ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul finally announced a $254 billion budget deal with lawmakers Monday – nearly a month after blowing through the deadline for the spending plan.
Hochul said the massive spending plan would include “inflation refund” checks to 8.2 million New Yorkers, a cellphone ban in schools and an agreement to strengthen laws to involuntarily commitment the mentally ill.
It is also expected to include a tax hike on businesses meant to fund the MTA’s $68 billion five-year capital plan.
The announcment came after a drawn-out standoff between Hochul and fellow Democrats in control of the state legislature after the governor pitched a slightly smaller $252 billion spending plan.
The two sides have been haggling over the governor’s policy asks — including a marquee public safety proposal to revamp discovery laws, which govern evidence-sharing requirements in criminal cases.
For several weeks, Hochul refused to budge on her proposal meant to stymie a wave of what she deemed as frivolous criminal case dismissals under the 2019 discovery laws signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is now running for New York City mayor.
That logjam largely cleared after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) effectively got out in front of Hochul and announced the legislature had worked out an agreement with the five New York City district attorneys to change laws around how evidence is shared ahead of criminal trials.
Negotiators plan to finish locking down technical details following the “handshake” agreement, and put together the nine remaining legislative bills that lawmakers will vote on, likely as soon as later this week.
This is Hochul’s fourth state budget since taking over for Cuomo in the fall of 2021, and the second to last she needs to pass ahead of her planned 2026 reelection bid.