New York state budget talks will drag on in Albany this week as lawmakers remain optimistic despite indications there is little agreement on key issues such as housing. Dew.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for a sweeping bill aimed at expanding housing development in the Empire State, but the bill is increasingly in doubt as questions swirl over its details. Officials are past the April 1 budget deadline.
Last week, several building trade groups issued statements saying side negotiations with the powerful New York Real Estate Board were effectively stalled.
Labor and REBNY are negotiating labor standards, including basic wages for workers, as part of renewing and replacing expired tax incentives that encourage developers to build more affordable housing.
“Both sides need to compromise, and we are offering significant concessions, as are housing advocates. All REBNY has offered us is scraps,” the joint statement reads in part. ing.
REBNY responded with a statement calling for the continuation of negotiations.
Labor negotiations are critical to housing deals because the ultimate benefit of tax incentives to developers depends on how much the developer ultimately has to pay workers as part of the deal.
For now, Albany is sitting on the sidelines.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) rejected the idea of intervening in brokering a building deal with REBNY, saying, “As far as I’m concerned, that would be premature.”
“I’m not going to overreact to this,” she continued. “I think we’re all going to put our heads down and try to convince everyone at the table to figure out what’s going to benefit our grand aspirations for building and supporting housing.”
But even State Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan), Stewart-Cousins’ chief budget aide, said by Thursday it was time for Albany to intervene.
“Yes, actually, if this is going to be a government program, I think the government should have a seat at the table,” Krueger said Thursday in the hallways of the Capitol, where fellow Manhattan Sen. Brian Kavanaugh (D-N.C.) , Manhattan), he told reporters.
Kavanaugh, who chairs the state Senate Housing Committee, seems open to talks between REBNY and industry stakeholders.
“We spend huge public resources and expect public goods in return, one of which is affordability and one of which is good jobs, but the extent of that agreement is not clear to unions. It needs to be resolved between the two parties,” Kavanaugh said.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said he would like to see a wage agreement in place before signing a housing agreement.
Labor negotiations are just one of the many complex aspects that must be fixed before substantive policy decisions can be made, and perhaps the least controversial.
One of the most heated debates is likely to be whether to include tenant protections in the final contract. Housing activists have flocked to the Capitol, pressuring lawmakers not to repeal their prized just-cause evictions proposal. The plan is fiercely opposed by landlords large and small, who say it would impose unreasonable restrictions on lease renewals and rent increases.
“Vague guarantees of tenant protections from state leadership are not enough. Just cause evictions must be passed in the budget, and they must be strong across the state,” said the Coalition for Housing Justice. Director Shea Weaver said in a statement last week. .
Beyond housing, negotiators remain at odds with Hochul’s proposals to change funding formulas for K-12 schools and rein in out-of-control spending in some Medicaid programs. .
Meanwhile, a wide range of other issues remain for debate on Capitol Hill, including combating retail theft and illegal marijuana stores, attempts to reform state wrongful death laws, and efforts by environmentalists to curb the expansion of natural gas infrastructure. ing.
Last week, Albany passed an emergency budget extension to keep the state government running through Thursday.
The missed deadline wasn’t much of a surprise to Albany residents, but the question now is how long negotiators intend to drag out no-deal negotiations.
Most of last year’s budget was delayed until May 2nd, requiring six budget extenders.
