Hochul and legislators announce preliminary deal on budget — 28 days after deadline

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul finally announced a budget deal with lawmakers Monday – nearly a month after blowing through the deadline for the spending plan.

The announcment came after a drawn-out standoff between Hochul and fellow Democrats in control of the state legislature.

The two sides have been haggling over the governor’s policy asks — including a marquee public safety proposal to revamp discovery laws, which govern evidence-sharing requirements in criminal cases.

The budget is expected to balloon beyond the already record-breaking $252 billion plan Hochul proposed in January.

The deal is likely to include major policy initiatives Hochul brokered with lawmakers, such as a bell-to-bell ban on cellphones in schools and changes making it easier to involuntarily commit severely mentally ill people.

It is also expected to include a tax hike on businesses meant to fund the MTA’s $68 billion five-year capital plan.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislative leaders have reached a deal on long-delayed state budget talks. Robert Miller

For several weeks, Hochul refused to budge on her proposal meant to stymie a wave of what she deemed as frivolous criminal case dismissals under the 2019 discovery laws signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is now running for New York City mayor.

That logjam largely cleared after Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) effectively got out in front of Hochul and announced the legislature had worked out an agreement with the five New York City district attorneys to change laws around how evidence is shared ahead of criminal trials.

The state budget has been delayed long past the April 1 deadline. AP

Negotiators plan to finish locking down technical details following the “handshake” agreement, and put together the nine remaining legislative bills that lawmakers will vote on, likely as soon as later this week.

This is Hochul’s fourth state budget since taking over for Cuomo in the fall of 2021, and the second to last she needs to pass ahead of her planned 2026 reelection bid.