State lawmakers are set to pass another temporary spending measure to keep the government open as budget talks drag on into their second week after politicians blew an April 1 deadline.
The state Assembly returned for an unusual Sunday session where they passed legislation to extend state funding through Thursday. The legislature’s lower house is ditching Albany on Monday.
“Not only do we not have a budget done, but tomorrow was a scheduled session day. And that does make me question what the priorities are in this chamber and in this government,” Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Nassau) said during a debate over the extender on the Assembly floor.
“The sun’s going to disappear for a while. Well, we’re very used to passing a budget in the dark in this chamber,” he continued, pausing for some pained chuckles from the chamber.
The Assembly day off comes as budget talks between the leaders of both houses of the legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul have yet to hammer out a budget deal.
Even Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) initially expressed a bit of frustration last week at the premise of letting lawmakers skip a day of work for the eclipse.
“They have to go look at it on the roof,” Heastie told reporters.
The state Senate is expected to return Sunday evening and vote on the budget extension Monday, with no plans to cancel its session for the eclipse.
Both chambers had already been scheduled to break prior to sundown on Tuesday in observance of Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr, meaning they could return Thursday morning at earliest to pass a budget or another extender.
Sunday’s extender is the third for this year’s budget. Last year’s required six extensions before it was finally passed on May 2.
Hochul and legislative leaders met in the capitol for several hours Saturday evening, with a few more sessions likely throughout the week.
Last Thursday afternoon, Hochul took questions from reporters during an impromptu visit to the Capitol’s press quarters after lawmakers had skipped town. There, she seemed to indicate that negotiators had largely settled some of the more controversial parts of her proposal to reduce spending on school aid funding.
