Budget deal week?

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Mar 25, 2024 View in browser   By Nick Reisman and Emily Ngo Presented by Flavors Hook Kids NY With help from Shawn Ness With the fiscal year ending at the end of the month, lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are scrambling to get a deal for the spending plan done on time — which few expect to happen. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul NEW YORK MINUTE: Immigration advocates will rally today at City Hall for legislation granting municipal voting privileges to non-citizens. The 2022 law was ruled unconstitutional, and today is the deadline to appeal. LatinoJustice, a nonprofit, has filed a notice of appeal, which GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called a “slap in the face” to New Yorkers. — Emily Ngo BUDGET BONANZA: New York’s state budget is entering crunch time this week as state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul race against the clock to get an on-time deal for the spending plan that will clock in at more than $233 billion. The new fiscal year starts April 1, but few in Albany expect a deal to be reached by the governor’s stated goal of March 28 in order to accommodate for Good Friday and Easter on March 31. Consider: Lawmakers and Hochul must still hash out a revenue plan, with a tax on managed-care organizations under consideration (more on that below) and must hammer out specifics on a range of issues like overhauling how schools are funded, cracking down on retail theft and a long-sought plan for housing. Mechanically, each of these issues will likely have to be discussed in closed-door conferences in painstaking detail. It will take some time. Here’s where lawmakers are on some of the key issues: — Housing hamstring: What could significantly hold up a budget agreement is the complex fight over housing policy in the talks. Hochul wants $500 million worth of incentives for local governments to encourage home building. Democratic lawmakers want protections for tenants, and Hochul has indicated she could support such measures in some form. But the governor may have some significant leverage. One Democratic legislator, granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the complicated negotiations, said colleagues believe they can’t depart Albany for the year without a housing package in place. All 213 seats are up for election this year, and many Democrats are contending with primaries in June. Lawmakers are also publicly dismissing any idea, at least for now, of kicking the big decisions on housing to later in the session, which is scheduled to end June 6. “Eventually we will come to some deal,” Assembly Housing Chair Linda Rosenthal told Playbook. “If we get to a point where everyone feels like they have something, we will do it.” — What the City Council wants: Members of the New York City Council today will formally release their own state budget requests, part of a final push to get top Democrats’ goals over the finish line. The priorities, first shared exclusively with Playbook, include expanded support for students who need further help following learning loss due to pandemic-induced interruptions. The members also want greater support for mental health interventions. The agenda also backs Hochul’s plan to spend $2.4 billion for migrant-related resources as well as housing vouchers for needy renters. “New York City is an economic engine for our state, and strong investments from the state budget are essential to ensure our city is affordable and healthy,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said in a statement. — Medicaid timing: As lawmakers and Hochul weigh the merits of a tax on managed care organizations, some Democrats are dismissing the potential downsides. The tax requires federal approval, and the health-care plans would be reimbursed for the money. It would generate $4 billion a year for three years. But it also has the potential of creating budget gaps once it expires. Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin was confident some of the money could be set aside and handled well enough to avoid major gaps in the future. “It’s a lot of potential money that would come into the state that wouldn’t otherwise,” she said. “So, let’s try for the revenue.” — Nick Reisman HAPPY MONDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.   A message from Flavors Hook Kids NY: Kid-friendly flavored e-cigarettes can be found in retailers across New York State. 89.4% of kids who use e-cigarettes are hooked on these flavored products. Let’s close the enforcement loopholes to keep these kid-friendly flavored tobacco products off our store shelves. Let’s pass Assembly Bill A9110 and Senate Bill S8531 sponsored by Assemblymember Rosenthal and Senator Hoylman-Sigal.   WHERE’S KATHY? Giving an update on preparations for the solar eclipse in Albany. WHERE’S ERIC? Holding a public hearing and bill signing and delivering remarks at the Muslim Office Society’s Iftar event. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “They’ll turn out. There’s no question they want to have their vote registered no matter what.” — City Council Member Gale Brewer on voters in the not-very-competitive presidential primaries as early voting began Saturday. ABOVE THE FOLD Mayor Eric Adams abruptly cancelled a trip to the southern border to discuss immigration. | Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP MAYORAL MYSTERY: Eric Adams abruptly canceled an abruptly announced trip to confer with immigration leaders at the southern border over the weekend. And his team didn’t offer much in the way of answers. On Friday, the mayor announced during a radio appearance he would head to the border amid a continued influx of migrants into New York City. But the journey was never listed on his daily public schedule and by Saturday afternoon — just hours before he was to depart — the trip was off. His spokesperson cited “safety concerns at one of the cities we were going to visit in Mexico flagged by the U.S. Department of State.” A few hours earlier, the semi-elusive Adams had also canceled a planned visit to a Manhattan church, less than an hour before he was scheduled to speak. His press team ignored a series of follow-up questions, like which Mexican city he planned to visit, why he didn’t simply head to a safer location, who was intending to accompany him, whether the trip would be rescheduled and why he canceled the church visit. Privately, several people close to the mayor waved off rampant speculation that the scheduling changes signaled something else afoot. But the political class was aflutter Saturday night — trading theories about the canceled plans, especially since they came as a smattering of lawsuits and investigations engulfed members of his inner circle. The mayor kept a clear public schedule for most of the day Sunday, alerting his attendance at a Manhattan rally to denounce antisemitic attacks with one hour’s notice in the evening. He’s back to regularly scheduled programming today, with a bill signing and remarks at an Iftar event. — Sally Goldenberg CITY HALL: THE LATEST Mayor Eric Adams, among other lawmakers, is pushing for temporary protected status for Ecuador. He met up with Ecuador's president earlier this month to discuss the state of the country. | Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office TPS PUSH: City officials are applauding a renewed push for temporary protected status for Ecuador by two dozen members of Congress, including seven New York Democrats. “This vital protection also serves to shield Ecuadorians from dangers they may otherwise have to return to in their homeland — dangers I saw firsthand last fall,” Adams said in a statement about a recent letter to Biden administration officials signed in part by Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. About 10,000 Ecuadorian migrants are living in city shelters, the mayor estimated. Adams and Council Member Francisco Moya hosted Ecuador’s president earlier this month at City Hall and discussed deteriorating conditions in the South American country. “What we’ve seen is a gradual takeover of a country that managed to escape the narco wars of the ’80s and ’90s in Colombia,” Moya, a Queens Democrat of Ecuadorian descent, told Playbook. TPS would help Ecuadorians who have fled the gang and other violence and are here contributing to the economy, he added. Sorted by country of origin, Ecuadorians make up the second largest group of migrants in the city. Venezuelans are the largest. The Biden administration expanded TPS for Venezuela last September and the city has completed TPS applications for eligible Venezuelans in its care. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency responds to congressional correspondence “directly via official channels,” highlighting other efforts to help Ecuadorians including a family reunification process. — Emily Ngo ADAMS’ SUPER SUPPORTERS: Dozens of people — including real estate executives — donated to both Adams’ reelection campaign and his legal defense fund. Not many want to talk about it. The next mayoral election isn’t until November 2025, but over 2,500 people have already donated to Adams’ campaign, which has raked in nearly $3 million. Donations are capped at $2,100 under a city matching funds program. Now, there’s another way to directly financially support the mayor: his legal defense fund, established last year to help pay attorney fees related to a federal probe into his 2021 campaign. That fund caps giving at $5,000 per person, and it’s brought in over $732,000 from about 200 individuals. Forty-one supporters have donated to both, a POLITICO analysis of public records found. Of those, 14 gave the maximum combined $7,100, and another seven donated $7,000. POLITICO attempted to reach all of them, but most did not respond or declined to comment. A spokesperson for Adams’ campaign also declined to comment. Still, POLITICO’s analysis sheds light on patterns among the mayor’s top financial backers: A mix of loyalists, real estate leaders and others. — Irie Sentner More from the city: — The city’s real estate industry and construction unions are at an impasse on wage levels that would be required under a controversial property tax break being negotiated in Albany. (POLITICO Pro) — The retired NYPD sergeant who accused Adams adviser Timothy Pearson of sexual harassment says she spoke three times with a City Hall investigator. (Daily News) — Council Member Justin Brannan wants to give pizzerias and other restaurants a tax credit to install filters ahead of a new rule limiting emissions from their stoves (Gothamist)   A message from Flavors Hook Kids NY:   NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY Brooklyn Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn started a PAC very discretely last week. | Seth Wenig/AP BICHOTTE HERMELYN LAUNCHES A PAC: Assemblymember and Brooklyn Democratic Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn quietly registered a leadership PAC with the state Board of Elections last week. The “Bichotte Equity Leadership PAC” will make it easier to raise money to send to other candidates, including those outside of Brooklyn, her office said. She’s also had her fair share of local party squabbles. “She doesn’t have a challenger, and she’s in a position where she wants to be able to help fellow Democrats,” a spokesperson said. Sitting state legislators have had over a dozen leadership PACs in recent history, but they began to go out of style a decade ago. After Sheldon Silver’s spent its last dime on lawyers and Sen. Liz Krueger’s stopped raising money to help Democrats flip the Senate once that goal was accomplished, the only one that has been especially active has been “Speaker Heastie PAC.” That has transferred $1.4 million since 2018 to political accounts ranging from the Onondaga County Democratic Committee to Warnock for Georgia. ­— Bill Mahoney REGULATION WATCH: Dozens of business organizations are trying to block a budget provision that would expand the state’s consumer protection statute. The groups, including the Business Council, NFIB and local chambers of commerce, are worried the measure would expand the kinds of businesses that would fall under consumer protection laws. At the same time, they argued lawsuit payouts and attorney fees would increase significantly as a result. “New Yorkers already face the highest risk of litigation and the highest litigation costs,” the groups wrote in a letter to Hochul. “This proposal will make the Empire State even more litigious, burdening companies with increased risk of catastrophic liability.” Hochul has been cognizant of concerns raised by the business lobby during the budget negotiations in the past. But Democrats in the Legislature may not want to water the provision down. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — New York’s guardianship system is considered broken, but there are proposals to fix it. (Times Union) — Sen. Michelle Hinchey signed onto the Good Cause Eviction bill. (Daily Freeman) — An expanded version of the state’s move over law is taking effect this week. (Newsday) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION Rep. Dan Goldman's Bagel Caucus brought 300 locally-made bagels to Capitol Hill on Friday. | Craig Ruttle/AP EVERYTHING BUT THE POLITICS — Plenty of New Yorkers were spotted on Capitol Hill on Friday. And with good reason: 300 local bagels were brought in to celebrate the first birthday of Rep. Dan Goldman’s Bagel Caucus. The caucus, which Goldman initiated last year, was feted the same way it started: driving the New York bagels from Manhattan and Brooklyn to D.C. for all of Capitol Hill. “It’s a labor of love from the Bagel Caucus staff,” Goldman told Playbook while eating an everything bagel from Brooklyn Bagels topped with lox from Russ & Daughters. New York’s Rep. Tom Suozzi was also spotted at the event. And if that wasn’t enough New York bagel news for Friday morning, NY1 had its own political bagel discussion while the party was happening. Your D.C.-based Playbook author tried a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese — for reporting purposes only — from Terrace Bagels. — Mia McCarthy NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — Don't expect casino bidding anytime soon for the three downstate licenses (POLITICO) — Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has received an outpour of support from across the county for his ban on transgender girls to compete on women’s sports teams. (NY Post) — Assemblymember Bill Magnarelli wants to strengthen drug-impaired driving laws to account for new drugs. (State of Politics)   A message from Flavors Hook Kids NY: Bubble gum, mango, and strawberry-banana are just some of the kid-friendly flavored e-cigarette products that can be found in retailers across New York State. These products are still widely available due to enforcement loopholes that retailers use to keep hooking our kids. 81% of youth who have ever used a tobacco product started with a flavored product and our kids are getting hooked on a lifetime of nicotine addiction. We can’t wait any longer to close the enforcement loopholes to keep these kid-friendly flavored tobacco products off our store shelves. Let’s pass Assembly Bill A9110 and Senate Bill S8531 sponsored by Assemblymember Rosenthal and Senator Hoylman-Sigal.   SOCIAL DATA Edited by Daniel Lippman HAPPY BIRTHDAY: POLITICO’s Emily Ngo … Michael Ortiz of Sequoia Capital Partners … AP’s Steven Sloan … Fox News’ Nick Kalman and Pat Ward … Rachael (Baitel) Greenberg … Emily Schillinger of the American Investment Council … BCW’s Erica Cooke … Gene Shalit (98) ... Gloria Steinem … Trout Kinney … Suzanne Helman … Chas Danner … Andrew Revkin … (WAS SUNDAY): NBC’s Dareh Gregorian … CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan … Bloomberg’s Aaron Rutkoff … Fred Menachem (52) … Elise Sidamon-Eristoff … Laura Spitzer ... Martha Hollander ... Jason Herman ... Marc A. Hermann … Josh Suskewicz … Kaley Rector … (WAS SATURDAY): The Intercept’s Ryan Grim … Maggie Gage of OneMain Financial … Mike Berman of Citadel … McKinsey’s Tara Maller … Daniel Udell … Jillian Forbes Leahy … Maya Lau … Michael Caputo … Kenneth Cole ... David Milch ... Sarah Maslin Nir … Valerie Michelman … Tim Bulakul … (WAS FRIDAY): Ben Fractenberg … David Portnoy. YOUR NEW YORK NUMBER OF THE DAY 3,500 Eligible signatures former Rep. George Santos must collect to make the ballot as an independent running for Congress versus 1,250 if he had run as a Republican.   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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