ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Legislature has issued a tenth extension to the state budget deadline, amid conflicting statements over how close lawmakers are to reaching an agreement.
The latest extender passed on Thursday evening. Lawmakers now have until Monday, May 11, to agree on the budget, which is over five weeks late. It was originally due on April 1. Gov. Kathy Hochul said on Thursday that Albany reached a “general agreement” on the budget, but later, the state assembly speaker and other lawmakers said there was no deal yet.
The budget delay is causing some issues. Some local school districts, including the Rochester City School District, told News10NBC that the delay is making it difficult to plan finances for the next school year. Assemblymember Jen Lunsford said there are still some issues over funding Medicaid and other services before the budget can pass.
“I’m frustrated that we have such a short time frame to work out those issues that are the most important to me and my constituents,” Lunsford said.
Lawmakers have delayed the budget’s approval because of debates over a proposal aiming to lower car insurance rates, the state’s clean energy goals, and immigration policies. Here’s our coverage of those issues:
Plan to lower car insurance rates
Hochul is pushing for a proposal that aims to lower car insurance rates through lawsuit reform and tackling insurance fraud. Some of her proposals have drawn controversy over how they would cap damages for certain drivers.
The governor’s plan includes cracking down on staged accidents, such as when a driver cuts off another car and then stops abruptly, intentionally causing a rear-end crash. New Yorkers pay some of the highest car insurance rates in the nation, around $4,000 on average, and Hochul says fraudulent insurance claims have contributed. Her plan includes:
Caping payouts for drivers engaging in criminal behavior at the time of the incident, including uninsured motorists, drunk drivers, and drivers in the act of committing a felony. Better defining what actually constitutes a ‘serious injury’ so that damages for pain and suffering or emotional distress are reserved for those able to objectively demonstrate that they have suffered a serious injury. Ensuring that if a driver is found to be mostly at fault for causing an accident, they cannot claim outsized payments for damages. Preventing insurance companies from raising rates by setting a legal threshold that prevents excess profits and returns savings to consumers. Creating new regulatory safeguards to prevent insurance companies from raising rates without seeking express approval from the Department of Financial Services. Protecting consumers by prohibiting insurance companies from setting rates based on extraneous, personal factors like homeownership status, occupation, education level, or zip code. Ordering state agencies, including New York State Police and the Department of Motor Vehicles, to combat fraud and staged crashes.However, some lawmakers have expressed concerns over Hochul’s proposed caps on pain and suffering damages. Under one proposal, drivers engaged in criminal behavior at the time of an accident would face a $100,000 cap on non-economic damages.
News10NBC’s Deanna Dewey explained how this could play out in a real-world scenario. Imagine someone sitting at a red light and getting rear-ended by a drunk driver. The accident is so serious that the driver of the car that was rear-ended suffers a spinal cord injury and paralysis. But if the victim was driving without car insurance, he was technically engaged in criminal behavior at the time of the accident. So even though the driver suffered a life-changing injury, his damages for pain and suffering would be capped at $100,000. You can read more here.
Immigration policies
Hochul is pushing for some policy changes over how federal immigration agents can operate in New York State. The governor says these policies would:
Establish the ability to sue federal, state, and local officials, including ICE officers, for constitutional violations. Deny ICE permission to enter sensitive locations, including schools, libraries, health care facilities, polling locations, and homes, without a judicial warrant. Ban federal, state, and local law enforcement from wearing masks while on duty. Prohibit the use of state, local, or school civil resources, including employee time, for civil immigration enforcement activities. Codify the right to a free public education regardless of immigration status.Hochul said she wanted to strengthen protections for migrants in New York State due to the Trump administration’s federal immigration crackdown. Assemblymember Josh Jensen said he’s concerned about the governor’s proposals, since they could limit when local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration authorities, like ICE and Border Patrol.
“Certainly, when we look at the role that law enforcement plays, they need to be able to respond to any situation they encounter and vice versa,” Jensen said.
State rebate for energy
Hochul is pushing for a one-time rebate to New Yorkers to address rising energy costs. It would total $1 billion. The governor also says the budget includes a “ratepayer protection plan” that aims to lower bills. That includes:
Tying executive pay directly to customer affordability. Requiring utilities to present a budget-constrained option that keeps their operating and capital costs below the rate of inflation when requesting a rate increase to ensure efficiency and affordability are prioritized. Ensuring customers do not foot the bill for hidden costs like lobbying, political contributions, and unnecessary executive travel.Funding for childcare
Hochul is pushing for $1.7 billion in funding to make childcare more affordable in the budget. That would bring the state’s total funding for childcare and pre-kindergarten services this fiscal year to $4.5 billion. The governor says the funding would:
Make Pre-K universal statewide, with funding to make Pre-K seats available for all 4-year-olds in New York by the start of the 2028-29 school year. Enhance the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help defray childcare expenses for 230,000 New York families, providing an average benefit of $576. Support the development of New York’s ‘First 3’ program, which will partner with counties to offer child care to children 0-3, regardless of income. Fund the Child Care Assistance Program and deliver childcare to tens of thousands of additional New Yorkers, which is capped at $15 a week for most families. Support the child care workforce through early childhood educator preparation.In September, News10NBC spoke with parents who feared losing childcare benefits as state funding was running out in 12 counties. That included an Orleans County mother who said she would go from paying $4 a week to $500 a week for daycare. Our investigation found the letters that the state was sending to local parents, telling them their child care benefits were “discontinued due to lack of funds.”
Debate over state’s clean energy goals
For months, Albany lawmakers have debated whether to course on the state’s clean energy goals. The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) requires that the state generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources and reduce its emissions by 40% by the year 2030.
However, at an event in Rochester, Hochul said she wanted to delay the timeline due to the cost to energy customers. She said financial challenges like the pandemic, inflation, and tariffs have made the goals set in 2019 unrealistic.
The electric school bus mandate, requiring districts to stop buying new diesel buses in 2027 and stop using all diesel buses by 2035, has also been a hot-button topic in Albany. This week, Senate Democrats blocked a bill that would have repealed New York’s electric school bus mandate.
Only a handful of school districts in the Rochester area have started transitioning to electric buses. Gates-Chili has the most in the area with 15 electric buses. Gates-Chili leaders say the buses work well because their routes are short and densely populated. However, leaders in the Naples school district, a more rural area where homes are spread out, said electric buses are more expensive to run — anywhere from five to eight times as much as diesel.
News10NBC has also done several stories about concerns that there’s currently not enough electricity available on the grid to power electric school buses.
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