After several years of on-time, or nearly on-time state budgets, New York lawmakers are in budget limbo, with legislative leaders not able to come to a spending agreement by an April 1 deadline. One central New York legislative veteran figures it’ll be a while before a budget is in place.
Al Stirpe (D-Syracuse) has represented central New York in the state Assembly for nearly 14 years. His prediction for a budget vote?
"I’m looking at maybe the last week in April when this finally gets voted on,” Stirpe said.
Stirpe said religious holidays will keep lawmakers out of Albany in the next few weeks. Even when legislative leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul come to agreement on issues like bail reform, there are time-consuming procedural moves that must take place.
"We're going to have to sit down and start going through the multiple cycles with conferences to say, 'These are the numbers we’re getting, what do you think?'" Stirpe said. "People will respond and we'll go back and negotiate. It takes three or four cycles before we get an agreement."
Stirpe said one of the things that holds up the budget is discussion of policy issues, like bail reform. He’d like to see leaders just focusing on the spending.
"We have some fires in health care especially in housing that we have to put out and I think that’s where the focus should be," Stirpe said. "Some of this other stuff I believe we can put that off a little bit.”
In the meantime, unless there is a surprise agreement, lawmakers going back into session Monday will have to approve another late budget extender to ensure that state employees get paid.
