Source: Politics<\/p>\n
ALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2018s once iron grip on Albany is slipping as he tries to fight off calls for his resignation and contend with multiple investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n
The state budget is five days late and counting \u2014 an Albany tradition of tardiness that Cuomo, a three-term Democrat, had long boasted of ending. And as details of the roughly $200 billion spending plan begin to emerge this week, the expanded influence of legislative leaders and rank-and-file progressives is hard to miss.<\/p>\n
Cuomo, facing the threat of impeachment, agreed over the weekend to raise taxes by about $4.3 billion on corporations and the state\u2019s wealthiest residents \u2014 an idea he long opposed. Cuomo appears to be abandoning his previous rejection of a school funding approach sought by progressives. And lawmakers are also close to persuading the governor to approve a multi-billion-dollar fund to provide retroactive stimulus benefits to undocumented immigrants and former prison inmates, a potential major victory for the left.<\/p>\n
The governor who once muscled his biggest priorities through the Capitol annually, rarely failing to come out on top, is now taking a decidedly lighter tread in negotiations with Senate Majority Leaders Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, according to half a dozen people familiar <\/i>with the budget talks. Both Democratic leaders have taken a hard line against Cuomo over the past month, with Stewart-Cousins being among the first to call for his resignation and Heastie authorizing an impeachment investigation that commenced late last month.<\/p>\n
Nearly a month after he vowed to not let his then-burgeoning sexual harassment scandal deter him from doing his job, Cuomo is now spending his days trying to reframe the now-tarnished narrative of his tenure as he faces the single greatest threat to his decades-long political career. He appears to be putting political survival ahead of his own policy priorities, playing nice with lawmakers as he zips around the state to tout progress on vaccines and announce steps to open up the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Cuomo appeared deferential to legislators as he called the budget \u201cthe most complicated, the most ambitious and the hardest budget that we have done,\u201d and applauded both chambers for working through pandemic restrictions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve been working very hard, under very difficult circumstances,\u201d Cuomo said. \u201cSo it’s been a complicated process on top of a complicated product. \u2026 But this budget will set the trajectory for the state for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to tout the recent legalization of marijuana in New York and local police reform plans that are nearly in place across the state, neither of which were initiated through the budget. He made no mention of the deals he had cut to sign off on progressive priorities, including the agreement to temporarily raise taxes on those making more than $1 million a year, a move that will give New York City\u2019s top earners the highest combined city and state tax rate in the country.<\/p>\n
Cuomo\u2018s January budget proposal did include a similar tax hike on high earners that was worth about $1.5 billion, but he called it his \u201cworst-case-scenario\u201d budget<\/a>. His administration backed away from the concept after the most recent federal relief package authorized about $12.5 billion in aid for New York.<\/p>\n The state Senate and Assembly both proposed raising more than $6.5 billion through tax increases even after they saw the federal dollars coming in, in part due to pushes from progressive members and advocates warning that a one-time influx of federal stimulus wouldn\u2019t be enough to fix existing imbalances in the state\u2019s financial planning.<\/p>\n Cuomo on Monday also made no mention of an influx of more than $4 billion in school funding that the final deal is expected to phase-in over three years through a system that progressives have long sought. Cuomo has resisted their demands, calling them political and labeling a years-old lawsuit over the issue \u201cghosts of the past and distractions from the present<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Legislative leaders have said publicly that Cuomo\u2019s scandals \u2014 both over his sexual harassment allegations and his administration\u2019s attempt to hide the number of Covid-19 deaths tied to nursing homes \u2014 has had little effect on the budget process, which is largely driven by staff<\/a> and their constitutional duty to pass a spending plan on time. But legislative sources and former Cuomo aides say it\u2019s clear Democratic lawmakers are steering the budget negotiations this year, in contrast to the past.<\/p>\n \u201cWith that federal revenue and with state revenues shoring up pretty nicely, you have a budget that should not have been so hard to get done on time,\u201c said a former Cuomo aide, speaking on condition of anonymity to so as not to anger the governor. \u201cSo it seems pretty clear to me the lawmakers are saying, \u2018we\u2019re going to do it this way.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In years past, Cuomo has been able to wield considerable power in the Legislature by reaching out to rank-and-file members and their political power brokers. But that\u2019s harder than ever with huge portions of Democrats in both chambers calling for his resignation last month.<\/p>\n But some say the governor \u2014 or his office at least \u2014 has been pushing hard in certain areas, such as enhanced spending authority for federal funds and stricter checks on how unemployment might be distributed to undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n \u201cI know a lot of people speculated as to whether he would be weaker this time around, but I haven’t seen any sign of that,\u201d said Assembly Health Chair Richard Gottfried, the chamber\u2019s longest-serving member.<\/p>\n Still, Cuomo has in past weeks fled to friendlier waters when he shows his face in public, fully engaged in the craft of narrative revision. Earlier Monday, he was in his native Queens to announce public service campaign to encourage vaccinations, part of a downstate tour visiting pop-up vaccination sites in communities of color he had promised months ago to prioritize in the state\u2019s distribution program. Those events, more often than not closed to reporters, have given him the ability to solicit public praise \u2014 specifically from his supporters in the Black community<\/a> who have thanked him for his follow-through.<\/p>\n On Monday, he received compliments from Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), who last month said Cuomo should resign if it was shown he couldn\u2019t effectively lead the state. And Queens Assemblymember Vivian Cook, who worked on Cuomo\u2019s father\u2019s campaigns and has known the governor since he was young, told the borough and state to \u201cthank this son of Queens for making sure that we are taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud and we are proud of him. So, no matter what you say or what you do, we’re going to stick by this man \u2014 he’s staying with us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Cuomo\u2019s mood during these kinds of public appearances have been almost buoyant, with bits like challenging former Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia to arm wrestle during a jovial event<\/a> to announce the Yankees and Mets could start their seasons with fans.<\/p>\n And when his chief counsel and budget czar joined a recent question-and-answer session by web cam, he teased them publicly for appearing glum.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s looking very stern faced because he\u2019s coming down to it \u2014 he only has a few days left to work on the budget,\u201d Cuomo said of budget director Robert Mujica, who neither smiled nor responded. \u201cYou can see the stress on his face.\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cBusiness as usual\u201d is an ancient ploy that has occasionally worked for embattled politicians patient enough to see a news cycle through.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what you see the governor doing is trying to focus on the things that he knows the public likes and trying to ignore, to the extent possible, all the things that he<\/i> doesn\u2019t like,\u201d said Steve Greenberg, the spokesperson for Siena College Research Institute.<\/p>\n Though the most recent polling from Siena found dips in his overall favorability and reelection prospects, 60 percent of voters still approved of his handling of the pandemic and a 48 percent plurality say he should continue to do his job despite the allegations.<\/p>\n But as the budget process wraps up in Albany, it\u2019s likely eyes will again turn to the investigations into sexual harassment allegations, Cuomo\u2019s handling of Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes and new reports that Cuomo recruited several members of his staff to produce his book about leadership during the pandemic.<\/p>\n The lawmakers and attorneys heading up the Assembly Judiciary\u2019s impeachment probe have said it could take \u201cmonths, rather than weeks\u201d <\/a>to compile any findings that would initiate the next steps. There is no timeline for the state Attorney General Tish James\u2019 report, though Cuomo has asked the public to wait for its completion before drawing any conclusions about his behavior.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the goal here is to run out the clock to the extent possible and hope that the Tish James report comes out in the middle of the summer when everyone is vaccinated and there\u2019s all this stimulus money coming in,” said another former Cuomo aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has in his back pocket [the] I\u2019m-not-going-to-run-for-a-fourth-term card, and the closer we get to June [2022] primary, the more effective that is,\u201d the official said. \u201cBut I would not underestimate his desire and intention for running for a fourth term.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n<\/strike>Typically what you\u2019d be doing is in order to get to the lawmakers you\u2019d be working their constituency groups and their advocacy groups and that would influence the lawmakers,\u201d the former official said. \u201cBut the progressive groups, every single one of them, wants to see them gone.\u201d<\/p>\n