Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a $227 billion state budget on Wednesday, a plan that would increase direct aid to schools and health care networks, fund measures meant to bolster public safety and law enforcement, as well as expand housing in New York.

State and federal spending would increase by 2.4%, or more than $5 billion, over the previous budget.

These are flush times for New York state with an $8.7 billion surplus expected by the end of March, when the fiscal year starts anew.

It's enabled Gov. Kathy Hochul, now entering her first full term after winning her election last year, to significantly increase education aid, potentially for two years in a row.

Gov. Kathy Hochul in her executive budget proposal Wednesday laid out a plan to create the first-ever Office of Semiconductor Expansion, Management and Integration following the announcement last fall that computer memory chip specialist Micron plans to invest $100 billion in Central New York.

The goal, Hochul said, is to make it easier for similar companies to make potential future similar investments in New York state.

Is New York's state budget in good or bad shape? How to view it, ultimately, may come down to who you listen to.

For Republicans, the budget is beset with pressure from inflation and other global problems that will squeeze taxpayers. Progressives are taking a more optimistic approach, pointing to better-than-expected revenue from taxes amid a shaky worldwide economy.

More than a decade ago, the administration of New York Gov. David Paterson was consumed by the global recession and fiscal crisis that spared no one, including the state's main economic engine on Wall Street.

A dozen or so years later, officials and budget analysts have taken away different lessons from Paterson's efforts, and subsequently Andrew Cuomo's budgets, to right the state's fiscal ship.

Away from the rallies and TV ads calling attention to issues like abortion rights and public safety, the shadow of the state budget in Albany is getting bigger. The next governor will likely be facing economic pain. Jasmine Gripper of the Alliance for Quality Education says issues facing schools have not been discussed.

Whoever wins the race for New York governor may face major questions next year for the state budget.

Debates over how to address crime and abortion rights have dominated the conversation in the race for governor of New York as Republican Lee Zeldin and Democrat Kathy Hochul seek to motivate voters to the polls by Tuesday.

But there has been little public airing of what either candidate will do with what will take centerstage in Albany in about three months: How to spend some $200 billion or so of taxpayer money.

The New York state comptroller's office on Tuesday released its analysis of the recently enacted state budget.

The record-breaking $220.5 billion spending plan passed on April 9. The state’s coffers this year were bolstered by higher-than-expected tax revenues, as well as federal pandemic aid.

Affordable housing advocates will make a sustained push in the coming weeks for a measure to make it harder for people to be evicted when rent is increased, add support for public housing and for the expiration of a tax break they argue has done little to boost affordable units in New York City.

Lawmakers are expected to return to the state Capitol on Monday for the remainder of a legislative session that concludes on June 2. The post-budget portion of the legislative session in Albany will be a short one, but potentially no less consequential as lawmakers gear up for their re-election campaigns.

Local health departments in New York are set to receive nearly $26 million in funding after two years of being on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money is meant to shore up what are considered core public health services performed by local-level officials, including communicable disease control and emergency preparedness and response.

The state's private colleges and universities have had their struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic just like their public system counterparts in New York over the last two years.

And, as Lola Brabham, the president of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, said Wednesday in a Capital Tonight interview, there were benefits for their member schools in the $220 billion state budget.

For years, advocates have been pushing New York state lawmakers in Albany to include a wage increase for home health care workers.

This year, a wage increase of $2 was included with an additional $1 increase coming in 2023. State Sen. Rachel May, chair of the Senate Aging Committee, told Capital Tonight the raise is not “insignificant,” but “it’s not what we were asking for” with legislators arguing for a larger increase.

As the negotiators ground on between lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul over the contentious debate surrounding New York's bail law, local prosecutors were brought in to discuss their concerns.

And now with those changes to the bail laws on the books, some prosecutors hope further efforts to address public safety will be made.

New York state officials are getting a mixed grade from higher education advocates for a state budget that spent $500 million in added support for operations at the state's public universities and colleges.

But at the same time, the spending plan did not address increasing maximum awards for the tuition assistance program, nor did it roll back tuition costs.

The aging Interstate 81 span that has divided the city of Syracuse both geographically and racially since the 1960s is scheduled to come down. The recently passed New York state budget includes an additional $1 billion to help remove the old viaduct and start work on what’s called the “community grid” plan to replace it.

Syracuse-area state Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter said as soon as final authorization from the federal government is received, construction will begin.

When asked by Capital Tonight to explain the New York state budget’s investment in child care, Dede Hill, the director of policy for the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in Albany, wasn’t able to provide an answer.

“This should be an easy question to answer, but I’m going to have to dodge a little. We are still digging into the budget trying to discern where all the dollars are, and what exactly is in there,” she said. “What I can say is that this budget contains significant new funds for child care subsidies.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul's first budget was a late one, but in the end, she said on Monday, it's one that puts money back into the pockets of New Yorkers.

"They don't pay attention to whether it's a couple of days late or not," Hochul said. "At the end of the day, we got it done."

Changes to New York's 2019 law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges and other efforts to address public safety were needed in response to increasing crime, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said.

But Hochul, fresh off the completion of her first spending plan, said the initial bail law should not be blamed for the rise in violent crime in New York, which has also been on the rise in other parts of the country.

Sandwiches, soups and salads are substantial. A bag of chips or a bowl of nuts, not so much.

That's according to the guidance issued Monday by the State Liquor Authority to determine what a "substantial food item" is to qualify for a restaurant patron to order a drink to go along with a takeout meal.

More than 6 million middle-income taxpayers in New York are set to receive a faster tax rate reduction as part of the state budget finalized this weekend.

At the same time, the budget includes a new property tax relief credit that had been backed earlier this year by Gov. Kathy Hochul, as well as relief for small businesses.

Gov. Kathy Hochul called the state budget, which is currently being debated and voted on by the Legislature, “transformative” and one that will “improve the lives of New Yorkers in every part of the state.”

The spending plan, which is comprised of 10 separate bills, is currently one week late. It includes a seven-month suspension of the gas tax starting in June, a property tax rebate, the acceleration of a middle class tax cut and an increase in the state’s rainy-day fund.

State lawmakers and advocates are starting to digest the budget agreement for New York — spending that will have a wide-ranging impact on the state.

It's a budget, Democratic officials have pointed out, that will have a wide-ranging impact for New Yorkers themselves.

An upstate New York-focused business coalition on Friday criticized the final state budget agreement announced on Thursday by Gov. Kathy Hochul for not including measures meant to relieve the burden of unemployment insurance debt on the private sector.

At issue is the soaring cost of unemployment insurance for businesses incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on public gatherings and businesses.

Syracuse University has received $20 million in financial support from New York to help with the Carrier Dome’s renovations according to SU officials.

For over 40 years, the Carrier Dome has hosted local and statewide nationally for large concerts, events, NCAA regional competitions and other community-focused activities.

Two years ago, New York restaurant owners were facing the prospect of declining revenue and sales as the COVID-19 pandemic led to a broad shutdown of the economy in the state.

The one bright spot for many eateries and their customers was allowing to-go alcoholic drinks with takeout meals. And now that provision will be made law as part of a state budget agreement announced on Thursday.

Supporters of a measure that would seal criminal records years after a person has completed their debt to society are planning to continue to press for the provision's approval in New York after it fell out of the state budget talks.

Those supporters range from criminal justice reform organizations, labor unions, business leaders and Gov. Kathy Hochul herself, who had backed a version of what's known as the "clean slate" bill in the budget plan.

While there are plenty of Democrats who take issue with various aspects of the New York state budget deal, Republicans are deeply concerned not only about the substance of the budget, but about the process by which it came together.

State Assemblyman Ed Ra is a Republican from Long Island and ranking member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

After a difficult negotiation which fell apart multiple times over the past week, New York state finally has a budget deal in place.

The $220 billion agreement includes hourly wage increases for home care workers and direct support professionals (DSPs) — those people working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

New York's $220 billion state budget is being put to bed just as the election year is beginning to pick up.

The spending plan agreed to by Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers seemingly has something for every voter — a headline that satisfies a key constituent concern.

Nearly a week after it was due, New York state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul have reached an agreement on a $220 billion state budget that would include a suspension of the state's gas tax, an increased investment in child care, changes to the 2019 bail law and an alcohol to-go option for bars and restaurants that was utilized in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

News: New York budget deal will include a suspension of the gas tax from June 1 through the end of the year, per source

An expansion of law that requires people in a mental health crisis receive treatment remains one of the final stumbling blocks for lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul as they seek to forge a final state budget agreement.

But the measure known as Kendra's Law remains controversial for some Democrats in the Legislature as well as advocates for mental health treatment.

In a series of radio and television ads, the Seneca Nation of Indians is slamming New York Gov. Kathy Hochul over two issues related to the Buffalo Bills stadium deal: Freezing their bank accounts and using the money to pay part of the state’s share of the subsidy, and because of a perceived conflict of interest — Hochul’s husband works for Delaware North, the company that has the Bills stadium concession.

New York state Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, of Buffalo, was asked if these were valid arguments against the stadium and the governor.

A proposal to boost spending for child care in the New York state budget is running into problems, with some lawmakers raising concerns over whether it could be fully funded.

The development comes as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are continuing to negotiate a state budget that had been expected to pass on Friday and centers around what was due to be an issue most Democrats expected to support.

New York Deputy Senate Majority Leader Michael Gianaris told Capital Tonight that state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul have made significant progress on the state’s late budget “in just the last couple of days” in spite of efforts to insert what he called “non-budget issues” like alcohol to-go and the reform of 421a into the spending plan.

“It seems like we’re finally clearing our way through all that and now getting to the dollars and cents, which is what the budget is really about,” Gianaris said. “And hopefully wrapping it up in the next couple of days."

New York state lawmakers are closing in on an agreement that could expand the circumstances in which cash bail would be required to include charges like gun trafficking as well as alleged repeat offenses, a top Democrat in the state Senate on Tuesday said.

The development comes as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are close to putting the finishing touches on a broader state budget agreement, which had been expected to pass on Friday.

Advocates for older New Yorkers and low-income residents made what could be a final push on Tuesday to include aid for the more than 330,000 people who are behind on their energy bills in a state budget agreement.

The groups, including AARP New York and the Public Utility Law Project, are seeking at least $500 million in support for customers as utility bills have sharply increased this past winter.

Lawmakers from Western New York in a closed-door meeting of state Assembly Democrats on Monday gave an "eloquent" defense of the plan to fund a Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park using $850 million in taxpayer funding for the construction.

Funding the stadium's construction, announced initially last week by Gov. Kathy Hochul, has emerged as a point of contention in the state budget negotiations.

A Queens lawmaker is pushing back against Gov. Kathy Hochul's plan to fund construction of a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills.

During an appearance Tuesday on "Mornings On 1," Assemblyman Ron Kim said funding the stadium would be a "bad example."

No budget deal yet.

Political analyst and lobbyist Jack O’Donnell, managing partner at O’Donnell & Associates, told Capital Tonight that, at the end of the day, the blame for budget tardiness will fall on the governor, whether it’s her fault or not.

During a gaggle on Monday morning, New York state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie was asked by a reporter if JCOPE reform was in the budget. His answer was “yeah, probably," but that the details had not yet been nailed down.

JCOPE is the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which has had some ethics issues of its own, but which has also recently gotten much more aggressive when it comes to clawing back former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s book advance.

A new governor is tested when state lawmakers balk at getting a New York state budget done on time in an election year. Weeks turn into months.

Finally, the impasse is broken. In August.

New York lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul continue to be at odds over funding for the Buffalo Bills' new stadium, as well as proposals to make changes to New York's 2019 bail law that largely ended cash requirements for many criminal charges.

Speaker Heastie says a budget extender needs to be done by 4 pm today as budget remains under negotiation pic.twitter.com/IZErfKZnge

A nursing home industry organization on Monday is set to launch a $100,000 ad campaign to push for a long-term funding plan in the New York state budget.

The ad campaign from the Coalition for Quality Long Term Care is being announced as state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are yet to strike an agreement on the budget plan, which had been expected to pass last week.

With state budget talks now in overtime, advocates for affordable housing are making renewed efforts to get their provisions into a finalized spending plan.

Dozens of community organizations on Friday urged top officials in New York to commit funding for community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives and other measures in what's known as social housing in an agreed-to state budget.

Republican lawmakers who represent New York in the House of Representatives urged state officials to "completely reverse" the 2019 law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges in a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, pointing to a rise in violent crime.

The letter signed by the eight Republicans who represent New York in Congress, including candidate for governor Lee Zeldin, was sent as Democratic lawmakers and the governor negotiate potential changes that could expand the criteria for when cash bail could be set.

The debate over New York's bail laws and how the criminal justice system should treat people accused of crimes will likely continue after the state budget is finalized, advocates on Friday said.

Rank-and-file state lawmakers were gone from the state Capitol on Friday, but a small group of advocates who oppose any changes to New York's 2019 cashless bail law rallied once again in the otherwise empty building.

Utility bill payers should have some relief from the high cost of heating their homes this past winter with a tax deduction on their annual state income tax return under proposal made Thursday by New York state Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara.

The measure as proposed would allow taxpayers to deduct home heating costs from their state income tax as utility bills this season have skyrocketed.

The labor unions that represent workers and staff at New York's public college and university systems are touting the economic impact that public higher education has on the state as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul continue to negotiate the budget.

The Professional Staff Congress, which represents workers at the City University of New York, as well as the United University Professions at for the State University of New York, has been making a pitch this budget season for further spending on higher education, including more support for hospitals and research centers.

Blair Horner has been a fixture at the state Capitol in New York for decades, watching a generation of state budgets be negotiated and debated. And the longtime good-government advocate at the New York Public Interest Research Group called this budget one of the more secretive ones.

"It's as secretive a budget as I've ever seen, and I've been here for a lot of them," he said. "There's no even pretense for any kind of public discussion, there's no gaggle outside of the governor's office where reporters can ask tough questions."

With New York state lawmakers leaving Albany ahead of Friday's state budget deadline, it is unclear on when the financial plan will make it through both houses of the Legislature, leaving policy goals like expanded child care access in the lurch. Nonetheless, advocates and providers are optimistic about a potential $3 billion investment in the industry that has suffered financial losses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jennifer March, executive director of the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York, told Capital Tonight that the funding will expand subsidies to help families pay for services, allow providers to invest in their workforce and get higher reimbursements from the state to cover operating costs.

Both the New York state Senate and Assembly included the May-Gottfried “Fair Pay for Home Care” bill in their one-house budgets. It would direct the state commissioner of health to set regional minimum rates of reimbursement for home care aides under Medicaid and managed care plans.

The question now is whether Gov. Kathy Hochul will approve the measure.

State lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul will not reach an agreement by the end of the day for a spending plan for New York amid a lack of agreement over key criminal justice issues.

Making changes to New York's bail law that end cash bail requirements for many criminal charges remains up in the air, though lawmakers on Thursday said progress has been made on the issue.

With days to go until the New York state budget is finalized, upstate hospitals are concerned that their priorities may not make the final cut. These hospitals face special challenges since COVID-19 hit. For example, there are over 20,000 open positions at upstate hospitals from Albany to Buffalo.

Gary Fitzgerald is president and CEO of the Iroquois Healthcare Alliance which represents 50 hospitals across 32 upstate counties.

New York's “Fair Pay for Home Care” bill sponsored by state Sen. Rachel May and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried directs the state commissioner of health to set regional minimum rates of reimbursement for home care aides under Medicaid and managed care plans.

Home care workers haven’t seen a pay increase in New York in 10 years. If the bill passes in the budget, these workers would be paid at least 150% of the regional minimum wage.

Nine days ago, New York state Assemblywoman Latrice Walker began a hunger strike as negotiations over changes to the state's law ending cash bail requirements for many criminal charges spilled into public view.

Walker has been taking vitamins and drinking water and recently turned to bone broth. And the discussions surrounding changes to the law remain the key sticking in the budget talks as the deadline nears for a deal and final passage.

The New York Civil Liberties Union wants a faster way of sealing many criminal records in the state as part of a final budget deal.

The conversations over the proposal surrounding the "Clean Slate" Act are being held as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are considering a broad package of criminal justice law changes addressing concerns over cashless bail, evidence discovery procedures and access to tuition assistance for people in prison.

A proposal to allow people in prison to access state tuition assistance has gained the backing of the League of Women Voters as state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul debate whether to include the provision in a final budget agreement.

The move, proposed earlier this year by Gov. Hochul in her budget plan, would restore access to state tuition assistance after both Pell grants and money under the Tuition Assistance Program were blocked for people in prison in 1994 and 1995.

More than two dozen organizations this week are making a final push to include a tax credit meant to help caregivers who provide support for a relative or loved one as part of the state budget that is due to pass by the end of the week.

Thirty-five groups composed of health, consumer and aging organizations and led by AARP New York, urged the top Democrats in the state Legislature to include the tax credit in a final budget agreement in a letter sent this week.

Consume this news while seated: New York's state budget may be a late one.

The April 1 deadline is essentially a meaningless one for nearly all 20 million New Yorkers, even as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul wrestle with consequential proposals over how to fund child care, whether New York's criminal justice system needs to undergo further changes and how at minimum $216 billion in taxpayer money should be spent.

With the New York state budget due on Friday, there are plenty of issues in flux, from funding for universal child care to a pay raise for home care workers. But according to the chairman of the state Senate Health Committee, Sen. Gustavo Rivera, it’s been difficult finding traction on these issues because the focus in Albany has been on bail reform.

“It’s unfortunate that so much oxygen has been taken out of the room because of the whole bail reform conversation,” Rivera told Capital Tonight. “As it relates to bail reform, I will say that I’m very disappointed that the governor came in at what is basically the 11th hour and injected something into the budget conversation that I don’t think belongs in the budget conversation.”

Housing activists are again sounding the alarm as the New York state budget deadline approaches. They argue that thousands of New Yorkers are facing eviction and foreclosure as both moratoria have expired, and even more New Yorkers are currently homeless.

The state’s eviction moratorium expired on Jan. 15, but tenant advocates argue that it’s critical to keep the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) open because once a tenant applies for funding through this program, he or she cannot be evicted.

As state lawmakers negotiate whether to extend up to three casino licenses in the New York City metropolitan region, there's a debate over how much control local government officials and community leaders should have in deciding where the casinos would be built.

Lawmakers expect a final agreement on the casino licensing plan for New York City and the surrounding region will be included in a finalized state budget plan, which is expected to be approved in the coming days.

A rebate program in which households would receive a check or an outright suspension of the state taxes on gasoline remain on the negotiating table in the state budget talks, New York lawmakers on Tuesday said.

New York officials are discussing how to address the spiking the cost of gas, which remains above $4 a gallon in many parts of the state.

With days to go until the state budget deadline, one of the toughest issues that’s still being worked out is changes to the state’s bail law.

Governor Hochul wants to amend the law which eliminated cash bail for many crimes. But a fierce opposition is urging the legislature to hold the line.

As state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul negotiate potential ways of addressing the increased cost of gasoline in New York, some Republicans are calling for long-term relief.

But environmental organizations and transit organizations are skeptical a gas tax suspension or cap would have any benefit for the consumer, while at the same time starve mass transit systems and road and bridge projects of needed funding.

Putting together a state budget is no easy task, especially in an election season as a rookie governor. Mix in the nationwide and global uncertainty over the economy, high gas prices and general fatigue from two years of a public health crisis, it can be a toxic brew.

More New Yorkers this month believe the state is heading in the wrong direction, up from 45% in a February Siena College poll to 49% in the survey released on Monday. New Yorkers have deepening worries over the state of their finances and the economy, as well as a rise in crime.

Juvenile justice law changes that no longer treat 16 and 17-year-olds like adults should not be rolled back, dozens of clergy members urged in a letter to New York leaders to be released later on Monday.

The letter from the clergy members is the latest salvo in the debate over how to shape New York's criminal justice system amid a rise in some violent crimes across the country, and rising voter concern over the issue.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills football team is just one of artist and performer Jason Smith's many passions.

The 53-year-old adult with a developmental disability showed off his artwork of a Bills helmet at People Inc.'s The Art Experience program. The season ticket holder says he plans to bring it to a game.

A New York state budget agreement could include a range of criminal justice and public safety law changes, making for a sweeping compromise amid ongoing concerns over crime.

At least that's what has happened in the past, when disparate issues are knit together in a final budget deal that make it hard for lawmakers who have some misgivings to vote against it. On Friday, Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters there's a desire to use the budget as a "vehicle" for a number of changes.

Advocates for New York's city and state university systems have criticized the state government over underfunding the schools for years.

“Over the last decade, frankly even more than that, we have seen just a steady decline in the amount of state support going to these institutions,” state Sen. Andrew Gounardes told Capital Tonight.

Good government groups are frequently frustrated with Albany, but this year they may be more so because they expected new Gov. Kathy Hochul to usher in a new wave of transparency. Instead, at least one group, Reinvent Albany, is sharing the same litany of grievances it did last year when Andrew Cuomo was still governor.

“The big priority for government watch dog groups like ours is creating a new ethics commission that’s independently appointed,” John Kaehny, of Reinvent Albany, told Capital Tonight. “And, as The Times Union editorialized Friday, that seems to be dead in the water at the moment.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul wants her first state budget to be a different one — especially when it comes to style, tone and substance of the talks in Albany.

"I feel really good about where we are. It's a different environment," she told a handful of reporters on Friday in an impromptu question-and-answer session. "The temperature is a lot lower. We're trying to get decisions earlier than later in the hopes of getting this accomplished as soon as we can."

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday confirmed top officials in New York are considering ways of providing some sort of relief at the gas pump for drivers in the state budget plan.

The budget talks have centered around a potential suspension of state taxes on per-gallon gasoline sales until the end of the year.

Prominent environmental, transit and good-government organizations on Friday urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to reject a proposed gas tax suspension in the state budget, arguing it would run counter to the state's efforts to combat climate change and deprive road improvement projects of funding.

Lawmakers and Hochul are negotiating a potential suspension of the tax that would run from May 1 to the end of the year as the per-gallon price of gasoline remains above $4 in many parts of New York.

Performing arts venues in New York are seeking financial relief from state officials as lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul are negotiating a $216 billion budget.

The venues were financially battered over the last two years by the COVID-19 pandemic, and many have struggled as attendance starts to return to normal levels.

As New Yorkers increasingly worry about the cost of filling up their gas tank and their grocery bills, candidates for governor are proposing ways of addressing the anxiety over inflation.

The discussions are partially the product of a state budget season in Albany overlapping with the ramping up of statewide political campaigns. But it also reflects issues that could still resonate with voters heading into the June primary and fall general election.

NEW YORK — Already overshadowing state budget talks, bail reform is also becoming an early hot topic in the race for governor, giving a big political headache to incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul.

In a Daily News op-ed published Wednesday, Hochul and Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin touted a package of criminal justice reforms they hope state lawmakers will enact as part of the budget, including a “dangerousness standard” that would allow judges to determine who should be released before trial.

Progressive organizations and criminal justice advocacy groups are moving to counteract a push in Albany to make changes to New York's recent package of changes to the state's bail and evidence discovery laws, as well as how juveniles are treated in the court system.

The latest efforts comes from more than 70 national and state organizations pushing back against proposed changes. Backers of the effort range from Jay-Z to the Center for American Progress, ACLU, Indivisible, the Working Families Party, National Domestic Workers Alliance and MoveOn.

Expanding health insurance coverage to undocumented New Yorkers has gained the backing a broad coalition of policy experts, business lobbyists and immigrant-rights advocates as state lawmakers debate whether to include it in the state budget due next week.

The issue of expanding health insurance to undocumented people in the state has largely flown under the radar this budget season in Albany as activists have called for additional benefits to aid the undocumented community, such as replenishment of the excluded workers fund.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The New York state budget is due on April 1, but that is also a day many Buffalo Bills fans have their eyes on for another reason.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has repeatedly said she expects a deal in place for a new Bills stadium in time for the budget. On Wednesday, Spectrum News 1 asked Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz if "Bills fans in Western New York shouldn't go into a state of panic" if there is no announcement by the long-awaited pseudo deadline.

To get a handle on plastic packaging, there is a movement to get companies to take responsibility for all the waste they produce. It’s called Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR.

According to the group Beyond Plastics, strong and transparent EPR can be used to solve the growing problem of packaging waste and plastic pollution, but only if states get the details right and hold companies accountable.

State lawmakers on Wednesday called for a strengthening of the state's 211 helpline as a part of New York's disaster emergency plan while also boosting funding for it in the state budget.

The proposal backed by state Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Sen. Peter Harckham is meant to provide for the 211 helpline's continued activiation during an emergency as part of a response for non-emergency requests for assistance.

Changes to New York's law that ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges can be changed to bolster public safety while also keeping the criminal justice system fair, Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote in an op/ed released on Wednesday.

At the same time, top lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly signaled their Democratic-led chambers would be willing to consider some changes to the law, but insisted they did not want to a full scaling back of the law meant to keep poor people and people of color from waiting lengthy periods of time in local jails.

More than a dozen organizations — ranging from non-partisan watchdog groups to progressive groups and labor unions — are pushing for changes in how New York spends $5 billion in subsidies meant to grow jobs, but often fall short of expectations and transparency.

The organizations, led by the good-government group Reinvent Albany, urged top lawmakers in the state Senate and Assembly as well as Gov. Kathy Hochul to take up the changes as they negotiate a $216 billion budget plan expected to be approved next week.

The statewide organization that represents local district attorneys in New York is backing a measure to extend the Tuition Assistance Program to people in prison.

Support from the District Attorneys Association of the State of New York comes as lawmakers and Hochul are considering a range of criminal justice and public safety measures this week as part of the broader budget negotiations.

Inflation has led to sharp increases in everyday goods — groceries and gas now cost a lot more. In New York, a high-cost state to begin with, pain from inflation and high gas prices can be felt even more.

But as state lawmakers negotiate a state budget due at the end of the month, there are bipartisan calls for trying to find ways of easing price burdens on consumers and taking less of a bite out of their wallets.

Making changes to New York's bail law is proving to be an increasingly difficult knot to untie in the state Legislature, where top Democrats are yet to embrace any proposals that Gov. Kathy Hochul wants included in the state budget.

The changes to the law that largely ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges come as elected officials are trying to address increasing voter concerns over a rise in violent crime across the state.

More than 170 clergy and faith leaders in New York signed onto a letter to be widely released Tuesday calling for additional aid to workers not covered by unemployment benefits and federal pandemic relief.

Advocates are calling for replenishment of what's known as the excluded worker fund after lawmakers declined to back further money for the program in their state budget proposals this month. Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature are expected to reach a budget deal by next week.

A leak of proposed changes to New York's controversial law that largely ended cash bail requirements for many criminal charges is raining on the budget parade at the state Capitol.

With roughly a week and a half to go before the budget deal, last week's disclosure that Gov. Kathy Hochul is trying to negotiate changes to the law have set up a difficult needle for her to thread: Progressives don't want to do it; suburban and upstate Democrats feel like they must.

Buildings are the number one emitters of carbon in New York state. Those emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels like oil and gas for heating and cooling.

Convincing New Yorkers to support a ban on natural gas connections to newly constructed homes and buildings was going to be a heavy lift even before Russia invaded Ukraine. With the subsequent increase in gas prices and utility costs on the rise, it may seem even more daunting.

Last week, The New York Post published a confidential 10-point plan from the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul that would modify the state’s bail law and expand the mental health statute known as Kendra’s law. Hochul has since confirmed that the plan is indeed hers.

Among other measures, Hochul’s proposal would give judges more discretion over whether to set bail for defendants who are repeat offenders, or who have a history of criminal activity.

New York should expand child care programs amid a "crisis" of caregiving facing families, state Attorney General Letitia James said Sunday at a campaign rally centered around the issue.

James is highlighting the child care issue as state lawmakers in the coming days could approve a budget that increases spending for child care programs and expands access to more middle-income families in New York to subsidized care.

State lawmakers return to Albany on Monday as crunch time for the budget will begin: A spending plan is expected to pass by April 1, the start of New York's fiscal year.

The budget under consideration includes provisions meant to help struggling people recover from the financial effects of the pandemic. But deep fiscal uncertainty remains amid global tensions and spiking inflation. Here are five key issues facing lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul:

New York education advocates have won the Foundation Aid battle in Albany, so they are turning their attention to a new front in the war for equity: child care.

Currently in New York, it can cost an average of $15,000 a year for one child in child care.

After months of not engaging on the issue of bail reform, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has reportedly decided that the state’s controversial law, originally passed in 2019, needs to be reformed for a second time.

In a memo whose existence was originally reported by The New York Post, Hochul makes clear she wants lawmakers to reinstate judicial discretion for serial offenders they feel are a danger to the community.