New York’s state budget expected to be late as housing, education negotiations continue

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers are expected to miss the state’s budget deadline as negotiations over housing and education funding remain ongoing, a top official said Wednesday.

The due date for adopting a new state budget is April 1, but legislators are set to give themselves a extension early next week that will keep government functioning while talks continue, Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins told reporters.

“We’re at the middle of the middle,” Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Albany.

Budget negotiations — conducted in private between the Democrat leaders of the Senate and Assembly and Gov. Kathy Hochul — were expected to drag out beyond the deadline, which falls right after Easter, though officials have indicated that the meetings have been productive.

Lawmakers appear cautious to avoid the kind of blowup that delayed last year’s spending plan by more than a month as Democrats fought over bail laws and a plan to spur housing construction.

Still, familiar subjects have emerged as sticking points this year.

Lawmakers are trying to forge a deal on a housing plan that includes new construction, tenant protections and a tax break for developers to incentivize building in a state notorious for high rents and home costs.

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