Democrats who control the New York State Legislature say they’re hopeful that, unlike last year, an on-time budget could be in place when the new fiscal year starts on April 1.
State lawmakers held the initial meeting for this year’s budget negotiations Monday in Albany, after the State Assembly and Senate each released their budget plans last week. Negotiations have now begun with Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul.
In past years, the budget has consistently passed after the March 31 deadline. However, despite recent budget disagreements with the governor, including over education funding and income tax, State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Monday said he was still optimistic about an on-time budget.
“I think for us, we had a great opening conversation today. I think things are going well in our discussions, and I think we should get to a good place in our on-time budget.” said Heastie.
Senate Majority Leader and fellow Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins echoed the sentiment.
“We are hopeful,” said Stewart-Cousins. “We are always trying to make sure that we have a fiscally responsible, balanced on-time budget, so we are going to be working towards that obviously.”
An additional time crunch has been placed on the legislature with Easter Sunday falling on March 31. Lawmakers are scheduled to leave Albany on March 28, giving them just 10 days to pass the new state budget.