Following a month-long deadlock, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders reached a tentative agreement on a record $254 billion state budget that includes a ban on cell phones in schools and “inflation refund” checks for consumers.
The “conceptual” agreement, reached late Monday, calls for statewide initiatives such as increasing the state child tax credit by up to $1,000 per child under the age of four and up to $500 for school-age children, investing $340 million in school breakfast and lunch programs, and providing $2 billion in direct cash assistance to more than 8 million New Yorkers with checks of up to $400 per family.
Hochul described the accord reached in closed-door negotiations with legislative leaders as a “balanced fiscally responsible budget” that will “make a real difference for New York families.”
“I promised New Yorkers to fight like hell to put money back in their pockets and make our streets and subways safer,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement. “That’s exactly what this budget will do.”
The budget has been delayed due to closed-door negotiations over changes to the state’s pre-trial discovery procedures, which establish rigorous restrictions and timeframes for evidence sharing during criminal cases. Hochul claims that the measure has resulted in an increase in criminal cases being dismissed, while progressive Democrats oppose the proposal, claiming it will weaken the impact of 2020 criminal justice changes.
The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, said the agreement “fails to address the imminent threat facing New York: looming federal budget cuts,” and that the spending plan includes “no mention of putting money aside to cushion at least the initial blow.”
The budget is $2 billion greater than Hochul’s first request, and it is expected to widen the state’s already enormous $18 billion structural budget gap, according to the group.
“Instead of shoring up the state’s fiscal foundation, lawmakers are dramatically increasing spending the state cannot afford in the long run,” Andrew Rein, the commission’s president, said in a statement. “While the governor acknowledged they may have to come back to deal with federal cuts, that would be easier had they put aside a few billion dollars now.”
The budget proposes a statewide bell-to-bell distraction-free school policy, with a $13.5 million commitment to help schools “operationalize” bans on smartphone and other internet-enabled device use throughout the school day.
“We’ve protected our kids before from cigarettes, alcohol, and drunk driving, and now we’re protecting them from addictive technology designed to hijack their attention,” Hochul told me.
Lawmakers missed an April 1 deadline to adopt the spending plan and passed numerous temporary budget bills to keep the government operational while negotiations continued. Last year, lawmakers passed a $237 billion budget that was more than a month late. The Legislature is set to begin debating the spending package this week.
