(The Center Square) — Ending a month-long standoff, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has reached a tentative agreement with legislative leaders on a record $254 billion state budget that includes a ban on cell phones in schools and “inflation refund” checks for consumers.
The “conceptual” agreement, which emerged from negotiations late Monday, calls for statewide initiatives including an increase of the state child tax credit, of up to a $1,000 per child under age four, and up to $500 for school-age children, $340 million investment in school breakfast and lunch programs and providing $2 billion in direct cash assistance to more than 8 million New Yorkers with checks of up to $400 per family.
Hochul said the agreement hammered out in closed-door negotiations with legislative leaders is a “balanced fiscally responsible budget” that will “make a real difference for New York families.”
“I promised New Yorkers to fight like hell to put money back in their pockets and make our streets and subways safer,” Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement. “That’s exactly what this budget will do.”
The budget has been delayed by closed-door negotiations over reforms to the state’s pre-trial discovery laws, which set strict rules and deadlines on evidence sharing during criminal trials. Hochul argues that the law has led to a spike in criminal cases being dismissed, but progressive Democrats are opposed to the plan, saying it would lessen the impact of 2020 criminal justice reforms.
The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog, said the agreement “fails to address the imminent threat facing New York: looming federal budget cuts,” and the spending plan makes “no mention of putting money aside to cushion at least the initial blow.”
The budget is $2 billion higher than Hochul’s initial proposal and will likely increase the state’s already massive $18 billion structural budget gap, the group said.
“Instead of shoring up the state’s fiscal foundation, lawmakers are dramatically increasing spending the state cannot afford in the long run,” Andrew Rein, the commission’s president, said in a statement. “While the governor acknowledged they may have to come back to deal with federal cuts, that would be easier had they put aside a few billion dollars now.”
The budget calls for a statewide bell-to-bell distraction-free schools policy with a $13.5 million investment to help schools “operationalize” bans on smartphones and other internet-enabled devices usage during the school day.
“We’ve protected our kids before from cigarettes, alcohol, and drunk driving, and now we’re protecting them from addictive technology designed to hijack their attention,” Hochul said.
Lawmakers blew past an April 1 deadline to approve the spending plan, and have enacted several interim budget bills to keep the government open as the talks continued. Last year, lawmakers approved a $237 billion budget that was over a month late. The Legislature is expected to begin debate on the spending plan this week.
