New York State Lawmakers Divided on Justice Reform for Minors -- Update
March 27 2017 - 9:38PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Vilensky
ALBANY, N.Y. -- With less than a week before the state budget is
due, lawmakers remain divided on a number of polarizing policy
issues, and concerned about how future federal legislation may
upend the state's finances.
After a day of closed-door negotiations with legislative
leaders, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in an interview with
Spectrum News NY1 Monday evening that uncertainty about how a new
Republican president and Congress might affect the state could lead
to an "extender" of the current budget rather than a new one.
The extender would keep state spending at the same levels and
likely not include many of the items that lawmakers had been
negotiating.
"This budget is particularly problematic," he said. "I'm
unwilling to do a budget then find out a month down the road, two
months down the road, the federal government made a new legislative
change that costs us $2 billion."
An extender, he said, "would extend the current level of
spending until we know what the financial picture actually is," he
said. "When we find out what the damage is in Washington we can
adjust accordingly."
It wasn't clear Monday night if the legislature would agree to
such a move or how likely Mr. Cuomo is to follow through on that
possibility.
Prior to the interview, Mr. Cuomo had been negotiating
legislation supported by Democrats that would bar some minors from
being criminally tried as adults. Republicans and Democrats differ
over which crimes would be covered. For their part, leaders of the
Republican Senate are calling for an end to a surcharge on the
state's highest earners that Democrats support.
While many of their policy priorities could technically be
worked out any day of the legislative season from January to June,
New York lawmakers tend to pass policy items with the budget
because it provides an April 1 deadline and the pressure to get it
done.
As in past years, the roughly $160 billion budget is largely
being negotiated in private at the state Capitol by Mr. Cuomo,
Senate Republican Majority Leader John Flanagan and Democratic
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
They had little to say on the status of negotiations Monday
afternoon. Mr. Heastie exited talks in the governor's office saying
he had no updates, and Mr. Cuomo remained behind closed doors
throughout the day.
One holdup appears to be the details of the governor's
criminal-justice proposal.
For years, liberal advocates have urged Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat,
to keep minors out of adult courts and prisons, on par with every
state besides North Carolina. But the measure appears to be gaining
steam this year with the GOP opening the door to a compromise, as
their counterparts in North Carolina work through some of the same
issues.
While violent crimes aren't expected to be included in a measure
to loosen penalties against minors, Mr. Flanagan on Monday said he
remained concerned about which crimes would be considered
violent.
"Some of these crimes are pretty egregious," he said.
Mr. Heastie's spokesman disputed Mr. Flanagan's
characterization, saying that Republicans "want to put nonviolent
[offenders] through adult criminal procedure. Non-starter."
Meanwhile, advocates upped the pressure on lawmakers by getting
arrested outside Mr. Cuomo's office while rallying for the income
tax opposed by the GOP. An organizer for the activists, Jeremy
Saunders of the advocacy group VOCAL-NY, said a total of 21 people
were arrested.
Asked Monday afternoon if a new budget might be put off amid
uncertainty about potential actions from the federal government,
Mr. Flanagan said he was still hopeful the state budget would come
together. "I'd rather raise my arms in victory than throw up my
hands," he said.
Write to Mike Vilensky at mike.vilensky@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2017 21:23 ET (01:23 GMT)
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