It’s Heastie versus Hochul.
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is going to war with Gov. Kathy Hochul, pushing a bombshell bill Wednesday to curtail her leverage in high-stakes New York budget talks — as disagreements over her policy demands stymie the negotiations.
The Bronx Democrat introduced a bill that would allow lawmakers to continue getting paid if state budget talks drag on with no end in sight past the annual April 1 deadline to pass a spending plan.
The legislation was not introduced in the state Senate, where Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris (D-Queens) — who hadn’t yet reviewed Heastie’s bill — said tensions were growing over Hochul’s asks, including those concerning involuntary commitment and discovery law.
“I think it’s born out of the frustration we all share about the continued insistence on non-budgetary policy into this budget conversation,” Gianaris said. “We’re now a week-and-a-half late and we’re still getting new things dropped on the table that have nothing to do with funding the government and keeping it operative.”
Negotiations over Hochul’s proposed $252 billion budget breezed past the April 1 deadline as the governor stood her ground on her bids to tweak mandates governing discovery evidence-sharing in criminal cases and to make it easier to force mentally ill people into psychiatric care.
Hochul smiled last week as she told reporters she’s willing to hold up budget talks for months unless lawmakers fall in line with her demands.
And this week, Heastie’s counterpart in the state Senate — Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) — deemed budget talks at an impasse.
“I wish I could say we’re further along, but I think we are stuck at where we were last week,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters Tuesday.
Hochul’s spokesperson Avi Small argued the issues holding up the budget — including tough-on-crime and mental health measures — have the overwhelming support for New Yorkers.
“If the highest-paid State Legislators in America are worried about their paychecks, there’s a much easier solution: come to the table and pass a budget that includes Governor Hochul’s common-sense agenda,” Small said.
Heastie’s bill — first reported by Gothamist — tries to land a punch against Hochul, effectively removing a potential pressure point on legislators.
Under the would-be law, legislators would continue pocketing a paycheck if the the budget is late and policy items have been included in the governor’s proposal.
Unlike lawmakers, Empire State governors keep getting paid if the budget is late.
Hochul has held up budget talks every year since taking office in 2021 by including policy asks in her spending plan.
Heastie’s bill could face a largely unprecedented uphill battle in Albany’s recent memory.
The assembly has enough Democrats to pass it on its own, assuming there are no defections. The Senate, however, would need Republicans to get on board.
A two-thirds majority in both houses would be needed to override Hochul’s likely veto of the bill. Democrats have not overridden a governor’s veto since the party reclaimed the majority in both houses in 2019.
Lawmakers who spoke with The Post had mixed reactions to the seriousness of Heastie’s bid to get them paid during the stalemate.
Some said it was unnecessary because they’re willing to forgo pay.
“Not getting paid doesn’t have the effect of making my colleagues hungry to get a deal,” one Assembly member said.
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