NEW YORK MINUTE: Three of the 10 budget bills were introduced late Wednesday, as lawmakers hammer out the final details and, yes, deal with a cyberattack that slowed progress. The Senate and Assembly are poised to vote on them as early as today with the hope of wrapping up the $237 billion spending plan before they head out for a two-week break Monday. So enjoy Albany for a few more days, lawmakers and aides. And more on the budget bills below. — Joseph Spector HUDSON VALLEY BATTLE ON: Extreme. Out of touch. AOC. Rep. Mike Lawler’s campaign is set to throw the kitchen sink at Democratic challenger Mondaire Jones in an opening salvo of what’s expected to be a hotly contested race for a swing Hudson Valley House seat. Lawler’s campaign today will unveil a website attacking Jones’ record and rhetoric on police funding and immigration, casting him as too far-left for the suburban New York City district. The site includes a mix of digital videos knocking Jones over border security as well as the endorsement he received in 2020 from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Jones will be “Eric Adams and Bill de Blasio on steroids” if elected in November, Lawler campaign spokesperson Chris Russell told Playbook. “Mondaire Jones is a radical whose support for dangerously out-of-touch policies and extreme rhetoric has made it more dangerous to serve in law enforcement and less safe to live in New York,” Russell added. Jones’ campaign scoffed at the claims being made by Lawler and insisted it’s Republicans who want to cut law enforcement budgets. Democrats noted Lawler has sided with House Republican-led votes that would lead to billions of dollars in cuts to immigration enforcement, the Department of Justice and the FBI (one of the votes was for a measure meant to largely strip a decades-old appropriation for one senator). "There's only one candidate in this race who has voted to defund the police and that's Mike Lawler,” Jones campaign spokesperson Shannon Geison said. “Mike Lawler has voted to cut law enforcement funding on at least three separate occasions. By contrast, Mondaire Jones voted to fund law enforcement at record levels when he was in Congress.” Lawler is “taking a page out of Trump’s playbook in defunding the FBI,” she added. Taken together, the criticism is a sign of how Lawler, one of the most vulnerable House Republicans in the country, will approach the bid by Jones, a former House member. Republicans this year are trying to defend five House seats on Long Island as well as in the Hudson Valley and Central New York. Given the narrow divide in the House, the state is expected to play a pivotal role in the battle for control of the chamber. And the issues raised by Lawler’s website — immigration and public safety chief among them — will be the key concerns that Republicans want to drive voters to the polls. Crime has been an issue that especially resonates with voters in suburban New York over the last several elections, and GOP candidates were able to successfully harness the concern in key House races. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war is also expected to remain a major theme in battleground campaigns, including districts like Lawler’s, which has a large Jewish population. Yet Democrats are not conceding the crime issue, which is being raised as former President Donald Trump, on trial in a Manhattan criminal court over charges he paid hush money to a porn star, is expected to lead the Republican ticket this fall. — Nick Reisman HAPPY THURSDAY: Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman.
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