No shutdown for state gov
Pact ends standoff over B’klyn pol’s demand
ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers reached an agreement Friday on a $168 billion budget for the coming year that would avoid a government shutdown while also boosting funds for NYCHA and the MTA.
The agreement also increases education spending by nearly $1 billion and includes measures to crack down on sexual harassment and provide lawmakers a long-awaited raise.
“This budget hit the priorities,” Cuomo said.
The tentative deal ended an impasse that had erupted during the week over a demand by Brooklyn Sen. Simcha Felder and the GOP-controlled Senate that the new spending plan include a provision shielding private yeshivas from state scrutiny of their curriculum.
Assembly Democrats balked at Felder’s demand, raising the prospect of a government shutdown if the situation was not resolved before Sunday’s start of the new fiscal year.
Cuomo and other lawmakers said the budget agreement contained guidelines for the Education Department to follow but does not jeopardize the government’s oversight of nonreligious instruction at religious schools.
“In this world you have to compromise to get things done, and I think that’s where we are,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said.
An orthodox Jew, Felder had left Albany to celebrate the Passover holiday by the time the agreement became public. Though a Democrat, Felder sits with the Senate’s ruling GOP majority and his support is critical to the Republicans’ ability to control the Senate. Without it, the GOP would have only 31 votes — one short of a majority. As expected, the budget included $250 million in new funding for NYCHA and establishes an independent monitor to oversee the agency. It also imposes a $2.75-per trip fee on for-hire vehicles like Uber and Lyft that drive into a designated Manhattan central business district, with the revenue earmarked for MTA mass transit upgrades. Cuomo and lawmakers also agreed on a provision giving the state power to withhold city funds if Mayor de Blasio’s administration fails to pay its $418-million share of the MTA’s emergency repair plan. The city has so far refused to pony up.
The budget also includes a scaled-down version of a plan Cuomo proposed this week giving the state control of land near Penn Station to ease redevelopment efforts.
City schools will see a $334 million increase in funds but the agreement also calls for the city and other school systems to disclose their per-building spending. The budget also included new measures to crack down on sexual harassment, including a prohibition on secret settlements other than those sought by the victim and a ban on mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment cases.
Cuomo also confirmed that the budget contains a provision that would establish a pay commission to recommend increases for lawmakers, who have not seen their $79,500 base salary increase since 1999.