New York Legislative Session Update - Budget Proposals And A Buffalo Surprise

Assembly budget proposal. The Assembly one-house budget was a veritable mixed-bag, with a range of provisions included fully in line with the governor's executive budget proposal, while including others that push back against the governor's agenda—particularly as it relates to New York City.

The Assembly, in response to concerns from the health care sector about the potential impact of the $15 minimum wage included in the governor's executive budget, included in their one-house budget a $200 million reserve fund to assist health care providers cope with increased wages. Other health-care-related provisions in the Assembly's one-house proposal include an expansion of the state's recently implemented medical marijuana program through the doubling the number of dispensaries that a registered organization may operate. Both the Assembly and Senate rejected the governor's proposals to cut the state's Excess Medical Malpractice program, to end New York's spousal refusal program and to cap Medicare Part C cost-sharing limits. On the Senate side, their one-house budget included a requirement that the state refund providers after last year's collapse of Health Republic Insurance of New York.

On the education front, the Assembly, as expected, rejected the governor's proposal to shift a substantial portion of CUNY funding on to New York City. The Assembly one-house budget also includes provisions addressing the state's charter school sector, which charter advocates say would be potentially devastating. Included in the Assembly budget was a requirement that those charters not enrolling a certain percentage of high-needs students would no longer be fully funded with taxpayer dollars. The ever-present battle of mayoral control of New York City schools has also reared its head, with Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R) pushing to handle the issue as stand-alone legislation rather than in the context of the state budget—citing the fact that current legislation does not expire until the end of June. The executive budget proposal extends mayoral control of New York City schools by three years.

Along with the budget proposal, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) also included stand-alone legislation to address the ethics reform in Albany. The legislation focuses on restricting lawmakers' private-sector jobs by capping lawmakers' outside income. The outside income restrictions, while more modest than proposals from the governor, mark the first time a...