State lawmakers have about a month to test if their aggravations with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s handling of this year’s budget process are potent enough to kickstart the process of changing the state’s constitution before they leave Albany for the summer.

Nearly 30 state senators have signed onto the 2025 version of a state constitutional amendment proposal to rein in the governor’s inherent power over the state budget, with others signaling they are in favor. Similar language has been proposed several times in recent years, but there is a sense of urgency among lawmakers this year given that the budget was the latest in 15 years and that they argue Hochul made a public display of holding the process up until her policy proposals were woven into the final budget to her satisfaction.

Senate Finance Committee Chair State Sen. Liz Krueger seems to have expended very little energy hiding her frustration with the budget process, and told Spectrum News 1 that she is on board.

“I support it,” she said. “I think I had an earlier version once upon a time.” 

Krueger pointed out that passing a constitutional amendment is a heavy lift: it must pass in the Legislature twice, the second time during the next regular legislative session following an election, before going to voters. She pointed out that means it could wait until next year without shifting the overall timeline.

“I don’t know,” she said when asked if a first passage was possible this session. “Constitutional amendments are hard to pass. I passed my equality amendment last November so I know how hard they are to get across the finish line.”

Nevertheless, she argued it’s the correct remedy to what she describes as a flaw in the state’s constitution, ending the governor’s ability to use the appropriations bills to drive policy in part by limiting spending to existing state law.

“I do believe that our constitution based on legal precedent has unfairly weighted the budget process too heavily in favor of the governor,” she said pointing to the ruling in Silver v. Pataki. “We’re all elected officials and we have 19.5 million New Yorkers to represent, the Legislature should have a fairer share of the power within the budget process.” 

The current version of the amendment is sponsored by State Sen. Gustavo Rivera. Immediately after the passage of the state budget, he stressed the need for reforms to the process.

“This year definitively confirmed that the process by which the budget gets negotiated cannot continue. It is in the best interest of our state for the Legislature to take matters into our own hands and pass the Budget Equity Act,” he said.

State Sen. James Skoufis made the passage of an amendment central to a fiery Senate floor speech last week in which he accused Hochul of having authoritarian tendencies over her ‘my way or the highway’ tactics in ramming policy proposals through the budget.

“I am going to be nonstop beating this drum to at least start the process,” he told Spectrum News 1 after the speech. “If the average voter knew how disproportionate the power balance is here in Albany, they would be appalled.” 

He doubled down Tuesday on support for a constitutional change as well as other remedies, including leveraging his role as chair of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee.

“The governor is engaged in a never-ending power grab,” he said. “I strongly support the Budget Equity Act as a medium-term fix to the obvious imbalance during budget negotiations. I also continue to press for immediate, short-term fixes such as veto overrides and increased oversight. Gov. Hochul is acting like an authoritarian and the Legislature needs to stand up for itself.”

The bill has significant bipartisan support, with 15 Republican cosponsors in the Senate. State Sen. Mark Walczyk said that’s because the concept transcends administrations and specific policy proposals.

“Sometimes they agree, sometimes they disagree on the policy proposals the governor is putting forward,” he said of Democratic and Republican supporters. “Members that are signing on to this legislation recognize that the appropriations bills, the New York state budget should just focus on the budget, not on a bunch of additional policy issues.” 

The leaders of both majorities worked to manage expectations Tuesday. 

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins didn’t rule out bringing the bill to the floor this session, but pointed to the lengthy process that would be required to get it approved by voters.

“There are years that it would take in order to change the way that it is if the voters wanted to change it,” she said, before adding, “The conference is discussing it.”

She subsequently downplayed it as a priority during the final sprint to the legislative finish line on June 12. 

“We’re really trying to stay present and do what we can today on behalf of New Yorkers,” she said.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie similarly pointed to the realities of getting an amendment through. A similar attempt failed before voters in 2005.

“To do a constitutional amendment where you have to ask the voters to choose between the Legislature and the governor, it’s like putting a family fight out there,” he told Capital Tonight's Susan Arbetter. “Although I do believe the constitution should be changed personally, it would be a huge endeavor because then it would be a high campaign of ‘the Legislature vs. the governor’ and I don’t know if the voters even understand.”

In elaborating on those reservations, he did however indicate that there is support among Assemblymembers too, though how much is unclear. 

“I want the process to be better, but the type of campaign you would have to wage, a campaign would have to be funded,” he said. “A constitutional amendment, which I know many members of my conference and I assume the Senate as well prefer, it’s just a huge endeavor.”

He also suggested that he feels any such push shouldn’t target Hochul specifically.

“This isn’t anything about Kathy Hochul,” he said “She’s using the same tools that every governor before her used.”

Blair Horner, senior policy advisor for good government group NYPIRG, told Spectrum News 1 that while he agrees the state budget process deserves a second look, he has concerns about simply targeting policy. 

“What is policy? A lot of the budget is policy,” he said. “It’s a hard thing to do because the court’s interpretation of the state’s existing constitution is that the executive is in the driver's seat.”

He also cautioned that in the potential fight that Heastie described, voters could ultimately be susceptible to influence from the loudest voices given that the concept is inside baseball.

“You need to have a serious public process to make a serious constitutional change, particularly one that’s in the weeds — deep in the weeds, like changing the power of the executive in the budget,” he said.

State Sen. Nathalia Fernandez carried the bill last year and is a prime co-sponsor this year. She told Spectrum News 1 that whether or not the amendment can pass this year is only a small part of a larger conversation. 

“There’s no question that the budget process has raised concerns about balance and transparency, and this amendment is one way to spark a conversation about how we uphold the separation of powers,” said Fernandez. “After this year’s process, it’s understandable that there’s renewed interest in reform. Whether this particular proposal is the answer or not, the principle behind it, restoring a clearer balance between branches, is one worth discussing.”

Gov. Hochul’s Press Secretary Avi Small didn’t address the amendment specifically in a response to Spectrum News 1, simply pointing to the Legislature’s partnership in ultimately passing the budget and the road ahead.

“Governor Hochul worked with the Legislature to reach a massively successful budget agreement to cut middle-class taxes, crack down on crime and put money back in New Yorkers' pockets,” he said in a statement. “Now that the Senate and Assembly have passed the budget and the Governor has signed it into law, we look forward to finishing out this year's legislative session and continuing to make progress on the issues that matter most to New Yorkers.”

It’s worth noting that many members who voted in favor of the budget or pushed for their own policy proposals are in favor of this amendment, and when asked have each pointed to the idea that working within a broken system doesn't prohibit one from changing it.