Thirty-seven days past the state budget deadline, the legislature passed two budget bills as of Wednesday afternoon — for a total of three out of 10 with more on the way in the coming hours.

Gov. Kathy Hochul made clear early in the process that she had no intention of signing a budget that didn’t include her policy proposals the way she wanted them. “Summers are nice here,” she said in early April. 

It was on the 37th day that Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis apparently had had enough.

As debates raged on over the use of a message of necessity to pass the bills, changes to the state’s campaign finance laws, DOCCS reform, and other issues — Skoufis took the senate floor in a speech that permeated the relatively dry nature of squabbles over budget language. 

“This governor seems to think she is a monarch of sorts,” he said. “She seems very empowered with a budget that is 37 days late.”

Moments later, Skoufis gave Spectrum News 1 a blunt assessment of Hochul’s handling of the budget process.

“The governor has demonstrated an inability to be competent,” he said, arguing that New Yorkers do care about a functioning government, budget deadlines and all. “The basis of that caring is they expect competency.”

Hochul’s team has repeatedly pointed to a Siena College poll in which respondents supported a budget hold up over most of her key proposals including Discovery Reform, changes to involuntary commitment standards, and a bell to bell cell phone ban in schools, but also backed up Skoufis with 72% saying they were concerned about a late budget. 

While he argued the state constitution calls for coequal branches “on paper,” — when it comes to the budget, in reality, Hochul has all the power with the legislature relegated to making “suggestions.”

In his speech and in speaking with Spectrum News 1, Skoufis called on fellow lawmakers to take action, laying out a plan that includes sending bills to Hochul’s desk during session rather than allowing them to be called up at the end of the year so the legislature can override vetoes they deem “appropriate” for override with potential republican support, possibly rejecting certain appointments, and kickstarting the process for a constitutional amendment to recalibrate the balance of power in the state.

“We’re not going to be run over roughshod over and over and over again by this governor who increasingly views herself as a dictator,” he said. “Now that we’re wrapping up, budget this needs to be a focus, and hopefully we can build the support in the Senate to bring it up for first passage, and begin this process.”

Doing so, he argued, sends a “clear unequivocal message” to Hochul: “Stop effing around with us,” he said. 

Skoufis also hit the governor over her ‘We got it done’ media appearances, which have been going on for over a week since Hochul announced a ‘general agreement’ on her top priorities last Monday.

Hochul has framed the appearances as strictly focused on agreements on those priorities, not the overall budget, but that hasn’t stemmed the frustration of lawmakers.

“It’s insane, it’s disrespectful to the people who have been working hard on this budget,” he said. “While she’s been doing her victory tour pretending like the budget negotiations are done, meanwhile, you have staff who are sleeping in the capitol overnight continuing to negotiate around a $254 billion document.

Hochul’s Press Secretary Avi Small fired back on X, calling it an “Embarrassing, juvenile stunt from a camera-hungry clown,” and that “Sen. Skoufis will just have to explain to his district why he opposes lower taxes and safer streets.  (And why he’s against record school aid. And against millions for parks & highways in his district),” adding “Good luck!” 

Small also provided a list of items in the budget that would impact Skoufis’s district, including a 3.8% increase in school aid as well as millions for free school meals, infrastructure, and highway projects.

Skoufis was unfazed, calling Hochul's financial proposals "more sizzle than steak," and responding to Small directly on X, “Open invitation for the Governor to drive the state roads with me in my district,” he wrote. “The reason why voters hate you guys is because you fail at basic government.”

Meanwhile, Good Government Groups have faulted the legislature for playing the governor’s game. John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany blamed lawmakers for pushing their own policy down to the very last minute of negotiations late last week.

“They have put in many, many policy proposals that are getting fought off by the governor’s office,” he said Friday, specifically their push to change campaign finance rules in backroom negotiations. “It went through a tremendous amount of public vetting. A lot of the policy changes they’re making behind closed doors that the public hasn’t seen anything about, most legislators haven’t seen anything in writing about, were adopted through exhaustive processes.” 

Among the language that tricked out on Wednesday was the final incarnation of a policy over how to handle the wearing of face masks in the commission of a crime. It was Skoufis’s bill that Hochul used as her initial blueprint in proposing the change before it was scaled back, and he pushed for it throughout the process.

Asked if the legislature is partly at fault for the discourse, Skoufis put the blame on the governor for setting the stage.

“I think it’s a fair conversation about whether there should be policy in the budget,” he said. “Certainly some of the ones I have an interest in have been injected into the budget process over the past several months, but at the end of the day, we're talking about policy because she’s injecting policy.”

All of this took place as the legislature slowly made its way through budget bills. 

In addition to debates over changes to the state’s campaign finance rules, Democrats fielded Republican questions over DOCCS reform in the wake of the three-week correction officer strike and two deaths, which led to criminal charges. Those reforms include policy around body-worn cameras and expanded oversight for the department.

The Republican minority spent the day on offense, doing what little they can to oppose elements of the spending plan. It was a process Assemblyman Ed Ra told Spectrum News 1 is a challenge, given that some key policies emerged later as part of what is known as the big ugly, rather than under their expected umbrellas.

“Issues that are priorities for a lot of us, and say it’s not in a particular bill, you have to decide whether you want to support that bill and its hard to know whether a bill is in the best interest of the people you represent without knowing how it fits into the overall budget,” he said.

We also learned on Wednesday what the new foundation aid formula will look like. 

In addition to the changes Hochul proposed around updating census data and exchanging poverty metrics, the Regional Cost Index will be increased for Westchester County and additional aid will be provided for English Language Learners. The formula will also provide a built-in annual 2% increase and an increase in BOCES aid and Special Services Aid for the Big 5 and other non-BOCES districts.