ALBANY- The April 1st deadline came and went for state lawmakers and now, 29 days later, the Governor has finally announced a “conceptual” budget deal. The state budget is actually nine bills separated by topic. Each bill must be approved for a final budget to be put in place.
As reported on Friday, Governor Hochul has achieved some of her goals in the final agreement including a deal with state legislative leaders to amend controversial bail laws to allow judges greater discretion in the process. The two final sticking points that seemed to hold up an agreement for so long concern charter schools and cracking down on illegal pot shops.
Governor Hochul was pushing for the expansion of Charter Schools in New York City, and she appears to have successfully achieved at least part of what she wanted. Charter schools are funded with public money but operate under more flexible rules contained in a charter that is reviewed and approved by the State Education Department and the State University of New York.
Hochul had supported adding 22 charter schools, while the New York State United Teachers and advocates in the legislature opposed any expansion. By Friday it appeared that Hochul and legislative leaders had cut a deal to revive 14 so-called “zombie” charters. These “zombies” are schools previously approved by the state that are no longer in operation. The emerging deal would allow 14 new licenses to be granted to replace those that have fallen by the wayside.
Assembly Education Committee Chairman Michael Benedetto was not happy with the compromise, stating, “We were hoping to stop this, but it’s a battle we’ve lost, and you go on. It’s a part of doing business.”
Additionally, language has not been agreed to in order to facilitate a crackdown on illegal cannabis shops. Current law only allows for a $250 fine per occurrence for the illegal retail sale of marijuana, and as a result, many black-market shops see little risk in selling marijuana without a license. This illegal trade in cannabis is hurting the nascent legal marijuana markets in the state at a time when the Office of Cannabis Management is working to license and support more legal retail dispensaries.
Other contentious issues have already been resolved or removed from negotiations altogether.
Hochul and legislative leaders have allegedly dropped all discussions about good cause eviction and the Governor’s proposal to overrule local zoning in order to build more affordable housing. The minimum wage is also going up over the next several years and will then be indexed to inflation. The budget was due April 1, and the deadline has been extended five times so far. Final approval is expected next week.
