)

March 28, 2024
"New York state budget deadline extended to April 4"
WSYR.com (Jamie DeLine) 

March 29, 2024
"New York state budget deadline extended"
Fox 5

March 29, 2024
"Reinvent Albany on New York's opaque budget process"
Spectrum (Susan Arbetter)

March 29, 2024
"New York State's late budget"
WNYC -- Brian Lehrer Show (Jon Campbell) transcript

March 29, 2024
"The governor and legislative leaders concede there will not be an on-time budget"
WAMC (Gustina)  (Karen DeWitt)

April 5, 2024
"State budget could be weeks away, Assemblyman Scott Gray says"
News Chanel 7 (Lexi Bruening)

April 5, 2024
"NY's late budget deadline now lands on eclipse day.  What's the holdup?"
Gannett (Thomas Zambito)

April 5, 2024
"New York State Budget Delayed. No Surprise There."
The Messenger (editorial)

April 8, 2024
"New York State Budget Delayed. No Surprise There."
(AMAC)  Matt Meduri

April 9, 2024
"A budget power flex?"
Politico (Nick Reisman, Jeff Colton, Emily Ngo)

April 9, 2024
"N.Y. lawmakers celebrate eclipse as darkness mars late state budget"
Spectrum (Kate Lisa)

April 11, 2024
"NY Legislature approves fourth budget extender"
City & State (Rebecca Lewis)

April 12, 2024
"The NY state budget is 12 days late.  Does anybody care?"
Gothamist (Jon Campbell)

April 12, 2024
"New York state budget drags on with no resolution in sight"
WAMC (Karen DeWitt)  & here-NY NOW  & here-WAER

April 12, 2024
"A May budget? Lawmakers hope not"
Politico (Jason Beeferman)

April 12, 2024
"24 hours in Albany"
Politico (Nick Reisman, Jason Beeferman)

April 12, 2024
"Still no budget in Albany"
WNYC (Brian Lehrer Show)

April 12, 2024
"What and When?  Albany Housing Deal Likely, But Big Questions Remain"
City Limits (Emma Whitford)

April 13, 2024
"Borrello Blasts Policy Issues Delaying the State Budget"
The Post Journal (John Whittaker)

April 15, 2024
"Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani on the State Budget"
Brian Lehrer Show

April 15, 2024
"Hochul declares victory with $237B New York spending plan"
Politico (Nick Reisman)

April 15, 2024
"Hochul announces a New York state budget deal, sort of"
Gothamist (Jon Campbell)

April 16, 2024
"Gov. Hochul declares conceptual agreement on a state budget. 
Assembly Speaker says not so fast"
WAER (Karen DeWitt)

April 18, 2024
"What's in and out of the state budget"
City & State (Rebecca Lewis, Austin Jefferson)

April 19, 2024
"State lawmakers hope to finally finish
the overdue budget this weekend"
WXXI (Karen DeWitt)

April 20, 2024
"Your One-Stop Guide to the 2024 New York State Budget"
NY Focus

April 20, 2024
"This Week in Politics: New York finally, really has a state budget""
WNYC News  (Jon Campbell, David Furst)

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March 29, 2024
"Assistant to Letitia James Faces Misdemeanor Charge in City Court"
Albany Times Union (Robert Gavin)

April 15, 2024
"Who investigates complaints regarding state government.
State Inspector General Lucy Lang"
WBFI (Holly Kirkpatrick)

May 28, 2024
"You voted to fight corruption in NY state. But dishonest officials kept hefty pensions"
Democrat & Chronicle (Asher Stockler, Gary Craig)

June 3, 2024
"State lawmakers should work full-time for their full-time pay"
Newsday (editorial)

Just before Christmas 2022, New York State boosted the salary of its legislators to $142,000 — highest in the nation. The message was clear. Members of the Senate and Assembly would be paid at a full-time rate. 

Presumably that would mean they'd devote full-time, year-round attention to their elected duties.

In the bargain, lawmakers approved a limit on outside, private income for themselves — adding to expectations that they'd be full-time public servants. Starting in January 2025, those legislators are barred from making more than $35,000 from side employment. Ten Republicans have sued in federal court to block the raise and the income cap. That case is pending.

Yet the legislative chambers still seem to be arranging their lives around the state’s part-time legislative tradition. And rather than expand, the session period is shrinking. For decades, the accepted deadline for finishing business was the Independence Day weekend. This year, they plan to leave the Capitol on Friday.

Why can’t the majority lawmakers summon up the attention span to stick around longer and slog through the state’s challenges? Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said last week: “We still have 5 1/2 more days, which in Albany time is a lifetime.” 

Not if you're carefully doing detailed work.

Primary day on June 25 motivates some lawmakers to get back early to their districts. But this year, most legislative incumbents do not face primary challenges and might not need to campaign. The “slow” post-session period should be a perfect time for committees and task forces to convene and fairly explore the topics that underlie current or future legislative and budget battles. That would address the usual excuse for failing to bring many important bills to a vote: a lack of time. 

Often, legislators say their time in the district is well spent delivering constituent services. If so, each legislator should show it — by agreeing to requests for their personal calendars and schedules. They need not stand on exceptions in the Freedom of Information Law.

Much remains unfinished this final session week. Landmark legislation to reduce plastic waste that results from packaging hangs in the balance. If lawmakers break Friday, the Suffolk County Legislature might not have time to pass the home-rule message necessary to extend the county's safety-enhancing red-light camera program before it expires.

Deadlines are funny things. They can be useful in prodding consensus among most of the state’s 213 legislators. But meeting arbitrary, excessively early deadlines can rush negotiations and result in careless drafting of bills — or provide an excuse to fob off tough decisions until next year.

Now that they're paid as full-timers, lawmakers should expand rather than shorten the time they spend both at the Capitol and in their district offices — to get difficult things done the right way.

June 4, 2024
"Advocates who killed the LaSalle nomination have a new target"
City & State (Rebecca Lewis)

June 12, 2024
"New York State Bar Association Commends Legislature
 for Passing Bill Helping Families of New York's Judges"
(Jennifer Andrus)

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