| | | | |  | | By Anna Gronewold and Zachary Schermele | Presented by CVS Health | Kick up your feet and watch some basketball this weekend — you’ll need all the energy you can get. Next week, the Legislature has scheduled its only five-day work stretch of the year. The budget is due as the clock strikes midnight into Saturday, April 1. If everything was on schedule, final bills would be agreed upon by midnight this coming Tuesday to allow for the three-day aging process. Haha! It’s hard to see that happening, and it’s not a great sign that Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders have all recently mused that meeting the exact deadline really doesn’t matter as much as some former governors liked to say it did. The budget was nine days late last year, Hochul told reporters at a press conference in Albany this week, noting that the hold up was her fault and she ultimately got what she wanted. Three-way leaders' meetings have been fully underway over the past several days, and the governor is hunkered down in Albany to continue them for the foreseeable future, according to her office. But another troublesome flag for punctuality is that many Democratic lawmakers — who went home Thursday — say they still don’t know where the particular sticking points are going to be. Negotiations have seemed to nibble around the edges of the elephants in the room, they said. Those include, but are not limited to: Hochul’s insistence on changes to pre-trial detention (bail laws) despite the Legislature’s refusal; which new or increased taxes will come off as least egregious to bail out the MTA; and conflicting views on how to get municipalities on board for a sweeping affordable housing plan. “Some things are politically complicated but conceptually simple, like charter schools,” one Democratic lawmaker mused, when asked in passing about how negotiations were going. “But this housing stuff is legitimately complicated both ways, and everyone needs to acknowledge that.” If it’s too complicated and everyone’s procrastinated too much, leaders have the ability to explore divisive issues outside of the state’s fiscal plan, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has reminded everyone. But the budget’s historically been the “best” way by lumping everything together for one torturous late-night vote. So it could go a lot of ways next week. But if lawmakers don’t wrap up “on time” they’ll start to run into holidays; Passover starts at sundown on April 5, and Easter weekend follows with what is then supposed to be two weeks off for lawmakers. “HAHAHA!” said one Democratic senator when asked about how budget timing might play out through holidays. “I don’t think they [leaders] are going to take our planned vacations into account for this.” There’s also a state payday scheduled for April 12th. If legislators don’t have a budget by the time payroll needs to be processed, they would need to pass an extender — prolonging the current budget — so thousands of state workers can get checks on time. Once that happens, who knows how much longer it could go. IT’S FRIDAY and still no movement on that potential Trump indictment. Got tips, suggestions or thoughts? Let us know ... By email: agronewold@politico.com or on Twitter: @annagronewold WHERE’S KATHY? In Albany with no announced public schedule. WHERE’S ERIC? Meeting with Virgin Islands Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and watching the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, speaking at a rally for the Child Tax Credit and the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, and speaking at the street co-naming honoring Broadway duo John Kander and Fred Ebb to celebrate the first performance of the Broadway musical “New York, New York.”
| | A message from CVS Health: CVS Health: from the simplest of needs to more complex care. Learn more. | | | |  | BIDEN AND THE BOROUGHS | | “U.S. and Canada Reach an Agreement on Turning Away Asylum Seekers,” by The New York Times’ Michael D. Shear and Ian Austen: “The deal, which is set to be announced Friday by President Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the two leaders meet in Ottawa, will allow Canada to turn back immigrants at Roxham Road, a popular unofficial crossing point from New York for migrants seeking asylum in Canada.” | | What City Hall's reading | | “The Latest Idea to Bolster New York City’s Subway: Taxing Your Netflix Subscription,” by Wall Street Journal’s Jimmy Vielkind: “Lawmakers are considering a sales tax on streaming services such as Netflix Inc. to prevent fares from rising on New York’s subways as state budget talks head toward a critical deadline next week.” “Norman Siegel goes way back with Eric Adams — now he's out to prove the mayor wrong on homelessness,” by WNYC’s Elizabeth Kim: “Known as the Street Homeless Advocacy project, the effort is the brainchild of civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, a longtime critic of city government but ally of Mayor Eric Adams. The initiative, which is premised on securing consent, began four months before Adams floated a plan to forcibly move people believed to be mentally ill into hospitals. As a result, the project has become both a counterpoint to the city’s position and a test of Siegel’s 30-year friendship with Adams. Over that time, both men have rallied around a host of seemingly intractable issues ranging from police brutality to affordable housing, but have disagreed on how to best address homelessness and mental illness.” Hospitals blame psych bed reopening delay on suicide precautions, staff shortages, by POLITICO’s Maya Kaufman: Hundreds of hospital beds for psychiatric patients will remain offline past Gov. Kathy Hochul’s April 1 deadline due to staffing shortages, inadequate funding and even suicide risks, according to records obtained by POLITICO. “NYC Mayor Adams set to announce new ‘rat czar’ to tackle city’s rodent problem,” by Daily News’ Chris Sommerfeldt: “The mayor said the czar is a woman — but would not shed any more light on the long-awaited appointment.” “City to begin community engagement for transformation of Cross Bronx Expressway,” by Bronx Times’ Aliya Schneider: “The city is launching a wave of public events to give Bronxites the opportunity to be heard as efforts to reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway are underway.”
| | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | WHAT ALBANY'S READING | | “Albany to Suburbs: We’ll Pay You to Build Housing. Suburbs to Albany: No Thanks,” by New York Focus’ Sam Mellins: “Bellerose Mayor Kenneth Moore hopes that his three adult children who live with him will be able to move out on their own soon. ‘Believe me, nothing would give me more satisfaction than if they were to say ‘Hey Dad, we’re moving out,’ he said of his kids, ages 30, 27, and 23. ‘But they just can’t afford it yet.’ "Moore also opposes adding any new housing in Bellerose, where home prices regularly approach $1 million and building new housing has been banned since 1976. With excellent schools and a half-hour commute to downtown Manhattan, it’s a highly desirable place to live — and an exclusive one. ‘We don’t want to change the laws and we don’t want housing,’ Moore told New York Focus.” “Who hasn’t filed their campaign finance reports?” by City & State’s Jeff Coltin: “A whopping 1,837 New York candidates and political committees haven’t filed their legally required January 2023 campaign finance reports yet — including at least four sitting legislators.” “Drug court enrollment has plummeted after changes to criminal justice laws,” by Times Union’s Joshua Solomon: “Last month, he graduated from drug court in Albany. He has a new job, a new apartment and is sober, which he credits to the treatment he received through drug court. ‘I’d still be drinking right now,’ said Roti Roti, a Shaker High School graduate. But his turnaround story is becoming increasingly rare in New York. State data obtained by the Times Union show usage of drug courts has dropped nearly in half since sweeping changes were made in 2019 to the state’s bail and pre-trial discovery laws.” “Is 70 M.P.H. the New 65? Legislators Say N.Y. Roads Are Just Too Slow,” by The New York Times’ Jesse McKinley: “Standing outside the Guilderland Travel Plaza and waiving his right against self-incrimination, Ryan Lynch said what many drivers on the New York State Thruway have signaled for years: They can’t drive 65. “I try and stay around 80,” said Mr. Lynch, 22, a student at Rochester Institute of Technology who was midway through a six-hour trek home to central Massachusetts on a recent afternoon. “People want to go where they’re going.”” #UpstateAmerica: The first Capital Region cannabis retail store is set to open April 1 in Schenectady. A store on Albany’s Central Ave. is next.
| | | | A message from CVS Health:   | | | | | TRUMP'S NEW YORK | | Potential Trump indictment pushed, as grand jury hears unrelated case, by POLITICO’s Erica Orden: The Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence in the criminal investigation of Donald Trump’s alleged role in hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is evaluating an unrelated case Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter, making any potential indictment of the former president unlikely before next week. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Top civil rights leaders, including Rev. Al Sharpton, former Gov. David Paterson, NAACP NYS President Hazel Dukes and Rep. Adriano Espaillat issued a statement condemning Donald Trump’s attacks on Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, which yesterday included calling Bragg a “Soros-backed animal.” As New York waits on a potential indictment for the former president, the leaders urged on “everyone who believes themselves a person of character and conscience” to “stand with us now to stare down this unprecedented attack on the foundation of our democracy.” “This disgraceful attack is not a dog-whistle but a bullhorn of incendiary racist and anti-semitic bile, spewed out for the sole purpose of intimidating and sabotaging a lawful, legitimate, fact-based investigation,” they said. “These ugly, hateful and anti-American attacks on our judicial system must be universally condemned without equivocation or hesitation. It is clear that Trump would burn down the greatest values of our democracy, and destroy honest, ethical officials performing their constitutional duties, to escape accountability.” — Erica Orden Court orders anonymous jury in civil suit over alleged rape by Trump, by POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein: Donald Trump’s recent call for “protest” against his potential indictment on a hush-money-related charge helped spur a judge’s decision Thursday to impose an unusual level of secrecy around the jury that will serve in an upcoming civil trial in New York over a rape allegation against the former president. Citing “a very strong risk that jurors will fear harassment,” U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered the use of an “anonymous” jury for the trial set to begin next month on writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil suit alleging that Trump raped her in a dressing room at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s.
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO MOBILE APP: Stay up to speed with the newly updated POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need, reimagined. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS– DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | | | AROUND NEW YORK | | — Thanks to pandemic aid in 2021, New York received $115.2B more from the federal government than it gave in taxes, according to a Rockefeller Institute analysis. Don’t expect that to continue. — Abdullah el-Faisal, the first person to face a jury under state terrorism laws passed after Sept. 11, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. — Former NYC Transit President and “Train Daddy” Andy Byford will join Amtrak as an executive vice president next month. — The unemployment rate in New York stayed flat in February, at 4.2 percent. — Fort Polk in Louisiana will be renamed in honor of Albany resident Sergeant Henry Johnson. — New York’s tuberculosis cases last year were 40 percent higher than the national rate. — The Episcopal Diocese of New York will issue a formal apology for the church’s role in slavery. | | SOCIAL DATA BY DANIEL LIPPMAN | |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC’s Dareh Gregorian … CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan … Bloomberg’s Aaron Rutkoff … Josh Suskewicz … Elise Sidamon-Eristoff … Kaley Rector
MEDIAWATCH — Stephanie McNeal has been hired as senior editor at Glamour. She most recently has been senior culture and features reporter at BuzzFeed. MAKING MOVES — Isabella Ulloa has joined CLEAR as chief of staff. She most recently served as deputy chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security. … Kirsten Canton has been named general counsel of cybersecurity company HUMAN Security. She most recently led the legal and compliance department at tech talent marketplace Andela. SPOTTED at a Kevin Sheekey Daily Read dinner Thursday night at Ci Siamo in Hudson Yards: Chris Licht, Tony Dokoupil, Katy Tur, Shawna Thomas, Lesli Linka Glatter, Angelo Roefaro, Chris Licht, Sara Sidner, Rahel Solomon, Matt Dornic, Lance Frank, Abby Livingston, Ty Trippet, Hugo Rojo, Tammy Haddad and Margaret Turner.
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“How Manhattan Hotels Became Refuges for Thousands of Migrants,” by The New York Times’ Karen Zraick: “For migrants, the housing, while at times imperfect, has provided welcome respite as they begin to eke out new lives in a frenetic city. And it has been something of a boon for hotels, which have suffered as the city tries to boost its economy as it emerges from the pandemic.”
“The little-known upstate version of 421-a is … also unpopular with the Legislature,” by City & State’s Rebecca C. Lewis: “The fight over the controversial 421-a developer tax break in New York City has so far played a major role in the fate of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s housing. The governor says a replacement is needed to spur 400,000 units of housing over the next decade, while the Legislature has shown it’s not on their agenda. But in her budget proposal, Hochul quietly included a very similar tax break dubbed 421-p, that would apply everywhere except New York City. And just as quietly, the Legislature shut down the idea in their budget rebuttals.” | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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