Just carry on: gov

Says virus won’t affect budget priorities

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo isn’t going to let the coronavirus change his priorities when it comes to the state budget.

The governor is standing by his policy priorities — saying Monday he believes the state’s spending plan should still include a multitude of measures such as a $3 billion environmental bond, the legalization of recreational marijuana and tweaks to bail reforms.

“I want to see as much as we can get done,” he said during a news conference at the Capitol on Monday. ”I want to see as much as we can get done. Only caveat, I want to do things right.”

Advocates, while applauding Cuomo’s response to the outbreak, are not happy about the governor’s insistence that changes to the state’s recently overhauled bail laws be included in the budget.

“During a global pandemic, spending time on unnecessary legislation that would expose thousands more New Yorkers to dangerous, unsanitary jails like Rikers Island is the exact opposite of public safety,” said Rena Karefa-Johnson, the New York criminal justice reform director for the advocacy group FWD.us.

Cuomo’s conclusions earned him an unlikely ally in the form of state Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), who said many policy issues such as pot legalization and gestational surrogacy have been discussed for years.

“As much as we can agree to, we should get done,” said Gianaris, who has butted heads with the governor in the past. “We’re trying to be incredibly efficient this week and to only come in when necessary, but, in that short amount of time, do as much as we can to move the state forward.

“So if we can agree with the parties on other issues we should agree to it, and if we can’t then we’ll have to deal with it another time,” he added.

While Cuomo (inset) spoke of an “accelerated” budget process over the weekend, he mentioned several times Monday that the deadline remains April 1.

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) told Democratic senators in a call over the weekend to expect the unexpected and be prepared to take action on a spending plan by the end of the week, multiple sources told the Daily News.

One Albany insider noted that lawmakers’ desire to spend as little time as possible in the Capitol during the coronavirus crisis could give the governor added power during budget negotiations. Both chambers suspended sessions for the first half of the week.

“They don’t want to be here, it’s that simple,” the source said. “They’re going [to] want to pass something and go home.”

Cuomo admitted that the COVID-19 outbreak has had major impacts on the state’s spending plans, altering the fiscal landscape as businesses and schools are shuttered. He has asked state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to revisit the state’s revenue projections in light of the devastating market impacts.

“Since we did a revenue forecast, the world has changed 180 degrees three times,” Cuomo said.