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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