There are four days left for state lawmakers to reach final agreements on a series of high-profile issues ranging from housing affordability to criminal justice.
But deals may ultimately be hard to come by next week as lawmakers look to wrap up the legislative session for the year on June 8.
“At the end of every session, there’s always something left on the plate,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Wednesday. “And that’s why you have a session next.”
Democratic lawmakers hope to unite around a deal to seal criminal records, a long-sought change to criminal justice law that would come after a budget that would make the requested changes by Gov. Kathy Hochul on New York’s bail laws.
Lawmakers are also expected to put the finishing touches on a revised expansion of New York’s wrongful-death statute after Hochul vetoed a version earlier this year.
But the additional end-of-session measures that emerged in May are seeing little oxygen in June. A proposal to sell wine in grocery stores is not expected to pass.
And Hochul’s expansive push for housing policy is finding few takers after it failed in the state budget, approved in May a month late. Democrats still consider the session a success, which largely dominated the $229 billion budget negotiations.
The budget will raise New York’s minimum wage and tie it to inflation while expanding a child tax credit. Lawmakers and Hochul also agreed to a record increase in direct aid to schools.
But Hochul’s housing agenda, including allowing the state to override local zoning for qualifying projects and setting goals for communities to expand housing, may need more time, Heastie said.
“I think when you want to make transformative change, I think there really needs to be time for collective adoption and I’m really not sure that could have happened with the housing program,” he said.
The State budget includes more aid for tenants this year. But Senate Housing Committee Chairman Brian Kavanagh says a broader range of issues related to homelessness and housing costs is needed.
“We’re trying to address all of those concerns as best we can at the end of the session,” he said. “Obviously, there’s going to be more to do next year and well beyond. But I think there’s a lot of interest moving forward.”
Republican lawmakers, including Sen. George Borrello, are criticizing the legislative session for not doing enough to address broader concerns reflected in polls such as crime and the cost of living.
“The people of New York State want to be safer and they want New York to be more affordable,” he said. “Ultimately, people feel that this is not a safe state and that this is not an affordable state.”
And as lawmakers adjourn, Republican Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay hopes smaller measures important to lawmakers’ home communities will be addressed.
“The good news is I think we’re passing a lot of local bills and more of the running stuff,” Barclay said. “I’m optimistic we can finish next week.”
