NYS passes 2nd emergency spending bill as state budget talks continue

ALBANY — Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature on Thursday agreed to a second emergency spending measure as closed-door negotiations continue for a state budget that was due Monday.

The budget "extender" will in part pay for a ballooning cost to continue to secure prisons with National Guard troops after a wildcat strike by prison guards.

The emergency measure passed Thursday will allow the state to spend $340.9 million to keep paying its bills through Monday, which allows most legislators to go home for the weekend after morning sessions in the Senate and Assembly.

"I feel like we have been making some progress over the last few days," said Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan). She said budget bills could be approved by late next week.

"No guarantee, but I am a bit more optimistic," Krueger said.

There is some added pressure to resolve the budget quickly: The Legislature is scheduled to begin its Easter-Passover break April 10 and return to session April 28. In addition, a state law suspends the pay of legislators until a late budget is replaced by a new budget.

The $340.9 million emergency spending measure will fund state government for the next four days. A $1.7 billion extender had been approved Tuesday to run state government for three days. The 2025-26 state budget for the fiscal year that began Tuesday will total more than $252 billion.

"It starts to snowball," said Assemb. Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) in the Assembly floor debate. He said the state budget needs to be approved soon so that school districts will know how much state aid they will receive as they prepare local school budgets, which will be voted on by residents in May.

Every Democrat and Republican in the Senate and Assembly voted for the extender to keep state government operating, including Ra.

"I do so with hope that this does not become a recurring issue, that we don’t keep relying on extenders because we can’t figure out how to put our pencils down and make a deal," Ra said.

A budget that is two weeks late doesn’t yet trigger specific concerns, such as damage to the state’s credit rating that would make borrowing more expensive. Still, a late budget takes a toll.

"As a practical matter, it doesn’t mean much, but it depends on how late it ultimately is," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group. "But it’s another hit to whatever confidence the people have in Albany."

In Tuesday’s floor debates, Republicans highlighted a new snag in budget negotiations since Hochul introduced her budget proposal in January. On Monday Hochul’s budget director, Blake Washington, told reporters that the continued help of about 6,000 National Guard soldiers to secure prisons following a wildcat strike is costing the state $100 million a month.

Thursday's extender included $45 million for the National Guard, most of which is for the prison assignment.

Most of the state’s 15,000 correction officers began an unauthorized strike Feb. 17 that lasted for 22 days. The issues included rising assaults by prisoners, mandated overtime work because of short staffing, and a demand to repeal a law that limits use of solitary confinement as a punishment. Hochul eventually fired 2,000 guards who refused to return to work and barred them from being rehired by the state.

On Wednesday Hochul’s Corrections commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, announced more changes to contend with the shortage of guards in the aftermath of the strike. The changes include early release of some nonviolent prisoners on relatively minor charges and who are near their release date.

Republicans who represent most of the upstate areas where prisons are located have supported the strikers and now are calling for Hochul to rehire the 2,000 fired guards to avoid the cost of National Guard soldiers still working at 34 of the state’s 42 prisons.

"The taxpayers of New York are paying for the governor’s lack of ability to lead," said Sen. George Borrello (R-Hanover). "There is a cost of this for the governor’s mismanagement and it’s $100 million a month."

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.