New York State SmartTranscripts:

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Madam speaker, please call the house back to order.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: The house will come to order. Miss People Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Members have on their desk an a calendar. I would like to move to advance that a calendar.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: On a miss motion by miss People Stokes, the a calendar is advanced.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Thank you.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: Page three, rules report 92. Clerk will read.

[Assembly Reading Clerk]: Assembly number 10850, rules report 92, mister Pretlow, enact making appropriations for the support of government.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: Governor's message is at the desk. Clerk will read.

[Assembly Reading Clerk]: I hereby certify to an immediate vote Kathy Hochul, governor.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: An explanation has been requested. Mr. Petlow.

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: Yes. Before us, we have a most important extender bill as we continue to work toward a final budget. This bill would ensure funding for vital programs through April 14. It contains funding for administrative payroll, Medicaid, mass transit, operating assistance, unemployment insurance, OPWDD, and veterans programs, and general state charges.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: Mr. Paul Massano.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Yes, Madam Speaker, will the chairman yield for a few questions?

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: Absolutely. Yields.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Hope you had a great weekend. It's good to see you again.

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: It is good to be seen and very seen and viewed.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Just a few questions if I may. Just a couple of them that we've talked about in committee. As you said, this goes till April 14. Yes. So, you're expecting that we'll be back next week. And this is for the administrative payroll, so expect next week we'll be back to take up the institutional and emergency payrolls?

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: Well, hopefully we have a budget by then, but your answer to your question is hopefully yes.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Hopefully, I love that word, hopeful. For this, what is our total amount that we've appropriated for these two extenders today?

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: Extended our $3,960,000,000 so far.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: And this increase above the previous extender? 2,900,000,000.0. Great. And I know you mentioned hopeful we'll be here actually passing the budget. Is it just hope or is it your expectation we might have, I'd be voting on actual budget bills by next week.

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: As you know, hope springs eternal. It's truly my hope that we have a budget by default. Definitely

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: a very well used word in this chamber budget time. When we talked about this last week, you mentioned the governor really will not discuss any other policy or actual spending targets until there are deals in place on her priorities such as auto insurance, secret changes, and making changes to the state climate laws.

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: Yes.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Is that still the same? Do you have any updates you can share with us on those policy items and where they stand?

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: Well, I really can't share anything on that situation with you. My thing is that this should be a fiscal document where we could be discussing numbers and not policy. Right now what's holding up the budget, as you correctly stated, are policy issues having to do with insurance and having to do with CCRA and other areas. My focus is and has always been on the fiscal aspects of the budget and how are we spending the state's resources.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Okay, and have there, so as part of that discussion that you're having with the governor, have there been any spending discussions at all or are we still focused on the policy at

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: this point? Well of course spending is always being discussed, but nothing has been finalized and things more than likely won't be finalized until the policy issues taken care of.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Do we have any targets yet on what our all fund spending is going to look like?

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: No.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Not yet? Okay. My other question I wanted to ask you, certainly in the news that tier six reforms have been making a lot of headlines, a lot of talk. These were not included in the governor's executive proposal nor the one house budgets. Are these changes being talked about as part of the enacted budget?

[Assemblymember J. Gary Pretlow]: They have changes. Discussions but as you know, sir, that's like a $1,500,000,000 price tag attached to it. And part of the discussion is do the municipalities share that with the state or does the state take on the entire burden?

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Yep, fair enough. Mr. Prelo, thanks for your time and Madam Chair, Madam Speaker, go on the bill.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: On the bill.

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: Madam Speaker, my colleagues, here we are on April 7 passing our second budget extender. We've only passed one budget bill. We have nine more to pass. As soon as the chairman mentioned, we have a deal with the payroll until next week. Obviously, we're going to be here next week again, but this doesn't really tell us this tells us very little about where we are and just sort of keeps us in the same place. Not moving us forward. As the chairman said, we don't have a full agreement yet, we have no complete financial plan yet, no clear timeline yet and those pieces in place we don' know where they are and when that' going be addressed. Obviously budgeting is about making decisions tough decisions and right now we continue to postpone them and each budget extender we pass is a reminder that these tough decisions are still outstanding. This is really not just about being late, it's about lack of visible progress. The members are being asked to act without a full scope of what's coming, and the longer that continues, the harder and more difficult it is to ensure a thoughtful and transparent budget process. As I mentioned last week, our school districts are making decisions right now. Our local governments are making decisions right now that they have to address. Businesses are making decisions right now. Families are making decisions right now. And our families are dealing with rising costs from groceries to energy bills to childcare. Affordability is a word that's thrown around a lot up here at the Capitol by many people, but I will remind you, affordability is not just an abstract issue. It is something very real that families are dealing with every single day. And the longer this process drags on, the harder it becomes for them to plan, budget, and make ends meet. This budget extender keeps the lights on, but it does not provide any direction to the residents we represent in our district. Passing a budget is our basic obligation, and we have failed again to get that done on time. This is exactly why this continued process can't continue the way it has, extender after extender. Now we have a week into our next budget extender that needs to be passed and it's our hope that the deadline is taken more seriously with the sense of urgency that it deserves and that we have a complete budget process with financial plan next week to vote on. I remain hopeful as my colleague said, but I'm not optimistic. Of course I will support this budget extender because it's necessary to maintain our state operations and keep our government operating, but I will remind my colleagues, New Yorkers aren't looking for another temporary plan. They are looking for a finished, fair, and responsible product. And for that reason, madam speaker, I' be voting in affirmative and urge my colleagues to vote yes to keep this budget moving and the government open. Thank you.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: On a motion by Mr. Pettler, the Senate bill is before the House. The Senate bill is advanced. Read the last section.

[Assembly Reading Clerk]: This action will take effect immediately. And the

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: clerk will record the vote. Are there any other votes? Announce the results.

[Assembly Reading Clerk]: Ayes, one thirty five. Nays, zero.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: The bill is passed. Miss Peoples Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Do you have any further housekeeping or resolutions?

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: We have neither.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Would you please call on our colleague, missus Clark, for the purposes of an announcement?

[Assemblymember Sarah Clark]: Miss Clark, for the purpose of an announcement. Here to announce majority conference immediately following session in the Speaker's Conference Room. Majority conference immediately following session. Immediate majority conference in the Speaker's Conference Room at the adjournment of session, miss People Stokes.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: I now move to that the assembly stand adjourned

[Assemblymember Philip A. Palmesano]: White.

[Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader]: Until Wednesday, April 8, tomorrow being a legislative day, and that we reconvene on Monday, April 13 at the call of the speaker.

[Acting Speaker (female presiding officer)]: On miss Peoples Stokes' motion, the house stands adjourned.