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Alliance Note: Updates out of Albany this week suggest the budget will not be completed by the new deadline, which is tomorrow, April 4^th. While a late budget is disappointing to some, this gives advocates additional time to push for needed budget measures, including a flexible 3.2% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) to support community based human services agencies and their workforce. Agencies continue to struggle to meet increased demands for services due to rising costs associated with providing these services and a need to increase pay for the workforce. While we deeply appreciate the Assembly and Senate including the requested 3.2% increase, the restrictions both houses placed on these funds do not allow providers to address rising costs, such as those for health insurance and food for people in programs, which will hamper their ability to provide services. We are asking for everyone to continue calling their legislators to express the need for a flexible 3.2% COLA in this budget. See below for who to call and a simple script. You can also send a letter to your lawmakers by using and clicking the 3.2% COLA bubble. Continue to monitor this email for other ways to join our advocacy efforts as we near a final budget agreement.

We Asked Lawmakers. Eclipse or Budget: What Will Come First?
By Jason Beeferman | Politico | April 2, 2024

WILL BUDGET BEAT OUT ECLIPSE?: The stars are aligning — and that’s good or bad news for the budget, depending on who you ask.

Well, actually, it’s just one star (the sun) that’s set to line up with the moon on Monday. And the celestial event could be too much for some lawmakers to bear while balancing budget negotiations. Some are asking whether they should even have session on Monday.

“I’ve heard a lot of people wanting to not meet” during the eclipse, Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, a Brooklyn Democrat, said.

“It’s not just lawmakers saying that. There’s lots of people asking the same thing — everybody wants to be out,” state Sen. Roxanne Persaud, a Brooklyn Democrat, quipped.

On Monday, Playbook  how Gov. Kathy Hochul blamed the now-two-days late budget on the Easter Bunny: “If you did not have Easter Sunday being the deadline, I think we could have met it. I really do,” she said.

Now, there’s grumblings that Monday’s eclipse warrants another day off.

Why? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon and large gatherings are a good way for the members to score points with constituents if they are back home with them rather than plugging away on an already late state budget.

But Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins spoke with Playbook and shot that idea down, for now: “The plan so far is to be here on Monday.” And Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: “We may have to go look at it on the roof.”

Another lawmaker, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, was firm in his prediction: The eclipse will come and go before a budget deal is reached.

“Maybe seeing the eclipse will inspire us to get this job done,” he said. And state Sen. Liz Krueger opined: “Maybe there’s some magic to [the eclipse and budget] being born together.”

But forget outer space.

The delaying power of religious holidays could also factor in the budget timeline. Lawmakers plan to take off for Eid on April 10 and 11. And Passover means there won’t be any session at all during the third week of April.

So even if the lawmakers hold a session during eclipse day, there are six days of session left of April after tomorrow to make a deal. “I fully believe we will get this done in the month of April,” Stewart-Cousins told Playbook.