Source: Politics<\/p>\n
With help from Shawn Ness<\/p>\n
Happening now:<\/span><\/p>\n Gov. Kathy Hochul may consider shorter extenders. DAYS THE BUDGET IS LATE: 12<\/span><\/p>\n The state budget is stretching into its third week of tardiness. But there are ways the process can potentially move along: A stopgap spending bill that expires after 24 hours that could keep lawmakers in Albany and negotiating.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no indication Hochul is on the verge of doing so after the current budget extender expires on Monday, and lawmakers have insisted they can reach a deal in the coming days.<\/p>\n Still, the idea has been at least discussed in the governor\u2019s office, a person familiar with the conversations said.<\/p>\n The 24-hour tactic would be a change from Hochul\u2019s current approach of sending budget extender bills that keep the state government funded largely timed to meeting state worker payroll each week.<\/p>\n Some lawmakers weren\u2019t thrilled with the prospect \u2014 underscoring how a daily deadline could be seen as a provocative escalation in the delicate budget negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a public relations tactic that the governor should be above using,\u201d Manhattan Democratic Assemblymember Danny O\u2019Donnell said.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, some Democrats and Republicans believe such a move could help hasten the process, which has turned into a slog amid an impasse over housing policy.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom my perspective, it\u2019s time to get this budget done,\u201d Hudson Valley Democratic Assemblymember Ken Zebrowski said. \u201cWhatever moves this along, fine by me.\u201d<\/p>\n Long Island Republican Assemblymember Ed Ra believes sending 24-hour extensions of spending could be an effective use of the governor\u2019s considerable power over the budget process.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to keep the members [in Albany], and it\u2019s going to keep the discussion going and it\u2019s hopefully going to move us to a conclusion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n And Bronx Assemblymember Kenny Burgos was also open to the idea: \u201cIf it\u2019s a method which gets us to an agreeable situation, then it\u2019s fine by me.\u201d<\/p>\n Governors have leverage over lawmakers in the budget process.<\/p>\n In 2017, with a budget undone and a deadline about to be missed, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent the Legislature<\/a> a temporary spending plan that kept the state government funded for two months.<\/p>\n The strategy was meant to turn up the heat on lawmakers, who are not paid until a state budget is finalized. Lawmakers ultimately reached a deal days later.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s top elected officials remain at odds over the details of a sweeping housing plan<\/a>, which hit snags this week as dozens of Democrats in the Legislature vowed to vote down any budget that weakens tenant protections approved in 2019.<\/p>\n The deadlock has led to the third blown budget deadline in the last three years.<\/p>\n It was a discordant week at the state Capitol, with the state Senate and Assembly approving the fourth budget extension since the missed April 1 deadline on separate days while closed-door meetings between the governor and top lawmakers were held.<\/p>\n The state Assembly put the finishing touches on the extension measure this afternoon. With Hochul\u2019s signature, the state government is funded until Monday.<\/p>\n There was a relaxed atmosphere in the Assembly chamber this afternoon as lawmakers were preparing to approve the extension bill. Some lawmakers brought their children to the chamber while others talked about their weekend plans.<\/p>\n For now, lawmakers have not been told definitively whether to remain in town for the weekend. \u2014 Nick Reisman and Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n WAR ROOM RALLY: After older adults and disabled New Yorkers spent a long night sleeping in the Capitol\u2019s War Room, they gathered outside Hochul\u2019s office today to protest a budget proposal to enlist a single company to handle payroll and other administrative tasks for New Yorkers who hire their own home care aides.<\/p>\n The New York Caring Majority, a coalition of health care advocacy groups, claim the proposal<\/a> to replace hundreds of fiscal intermediaries \u2014 most of which are run by licensed home care agencies \u2014 with a single vendor under a no-bid contract would limit care options and delay payments to aides.<\/p>\n The consolidation is intended to reduce Medicaid spending under the consumer-directed personal assistance program, or CDPAP, which has ballooned from $6 billion in state and federal spending in 2021 to $9 billion in 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are calling on Governor Hochul, the Assembly and Senate to work with the disability community to develop sensible and measured reforms to CDPAP in this year\u2019s budget that target the real problems in the system and maintain the integrity of this invaluable program,\u201d Lindsay Miller, executive director of the New York Association for Independent Living, said in a statement. \u2014 Shawn Ness and Maya Kaufman<\/p>\n THE FIRST FAMILY\u2019S PAY: The Hochul family\u2019s income soared to $1.9 million<\/a> in 2023, thanks to $1.5 million First Gentleman William Hochul made from Delaware North.<\/p>\n William left the Buffalo-based hospitality company in August. But his pay more than doubled from the year prior \u2014 thanks to \u201ca series of bonuses and other compensation\u201d he received upon his departure.<\/p>\n While Hochul had been with the firm since 2016 and the governor set limits on her involvement in issues that impact its business, his role was widely scrutinized as the state got involved with issues like funding for a new Buffalo Bills stadium. He has been working at Manhattan law firm Davis Polk since January.<\/p>\n The governor made $250,000 from the state, a salary that\u2019s set in law. \u2014 Bill Mahoney<\/p>\n MORE TIME: Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor this week granted<\/a> former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin\u2019s request for more time, reserving his right to appeal his federal bribery case to the highest court in the land.<\/p>\n The Harlem Democrat\u2019s team is hoping the court uses his case to clarify government corruption under the law, but as Playbook reported<\/a> Thursday, they want to wait to file until the court rules on another similar case. \u2014 Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n FORM-GATE LATEST: The mayor hit the airwaves this morning to defend a new policy<\/a> requiring elected officials to obtain approval from City Hall\u2019s intergovernmental affairs team before meeting with commissioners or high-level staff at agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure that we’re not being duplicative, and [make] sure that if there are other electeds in that area that want the same issue addressed, we bring everyone together,\u201d Adams said on PIX 11.<\/p>\n Yet the new mandate \u2014 which applies to members of Congress, the attorney general and even the governor\u2019s office \u2014 has been received poorly.<\/p>\n Public Advocate Jumaane Williams sent a letter to the mayor\u2019s office today<\/a> saying he would be ignoring the new procedure.<\/p>\n \u201cThis policy as designed will stymie vital interaction between government partners \u2014 preventing public service on behalf of New Yorkers in order to service a seeming need of this administration to exert further control over all government operations,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n The form has also caused a multi-day dustup with members of the City Council at a time when the mayor needs them to approve a major administration initiative several months down the road.<\/p>\n On Thursday, the mayor introduced a sweeping land-use policy that would increase development across the city \u2014 a complex initiative that will require heaps of political capital to win over Council members ahead of a final vote.<\/p>\n Not only does irking members with additional bureaucratic barriers sap some of that capital, but the rollout reflects poorly on the administration\u2019s ability to navigate the 51-member body.<\/p>\n The Council speaker \u2014 who has instructed her members to ignore the edict \u2014 said Thursday she was never told about the new protocol by the mayor\u2019s team. (She learned about it from Playbook\u2019s own Jeff Coltin.)<\/p>\n This morning, the mayor explained that faux pas by saying the policy had not actually been put in place and was leaked prematurely.<\/p>\n Yet by the time Adrienne Adams learned of the fiat, multiple members had already been directed to fill out the form after contacting city agencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is certainly not the way to get stuff done for people in the city of New York,\u201d the Council speaker said Thursday. \u2014 Joe Anuta<\/p>\n SETTLEMENT STEPS: Implementing the terms<\/a> of the right-to-shelter settlement<\/a> will take time, but the city is making progress in its agreement with homeless advocates, a top Adams aide told reporters today.<\/p>\n As part of the stipulation, the so-called waiting rooms where migrants dozed on the floor or sitting up while they waited days and weeks<\/a> in anticipation of their next shelter assignment have to close. One has closed, two remain open, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said.<\/p>\n And the administration is also working on notices for migrants who may not receive additional stays in city shelters unless they prove \u201cextenuating circumstances\u201d \u2014 another part of the settlement \u2014 as well as training staff and creating a resource guide, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe system\u2019s not going to turn over right away,\u201d Williams-Isom said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to take us a couple of days, a couple of weeks to make sure that we get that right.\u201d \u2014 Emily Ngo<\/p>\n TOURISM RECORD ECLIPSED: Nearly one million people visited New York state parks from Saturday to Tuesday \u2014 a record for that stretch \u2014 and state campgrounds entirely booked for the night of the eclipse.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s transportation department also saw a significant increase in vehicle traffic, and electric vehicles charged up for about twice as many miles as they did the week before.<\/p>\n Hochul was<\/a> one of 45,000 visitors to see the eclipse at Niagara Falls State Park, but there was one notable absence in the park: Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, a self-described astronomy enthusiast, fled<\/a> to the clearer skies of Ashtabula, Ohio for the event. \u2014 Jason Beeferman<\/p>\n OH, RATS: New York City\u2019s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is warning of a continued increase in cases of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection primarily associated with rat urine, according to an advisory sent today to health care providers.<\/p>\n Six cases have been reported so far this year, and 24 people were diagnosed with the disease in 2023 \u2014 more than the total number of cases reported to the Health Department in any prior year.<\/p>\n The city saw an average of just three cases annually between 2001 and 2020. The number has since continued to trend upwards, with most locally acquired cases reported in warmer and wetter months when the bacteria that cause the infection can more easily survive.<\/p>\n Symptoms may include fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea and jaundice, the department\u2019s advisory states. If not treated, the disease can lead to kidney failure, meningitis and liver damage. There have been six deaths among the 98 locally acquired cases of leptospirosis reported in the city from 2001 to 2023. \u2014 Maya Kaufman<\/p>\n DECEPTIVE ADS: Attorney General Tish James announced that her office secured over $1 million in penalties and refunds from Northwell Health, the state\u2019s largest healthcare provider.<\/p>\n The company misled New Yorkers by billing residents for emergency room visits when all they had received was Covid-19 test kits, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring a time of great stress at the height of the pandemic, Northwell Health caused more worry and frustration for New Yorkers who were sent emergency room bills for simply taking a Covid-19 test,\u201d James said in a statement.<\/p>\n Northwell owes more than $400,000 in refunds to about 2,000 patients, as well as $650,000 in penalties to the state.<\/p>\n \u201cNorthwell has cooperated fully with the Office of the New York State Attorney General throughout this investigation and voluntarily entered an agreement to settle the matter without admitting to any wrongdoing,\u201d according to a statement from Barbara Osborn, Northwell\u2019s vice president of public relations.<\/p>\n The statement also said that they voluntarily refunded patients who went to the testing sites and made out-of-pocket payments, totaling nearly $82,000.<\/p>\n The investigation was launched after James\u2019 office received complaints that they had received emergency room bills after getting a Covid test. The investigation found that three separate locations posted signs in March of 2020 and 2021 for testing sites. \u2014 Shawn Ness<\/p>\n \u2014 City schools are urging superintendents to fight for mayoral control. (POLITICO Pro<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 A homeless man stole a FDNY fireboat, but he didn\u2019t know how to start the engine. Instead he simply floated down the Hudson River. (Daily News<\/a>)<\/p>\n \u2014 Michael Cohen talked about Donald Trump\u2019s hush money case ahead of the trial starting Monday. (POLITICO<\/a>)<\/p>\n
\n A new parks attendance record thanks to the eclipse.
\n Some advocates slept in the War Room.
\n The Hochuls\u2019 income in 2023 is out. <\/p>\n