‘Beginning of the end’

The “beginning of the end.”

That’s how Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins characterized budget negotiations on Wednesday as the sides still seem days, if not longer, apart on reaching a final agreement after missing the March 31 deadline for an on-time deal.

There’s a lot that’s still undecided, and the Yonkers Democrat’s 24-minute briefing with reporters showed just how many issues are still on the table. She admitted as much.

“This is the most policy-laden budget that I’ve ever had to deal with,” said Stewart-Cousins, who has been leader since 2019.

Where do negotiations stand? They are very close to removing the “least restrictive” standard so judges can set bail in violent cases. They will probably reach a lower-level housing deal that addresses some of the long-standing issues in New York City, such as allowing for basements to be converted into apartments.

But Gov. Kathy Hochul’s sweeping plan to force municipalities to build 800,000 new homes over the next decade appears to be a step too far for lawmakers, who have been loath to overstep local zoning to accomplish the governor’s goal.

And Hochul has seemed unwilling to bend on removing the mandate piece. Legislative leaders pitched an opt-in program with incentives to encourage the construction of new homes, but it appears to have been to no avail.

“It’s an important objective. But I think, obviously, we need to figure out all the pieces,” Stewart-Cousins explained. “And that is certainly one of the reasons why it (the budget) is taking so long.”

POLITICO reported Wednesday that raising tuition at SUNY and CUNY is likely off the table, and other issues remain uncertain — such as whether to allow more charter schools in the city, to raise the minimum wage or to tax the rich.

None of it appears poised to be settled before week’s end, and Stewart-Cousins said the Legislature will pass an extender Thursday to keep government running.

The Thursday extender would ensure that about 1,000 emergency workers from the Division of Military and Naval Affairs are paid, and another one would be needed by noon Monday to ensure the state workforce’s checks hit their bank accounts, according to the state Comptroller’s Office.

Stewart-Cousins summed up negotiations and the mood of the state Capitol, thusly: “We all just want to get to the end, quite honestly.”

From the Capitol

DeROSA’S DETAILS: A former top aide and ardent supporter of Andrew Cuomo is coming out with a new book — and “nothing goes unaddressed,” she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Melissa DeRosa, who was the former governor’s secretary from 2017 until 2021, is detailing her Albany experience in a new memoir titled “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics, and Crisis.” She defended him amid a barrage of accusations of sexual harassment in early 2021, and a bombshell report from Letitia James, the state attorney general, later that year found she led efforts to discredit a woman who spoke out about her experience.

James’ report, coupled with the administration’s fudging of data on nursing home deaths during the pandemic, ultimately led to Cuomo’s resignation in what became a dramatic fall from political grace. — Zachary Schermele

From City Hall

SPLIT SCREEN: From the steps of City Hall, Mayor Eric Adams made perhaps his most forceful case yet for more money from the federal government to address the city’s asylum-seeker crisis.

“The president and the White House have failed this city,” he said Wednesday, adding that a less-than-punctual state budget is only compacting the stress.

NYC is already out $817 million because of the crisis, according to Jacques Jiha, his budget director. And it’s staring down a $1.4 billion price tag for this fiscal year. There’s also a looming $2.9 billion for the next, not to mention the impending end of a restrictive Trump-era immigration policy.

It was quite the split screen, as just a couple hundred feet away members in City Hall Park members of the Progressive Caucus chastised the mayor’s proposed budget cuts (which he has insisted be referred to as “efficiencies”). In the most recent round a few weeks ago, Adams’ administration asked most city agencies to cut their staffs for the upcoming fiscal year by 4 percent.

The mayor said it’s still unclear to him exactly why the federal government — the White House in particular — hasn’t earmarked more dollars to help the city respond to the crisis, which he insisted would help stave off those cuts.

In a statement, the White House said: “FEMA is also providing assistance to support the city as it receives migrants and will announce additional funding for receiving cities like New York City in the coming weeks, but we need Congress to provide the funds and resources we’ve requested to fix our long-broken immigration system.” — Zachary Schermele

On the beats

EDUCATION: Stewart-Cousins says that education issues such as charters and SUNY/CUNY tuition are being talked about, but a deal has yet to be struck. On Wednesday, she noted that all three leaders at the table are committed to affordability in the state’s higher education institutions.

“I think the affordability aspect is still important, even when it comes to higher education or investing in our public institutions,” she said. “We want to be as financially supportive of them as we can be. We in both houses, we’re pretty opposed to tuition hikes at this time, but again we’re still talking about that.”

POLITICO reported that SUNY tuition hikes are expected to be rejected in the final budget. Three officials familiar with negotiations told POLITICO on Wednesday that legislative leaders and Hochul are looking at alternatives other than tuition increases to help fund SUNY and the 64-campus SUNY system. — Katelyn Cordero

SOLAR INSTALLATIONS: The New York Power Authority highlighted progress on installing solar projects at state facilities as a week of routine Earth Week announcements continues. NYPA has installed about 30 MW of solar projects at five Department of Corrections and Community Supervision facilities in upstate New York.

NYPA routinely assists state agencies and other public entities with solar and energy efficiency projects. Typically the authority provides low-cost financing along with technical and design services that the agency pays back over several years. These small-scale solar projects also received $5.2 million in incentives from NYSERDA’s NY-Sun program, which is funded by utility ratepayers. The solar projects highlighted today are expected to save the DOCCS $10 million on utility bills over their lifetime. — Marie J. French

HOUSING: The Adams administration will invest as much as $10 million in renovating distressed rent-stabilized apartments, as part of a new “Unlocking Doors” program that would then match those apartments with people using city housing vouchers for those exiting shelters or at risk of homelessness.

The city plans to provide up to $25,000 for repairs at 400 rent-stabilized homes that are vacant and unavailable for rent, part of a small group of homes that have been “chronically vacant and need significant repairs to become safe and habitable,” per City Hall.

The program, which will begin accepting applications this summer, will prioritize apartments with the lowest stabilized rents — or about $1,200 a month for a one-bedroom, officials said. But landlord groups representing rent-stabilized owners said the $25,000 sum is insufficient.

“It is completely unrealistic to think that $25,000 is anywhere close to enough to renovate a rent-stabilized apartment and bring it into compliance with Local Law 66 of 2019 and Local Law 97 of 2019,” Jay Martin of the Community Housing Improvement Program and Joseph Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association said in a joint statement. — Janaki Chadha

Around New York

— NYC will pay up to $53 million to thousands of pretrial detainees wrongly held in solitary on Rikers island and in Manhattan. (The New York Times)

— Two Nassau County police detectives are under investigation for an unconstitutional strip-search. (WNYC)

— According to state data, 241 New York school districts among 660 with data available saw English language arts assessment tests fall during the pandemic. (Upstate New York)

— Upstate Medical University in Syracuse is seeking teenagers to participate in a vaccine clinical trial on Lyme disease. (Syracuse.com)