Felder: Let schools duck rules Race to finish before Passover

ALBANY — A Brooklyn state senator’s bid to shield private Jewish schools from state scrutiny threatened to scuttle negotiations over a new state budget, sources told the Daily News on Thursday.

Sen. Simcha Felder’s demand that private yeshivas be exempted from meeting state standards for nonreligious instruction emerged as one of the last sticking points preventing Gov. Cuomo and legislative leaders from finalizing a $170 billion spending plan.

Felder’s demand was met with stiff resistance from the Democrat-controlled Assembly.

“It’s enough to blow everything up,” said one source with knowledge of the negotiations, adding that the issue was “toxic” to many members of the Assembly’s Democratic conference.

The Assembly and Senate began passing budget bills that had been agreed to late Thursday night and were expected back early Friday morning.

If state leaders can’t reach a deal on the outstanding budget issues by then, it’s possible lawmakers will pass a short-term extension of the current budget before leaving town.

Felder, a Dem who sits with the Senate’s ruling GOP majority, did not respond to a request for comment. He represents a district with a large population of Orthodox Jewish residents.

Felder’s alliance with the GOP is crucial to the Republicans’ ability to control the Senate. Without it, the GOP would have only 31 votes — one short of a majority.

Although the state’s new fiscal year does not begin until Sunday, Cuomo and lawmakers were working to complete work on the new budget before the onset of the Passover holiday Friday evening. Felder and several other Jewish legislators have told leaders they plan to leave Albany no later than early Friday afternoon.

While they worked to resolve the impasse over the yeshiva issue, Cuomo and legislative leaders appeared to reach agreements on most other issues, including the crucial issue of educa-