Budget power shift
Legislature gets more of its priorities at expense of gov’s in new $212B spending plan
ALBANY — Hoping to kick-start New York’s COVID-stalled economy, lawmakers passed a massive $212 billion budget that will completely reshape how the state brings in and spends revenue — and checked some of Gov. Cuomo’s power in the process.
Fueled by federal relief funds and new taxes on the wealthy, the fiscal plan came to be as Cuomo faced a firestorm of criticism and calls for his resignation over sexual harassment allegations and scandals related to his administration’s handling of the pandemic that led to a federal probe and an impeachment inquiry.
An emboldened Legislature, run by Cuomo’s fellow Democrats, had no qualms squashing some of the embattled governor’s attempts to further consolidate power as progressive lawmakers pushed through long-sought tax hikes on the rich and boosted spending by nearly $18 billion.
“It was the Legislature’s year and they haven’t had a year like this in decades to actually call the shots and they called some pretty big shots,” said John Kaehny, the executive director of the good-government group Reinvent Albany.
Progressives celebrated big wins, including COVID rent relief, $2 billion for “excluded workers” and roughly $4 billion in new taxes on the wealthy.
Additionally, several significant items Cuomo sought in his executive budget, released in January before multiple women came forward with claims of harassment and misconduct, were struck down in the final fiscal plan.
Among them was an attempt to create a
coronavirus emergency fund that would have given the governor near-complete control over money coming in from new revenue-raisers.
The “COVID-19 extraordinary relief fund” would have allowed Cuomo’s office to dole out dollars from the fund in the form of loans and grants to school districts, local governments and for-profit and nonprofit agencies.
Cuomo said his myriad problems would have no impact on budget negotiations, but some lawmakers believe the scandals presented an opportunity to assert themselves in a process largely steered by the governor’s office.
“He’s always tried to cement his progressive bona fides when push comes
to shove, and right now he doesn’t have many friends and he’s trying to make as many friends as possible,” said Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-Queens), who thinks Cuomo’s current position could make him more open to compromise and working alongside legislators.
“There’s still a lot of session left to figure out how we’re going to legislate the nonfiscal proposals that my colleagues and I have, and it’s going to be interesting to see how that progresses based on what his bargaining position is,” she added. “He seems a lot more amenable to working with us.”
Several Dems in both the Senate and Assembly voted against the state’s capital budget, a bill that included $1.3 billion in borrowing power for the governor’s controversial plans to redevelop Penn Station and surrounding blocks. Cuomo initially sought billions more in state funds to assist in the overall Empire Station Complex, which includes 10 planned supertall towers.
“New Yorkers need housing that is affordable, and government resources should not be committed towards the governor’s vanity project — especially in this time of crisis,” Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx, Westchester) said in explaining her vote against the scaled-back borrowing.
A Cuomo proposal to turn vacant office space and former hotels into housing was also scaled back.
Lawmakers rejected a Cuomo proposal to raid $236 million in MTA funds and shot down a plan that would have prolonged the governor’s ability to tweak spending and unilaterally withhold funding from agencies, local governments and vendors during the pandemic.
Despite his politically precarious position, Cuomo did see a good number of policy proposals he championed remain in the final budget, such as a legalized mobile sports betting program run in a way in which the state will have the lion’s share of control.
A measure requiring internet providers to offer a $15-a-month plan for low-income families, nursing home reforms and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development grants were also approved.
“The governor made his budget policy priorities clear and they were all achieved in the final agreement,” Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said. “This is a serious time in this state’s history and we’re focused on the job ahead.”