As first reported by WNYC’s Gothamist, New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is proposing legislation that will continue paychecks to lawmakers if the budget is late and if the governor includes unrelated policy items in the spending plan. 

The proposal comes as the legislature and the governor appear to be stalled on a variety of policy issues in budget talks.

The legislation is one of the most aggressive tactics the legislature has taken against Gov. Kathy Hochul since she took power in 2021.  

In a conversation with Capital Tonight, Heastie said the proposal has nothing to do with Hochul personally, whom he considers to be “a good friend.”

“But because quite a few governors use their powers under Silver v. Pataki, which gives them a lot of leverage in budget negotiations, governors like to use that leverage and can become cavalier, thinking that the promise of (legislators) not getting paid kind of induces members to agree to a budget sooner. 

That has never been the case, insists Heastie. 

“This is not about complaining about paychecks. The members are used to this. We go through this every year,” the speaker said. “I just don’t want governors to have this, to ever have an expectation that withholding a paycheck can be something that (would prompt) people to walk away from their principals.”

For a legal opinion on Heastie’s bill, Capital Tonight reached out to Justice James McGuire, a partner at the firm Holwell, Shuster & Goldberg LLP. McGuire also previously served as New York Gov. George E. Pataki’s chief counsel.

“It’s not clear from the face of the bill what problem it seeks to remedy or who decides whether the proposed legislation accompanying the Governor’s appropriation bills is ‘necessary for the effective implementation’ of the appropriation bills,” McGuire said in an emailed statement. “But the New York constitution does not prohibit the Assembly and the Senate from agreeing on a bill that dilutes or repeals the 1998 law that gave the Legislature incentives to complete its constitutional budget obligations in a timely fashion.”  

Hochul’s spokesperson Avi Small issued the following statement to reporters Wednesday morning:

“The policy priorities Governor Hochul announced back in January -- holding violent criminals accountable, cutting middle-class taxes, tackling the mental health crisis and bell-to-bell distraction free schools, all while providing record school aid and Medicaid funds -- have the overwhelming support of New Yorkers. 

If the highest-paid State Legislators in America are worried about their paychecks, there's a much easier solution: come to the table and pass a budget that includes Governor Hochul's common-sense agenda.”

When asked how he would respond if Gov. Hochul started inserting policy into budget extenders, the speaker was pointed.

“Governors have the right to do that, but there’s always two halves to a football game, and if the governor wants to decide to put her entire budget in an extender, we would take that as a declaration of war,” Heastie said.

He added, “I don’t believe this governor is doing that. We are not trying to go to war with Gov. Hochul.”