Gov. Kathy Hochul says there is light at the end of the state budget tunnel, which could include a watering down or tabling of her push for legislation related to the wearing of face masks in the commission of a crime.

“Certainly, Monday and Tuesday will be important days for us,” she said while hosting an Easter egg roll at the New York State Executive Mansion on Saturday.

After weeks spent on one issue — discovery reform — there are important days to catch up on the whole rest of the state budget. That includes more policy: changes to involuntary commitment rules and Hochul’s push for a mask restriction. On Saturday, she appeared to indicate there is wiggle room on the mask front. 

“It was not one of the first initiatives that I put in my package,” she explained.

In fact, it wasn't unveiled until just before the budget was due. Hochul then laid the groundwork to give the proposal a possible escape hatch, which could involve punting the issue to an uncertain future post-budget.

“We didn’t know whether this should be done in the budget or in session, which others are suggesting, so that remains to be determined,” she said.

State Sen. James Skoufis, whose bill was the blueprint for Hochul’s budget proposal, isn’t so sure that’s a viable option.

“I’m less optimistic that something like this could get done outside of the budget,” he said.

Amid concerns around mask use related to religion, immigration, and protest, Skoufis explained that the proposal has been watered down in budget talks.

His bill, and the governor’s initial proposal, would create the crime of "masked harassment" for wearing a mask in the commission of a crime, thereby providing carveouts to address the critiques of more progressive members who point to Trump administration policies relating to immigration and pro-Palestinian demonstrations as creating potential risks for those individuals, as the bill would require law enforcement to make a judgement call.

Skoufis said within negotiations, the proposal as of now has been modified short of being its own charge.

“Such that if you’re convicted of the existing crime while wearing the mask, there is the potential for a penalty enhancer during sentencing,” he said. “I’m hopeful we can thread that needle, I think that approach addresses the concerns we’ve heard about creating a new separate crime that could be subject to subjectivity.”

When it comes to involuntary commitment, state Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, who chairs the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus, told Spectrum News 1 that a conclusion is within reach.

“I’m confident that our legislative leaders will come up with a deal with the governor that is common sense,” she said. “We want to ensure that we have a long term plan. When folks are committed we want to make sure that they are provided resources and stable housing, so we’re having those conversations.”

Then there’s the part of the budget that actually deals with fiscal matters — Hochul’s affordability proposals and the opposition to them. Skoufis said policy talks continue to infinge on any serious consideration, but that should change when members return to Albany Tuesday.

“All of these fiscal questions are still open and we’re hoping to navigate them in the next week,” he said.

That includes the governor’s proposal to send rebate checks out to many New Yorkers. Skoufis stressed that while the Senate is alone in its opposition with the Assembly going along, he stands by the majority’s critique of spending so much money on one-time handouts amid looming potential federal cuts. The Senate instead proposed limiting the checks to seniors over three years and other forms of tax relief.

“It could be several months from now when quite frankly we’re digging around trying to find money to backfill people’s health care that was just cut,” he said. “Do we have the ability to write off $3 billion into this one-time, one-shot set of checks?”

Skoufis said conversations about taxes and tax relief have also remained largely out of reach thanks to policy talks.

Hochul doubled down on the rebate check proposal at an affordability event in Rochester Monday.

“When I talk about the inflation refund rebates, you know what that's about? We paid so much more because of inflation for everything you bought from kids' sneakers to your groceries and everything,” she said. “We're going to have 542,000 households in the Finger Lakes region get hundreds of dollars back in your pockets. We can get that done.”

When it comes to school funding, Skoufis expressed frustration over the continued infringement of the state budget process on the timeline for passing school budgets. He told Spectrum News 1 that he’s is looking for a legislative solution.

“I intend to make this a post-budget issue,” he said. “I’ll be introducing legislation that speaks to the fiscal year calendar because we’ve gone through this too many times now where school districts literally this week are finalizing their local district budgets, and they generally speaking have two levers they can pull when it comes to revenue: property taxes and state aid...one percent is actually a pretty big deal in the grand scheme of whether they are raising taxes."

Lawmakers will return to Albany Tuesday and will likely pass at least two more extenders, with many hopeful a conclusion is possible by the weekend or early next week.