Governor Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders have reached an official agreement on a $212 billion state budget that includes tax increases on the wealthy, a record amount of funding for school aid, and rent relief for New Yorkers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This will be New York’s largest state budget in history, but also includes more than $12.5 billion in direct aid from the federal government.

Three years ago, Cynthia Nixon launched an unlikely bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in part over a push to boost direct aid for schools in New York's budget.

Nixon did not win. But the idea ultimately did.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Monday said there are enough votes to approve the creation of an excluded workers fund in the state budget that would provide assistance to undocumented immigrants.

But the message was also wrapped in a tweet critical of Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a fellow Bronx Democrat like the speaker, amid an intraparty fight over the fate of the measure that has been among the more controversial measures holding up a finalized agreement for the state budget.

Governor Andrew Cuomo seemed to hint on Monday that a finalized budget deal could be around the corner.

However, in Albany, there is a saying that a budget agreement has to fall apart three times before it is officially finalized. So it remains to be seen if a deal will be announced any time soon.

Lawmakers released three more budget bills over the weekend, although the most anticipated bill, aptly named the “Big Ugly,” is still at large.

Tucked inside the Health and Mental Hygiene budget bill is the requirement that residential health care facilities dedicate a majority of their revenue back to direct care.

The New York state budget has already stretched past its March 31 deadline.

But are lawmakers close to a finalized budget deal?

Let's face it — this is a weird budget year.

Usually, the state Capitol building is filled with lawmakers, advocates, lobbyists and bewildered tourists tromping through a very loud and frenized space. That's not the case this year due, of course, to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s the time of year at the New York State Capitol when rumors are running rampant, and trying to grasp onto concrete roadblocks in budget negotiations is like trying to grasp onto smoke.

Although late budgets in Albany are by no means unusual, Assemblywoman Pat Fahy admitted that the negotiation process this year does seem to be moving a little slower.

The New York state budget is officially late.

There was a time in Albany when lawmakers would actually stop the clock a little before midnight on March 31, so the time stamp on the voting sheets would mark an “on-time budget.” But there was no attempt at stopping the clock this year and lawmakers reluctantly embraced the missed deadline.

Nearly every time a state budget gets agreed to, the top leaders in the state Senate and Assembly have a "Kumbaya" press conference with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who sometimes hands out chachkies to commemorate the deal.

Even with the social distancing restrictions put in place by COVID-19, it would be unlikely Cuomo this week holds hands with his governing partners once a budget deal is reached.

As state lawmakers aim to pass a budget this week for New York, whether to increase taxes on upper-income New Yorkers and the financial industry has been central to the debate.

Business groups are making a final push to oppose the increase, which Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly estimate will generate billions of dollars in revenue to help bolster spending for schools and health care, among other programs in the budget.

The 80th season of harness racing in Saratoga Springs opened on Monday, March 1. Depending on where negotiations end up in the state budget, this season could be harness racing’s last in the Spa City.

In a surprising move, Governor Andrew Cuomo included a provision in his executive budget that, if passed, will allow Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady to stop purse support payments to the Saratoga Harness Horseperson’s Association (SHHA) until six months after all pandemic restrictions have been lifted.

Concerns over impaired driving are one of the final hurdles in the negotiations over a bill that would legalize adult-use cannabis in New York, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Tuesday said.

Lawmakers are close to a deal, which could be reached in the coming days, which would open one of the largest markets in the country to cannabis products and allow small amounts of the plant to be grown in homes.

As the state Legislature is considering the passage of a bill to legalize marijuana for adult use in New York, the New York State PTA on Thursday is pushing back.

The organization is releasing an email to members to call attention to the marijuana measure, raising concerns over the effect cannabis products could have on younger people if they gain access.

It has not been the easiest 11 months for local governments as they contend with the financial burden created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal includes a little-noticed provision that could give local officials some relief heading into the new fiscal year.

Job placement, mental health programs, and housing would benefit from the legalization of marijuana in New York if a plan backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo is made law.

Cuomo on Tuesday outlined amendments to his budget plan first announced last month, fleshing out the details of his proposals to legalize marijuana for adult use in the state.

The legalization of retail marijuana sales in New York has the potential to create a multi-billion-dollar industry within the decade, according to an economic analysis set to be released on Wednesday.

The report, by New School economist James Parrot and labor market consultant Michele Mattingly, comes as state lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo this year are once again considering whether to approve a framework for allowing retail-level marijuana sales in New York amid a budget gap and economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York State Department of Transportation is slated to receive a slight funding increase in Governor Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal.

The two-year capital plan allots for about a 33 percent funding increase, which roughly equates to an increase of $3 billion.

Education officials, from school leaders to union leaders, took one look at the worst case budget as proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday and gulped.

The budget line for education is second only to health care in its cost to the state, giving teachers unions, superintendents, school districts and families among those with the highest stakes in the coming weeks as New York seeks billions of dollars in aid from Congress.

The legalization of cannabis in New York is once again on the agend for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and many state lawmakers.

But even as the proposal is being pushed in part to aid a cash-strapped state by generating more revenue, the measure could once again face similar scrutiny over how it aids communities affect by stricter drug laws of the past.

Advocacy groups from across the state this week are backing a united push to increase taxes and end tax breaks on upper income earners in New York in a bid to raise $50 billion in revenue ahead of a contentious state budget season.

The groups range from labor unions like DC 37 and PSC-CUNY in New York City to tenant advocacy organizations in Rochester and local progressive organizations with chapters in Tompkins County and Buffalo.

Legalizing sales of cannabis products at the retail level is once again expected to be part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget this year, he announced Wednesday, once again igniting a debate over how New York should approach the issue.

The measure has stalled in the past not over whether marijuana should be legalized, but over the specifics of how to do it. How should it be taxed? How should communities affected by drug laws benefit? Where can cannabis products be sold? Should New Yorkers be allowed to grow small amounts of the plant on their own?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo was seeking the equivalent of a political bank shot: Joe Biden wins the presidency, Democrats gain control of the U.S. Senate, and New York gets a friendlier Washington that could lead to direct aid for a beleaguered state budget.

On Wednesday, the verdict came in: The Democrats have full, if narrow, conrol of Washington with victories by both Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in a pair of runoff elections in Georgia.

Tucked away behind a 16-foot-tall fence and security gate, a somewhat innocuous gray building houses one of the state’s ten regulated organizations allowed to sell medical marijuana.

Vireo Health’s cultivation and processing facility was one of the first in New York when the state launched its medical marijuana program in 2016.

New York is facing an approximate $14 billion budget deficit after the state lost billions in tax revenue and from fighting the coronavirus.

Now the question remains: If federal aid does not arrive, does the state look for ways to raise revenue or cut services?

Governor Andrew Cuomo has acknowledged the various paths New York's state budget can take are not pretty if no federal aid comes through from Washington.

New York is seeking billions of dollars in aid from federal officials to offset the revenue that vanished amid the shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A reduction in state aid amid the COVID-19 pandemic could have a devastating effect on Albany city schools.

Forty-five percent of the district's budget is reliant on those state dollars. Superintendent Kaweeda Adams estimates that the loss in foundation aid alone would be $16.5 million.

State and local governments in New York need $59 billion in federal aid or across-the-board spending cuts are likely, Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Monday in a letter backed by prominent labor leaders.

The letter warns "no combination" of state-based solutions like raising taxes and cutting spending can offset the need for federal aid as the economic fallout from the pandemic continues.

As New York's economy was in the process of reopening last month, state tax revenue still lagged, a report released Thursday by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office found.

Tax receipts in June were down $1.5 billion from the previous year, missing the mark by 17.3 percent.

State tax receipts for May were down 19.7 percent compared to the year before, according to the monthly state cash report.

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced the state was down $766.9 million in monthly tax earnings, pointing to a closed economy as the reason for this decline in revenue.

Deep cuts to spending by state government could worsen the financial and social upheaval created by the coronavirus pandemic, the Fiscal Policy Institute found in a paper set to be released on Wednesday.

The report comes as state and local governments need billions of dollars to shore up their finances, which have been devastated by the pandemic and subsequent economic freeze meant to reduce the spread of the virus.

Unions that represent public workers in New York on Wednesday said the state was moving to delay the implementation of contractual raises for 90 days.

It’s not clear how many workers are affected by the delay, or which segments of the workforce.

State lawmakers aren't ruling out a return to Albany for finishing up a legislative session that has been disrupted by a global pandemic.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday signaled he felt the Legislature's work wasn't done, days after they put the finishing touches on a state budget that will have to be re-adjusted throughout the year amid non-existent tax revenues and uncertainty surrounding continued federal support.

Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay is exhausted.

He told Capital Tonight over Skype that he was up until 5:30 a.m., presumably finishing up the budget and other legislative business. “I always think that the process for New York budgets have been terrible,” he said. “It’s usually three men in a room, and not a lot of transparency. We thought it might be different this year since we are facing this public health crisis, but it wasn’t.” He’s not the only one to complain about this year’s lack of transparency. Senator Jim Tedisco told WRGB, “We went from three men in a room to three men in a Zoom”. Barclay was unhappy with the substance of the budget as well, especially the inclusion of public campaign financing, bail reform, and the legalization of gestational surrogacy. “I don’t think it’s good public policy for New Yorkers,” he said. “What we really should have done, what I would have preferred and what my conference would have preferred is, if we just did a bare-bones budget,” Barclay explained. “Let’s try to get through this crisis, go for two more months and we can come back and reevaluate.” When asked if he and his conference were planning to return to Albany after the two-week break, Barclay said no. “My understanding is that there’s no plans to do that right now. We may have too. Obviously, a lot of things happen in government that need legislative attention, so we’ll see how it goes,” said Barclay. “We gave the governor in this budget process a tremendous amount of power to unilaterally change the budget numbers as we go forward so it’ll be a question of what the legislature wants – what kind of input we need and what kind of issues come up that need to be addressed, legislatively. But as of right now, there’s no plans to come back," he said.

Upstate New York will see new wind and solar projects being built in record time thanks to a new provision in the budget.

The state’s new spending plan fast-tracks the way renewable energy is sited, something Anne Reynolds, executive director of the Alliance for Clean Energy, says has been needed since last year's passage of climate legislation.

The New York state Legislature has approved a 2020-21 state budget, perhaps one of the most difficult spending plans lawmakers have had to vote on in a decade, when a recession last tore through the state's economy.

And this budget was very different, approved in the middle of a pandemic that has largely upended daily life in the state and around the country while sickening thousands, including several members of the Assembly and Senate. Leading up to this week in March, hallways are usually teeming with protesters and their chants boom off the marble walls. Lobbyists hover outside legislative chambers, slipping their cards to the Sergeant at Arms to deliver to a lawmaker inside. But this year the corridors were silent and for the first time in state history, chamber seats remained empty as lawmakers cast their votes remotely.

New York lawmakers are poised to approve legislation that would expand the criminal charges that would qualify for cash bail — altering a measure that was approved in the previous year's budget.

The provision will qualify charges for offenses like sex trafficking, second-degree burglary, aggravated vehicular assault, money laundering charges, and child pornography.

The New York chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business in a statement on Wednesday did not find a lot to like in the new state budget.

The group pointed to rejected small business tax cuts and a paid sick leave policy that could end up costing business owners more money.

New York's state budget outside of the Albany bubble often draws little attention.

Sure, there are items that can affect a broad range of New Yorkers, like last year when the spending plan banned plastic bags in supermarkets.

Even though this is a rough budget season, full of expected cuts as the state stares down a potential $15 billion budget hole, things are looking bright for environmental advocates.

The New York State Senate included a host of environmentally friendly bills in the the state budget agreement.

Susan Lerner of the good government group Common Cause NY says the legislature is a co-equal branch of government and cannot cede its responsibility to the governor by leaving town (figuratively speaking) after the budget.

Furthermore, she says any claim that lawmakers can’t do their job because of technology is rubbish.

The state budget this week will force state lawmakers into making some difficult choices, including cuts to education aid amid the coronavirus pandemic as the crisis has led to plummeting revenue for New York and soaring costs.

The New York State United Teachers Union on Monday will unveil a 30-second ad pushing back against any cuts this week.

The New York state budget process this year is shaping up to be far different than years past.

Possible remote voting and a complete shakeup to how funds are distributed will mark a historic year in the state budget process.

After weeks of PowerPoint-filled press conferences; almost daily hits on national television; Red Room appearances by two of his three daughters; tiny but tantalizing glimpses into Cuomo family dynamics; and at least one online love letter, it’s difficult to find anyone but hardcore Andrew Cuomo-haters who have critical words for New York’s ubiquitous governor.

But that may soon change as budget negotiations get heated.

The cascading revenue losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is forcing lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo to rethink how the state budget will be shaped.

But time is short to have some sort of spending plan in place: The budget is due at the end of the month.

New York's projected revenue picture is darkening amid the growing crisis surrounding the spread of coronavirus as a report from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on Tuesday estimated the state's revenue projections are off by as much as $7 billion.

At minimum, New York's tax revenue will be $4 billion below projections -- a gap that lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have to fill by the end of this month.

Last year at this time, media outlets covering Albany were giving airtime and column inches to the usual array of worthy mid-March arrivals to the state Capitol: The Patriotic Millionaires, good government groups, and school districts that fall in between the cracks of the Foundation Aid formula.

There were also stories about the human services sector - those groups that represent people who need social services in a variety of areas: mental health, developmental disabilities, child welfare, foster care, domestic violence, homelessness, and aging.

Two weeks ago, lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo were likely headed to a change in the state's cash bail law, which ended the requirement for misdemeanor and non-violent felony offenses.

Now New York and the rest of the globe is staring down the barrel of a pandemic.

State lawmakers have introduced bills meant to create a first-in-the-nation wellness policy for schools, meant to promote nutrition and healthy lifestyles for students.

The bill, backed by state Sens. Alessandra Biaggi and Robert Jackson, comes as an effort to create a statewide wellness policy for schools has gained ground in recent weeks.

A collection of good-government organizations and fiscal watchdog groups on Tuesday released a letter raising concerns with how the state budget could make it harder for the state comptroller's office to track spending.

The letter points to a measure in the budget plan that broadens what are known as "refunds of appropriation." At the moment, the practice provides that if the state is refunded money from a vendor due to overpayment or error, the spending authority is restored that money.

Bottles of hand sanitizer are at the ready at the back of the state Assembly chamber.

Signs on bathroom doors and next to elevators remind people to wash their hands for 20 seconds and avoid touching their face.

A coalition formed to push New York into becoming the first state that implements a carbon pricing plan is launching a statewide petition on Friday to further bolster their case.

The group, called CarbonFreeNY, wants the state to enact the plan backed by the New York independent System Operator.

Hundreds of people clad in bright orange shirts descended on the Capitol this week, calling on the legislature to fund local infrastructure improvement programs.

The Consolidated Local Street Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS), PAVE-NY, and Extreme Winter Recovery are just a few of the current programs in the state that help distribute state funds equally to cities for road and bridge improvements.

The Communications Workers of America this week launched a TV ad campaign calling for tax hikes on the rich in order to avoid cuts to health care and other programs in the state budget.

The ad buy is worth $250,000 and will air in Albany, Buffalo, Long Island and Utica.

A coalition that is pushing for the legalization of e-bikes and e-scooters, in a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, praised him for including the provision in the state budget, but also urged him to work with the Legislature to get the measure over the finish line.

The budget is due at the end of the month.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a radio interview Friday, said he wants to see changes to the state's bail law in the budget, due at the end of March.

Cuomo also plans to hold a public meeting with district attorneys, police and criminal justice advocates to discuss changes to the law, which end cash bail requirements for those facing misdemeanor and non-violent felony offenses.

Advocates on Wednesday are set to launch a campaign to boost housing stability support in a final state budget agreement.

The measure would create a rent supplement for qualifying households that meet public assistance thresholds. This includes families that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless due to eviction, domestic violence or other conditions in home life.

The controversy surrounding New York's new cashless bail law could be defused as part of the state budget, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday in a radio interview on AM 970.

Cuomo in an interview with businessman and political donor John Catsimatidis for the first time acknowledged the budget is the likely destination for making alterations to the law, which ended cash bail requirements for misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges.

The state Assembly on Saturday unveiled a budget proposal for New York's public college and university system that is meant to boost funding and reject further tuition increases.

At the same time, the Democratic-led chamber wants to provide more funding for non-tuition expenses and spend more on community colleges, while also boosting scholarships at the city and state universities and colleges of New York.

Every year education advocates say more funding is needed for their schools just to keep it running.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has listed multiple school districts as high risk and in desperate need of more funding.

The state Senate's one-house budget resolution will include a boost in aid to municipalities funding for local governments — an increase that's being proposed as Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called to keep the spending flat.

The added Aid and Incentives for Municipalities funding (AIM) is backed by Sen. Jim Gaughran, a Democrat from Long Island and the chairman of the Senate Local Government Committee.

A straight-up income tax hike for the wealthiest New Yorkers in a final state budget agreement, at the moment, remains little more than a pipe dream.

One of the reasons? Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration remains opposed.

Small business groups have had little to applaud in Albany in the last 10 years or so.

But Gov. Andrew Cuomo's $178 billion budget proposal includes a tax cut aimed at small business owners, a move the National Federation of Independent Business says is a necessary and welcome step.

Local sales tax collections increased 4.7 percent in 2019, a report released Monday by Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office found.

That's slower than the 5.3 percent growth in 2018, but it was still among the stronger sales tax receipts of the last decade.

Legalizing marijuana should be accomplished in the state budget agreement this year or may not get done at all in 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday in a radio interview.

"The best way to get it done is to get it done in the budget," Cuomo said on WAMC. "The budget is more than just numbers; it's the single-most important piece of legislation that's passed during the year."

Supporters of marijuana legalization are hopeful this the year for the measure.

But many of the roadblocks the proposal ran into in 2019 remain largely the same in 2020.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo laid out his $178 billion spending plan for the coming year.

The budget proposal, once again, includes plans to legalize marijuana and a boost in education aid that is, as usual, not enough for education advocates. Meanwhile, a push to alter the state's new cash bail law inched along.

For the first time ever, children under 4 living in New York could be eligible for the Empire State Child Credit.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed expanding this program in his State Budget address this Tuesday.

State lawmakers would be required to reveal their tax returns under a proposal in the $178 billion budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

You might be asking yourself, as do some lawmakers themselves, what do their taxes have to do with a state spending plan?

School districts are owed billions in foundation aid, according to education advocates. And even though the state is facing a $6 billion dollar budget deficit, school districts remained hopeful.

Yet, the Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal for education aid fell far short of expectations.

A provision in the state budget proposal released on Tuesday night would give Gov. Andrew Cuomo the power to close prisons in New York with three months’ notice.

There are no specific savings outlined for the closures, and the number of prisons that could close is left to be determined.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined a $178 billion budget proposal that grapples with a $6.1 billion budget gap.

Here are four things to know in the budget plan and how it can affect you.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget proposal would create a taxation and regulatory system for selling marijuana in New York.

As proposed, Cuomo's plan estimates raising $20 million in the coming fiscal year and $63 million in revenue from the sale of cannabis in the coming years.

A cap on school property tax increases of less than 2 percent will reduce financial flexibility for districts around New York, a report released on Tuesday by Moody's found.

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli announced earlier this month school districts in New York will be limited to a 1.81 percent increase in their overall levy. The cap, in place since 2012, limits property tax hikes at 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

During Monday’s conference call about census funding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was asked an off-topic question about Medicaid.

The reporter asked if he intended, in any way, to increase the local share that counties pay toward Medicaid.

Good morning! It's budget day in Albany as Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveils his proposal for the new year.

It's a pretty important day. Capital Tonight and Spectrum News will have the blow-by-blow and analysis of it all.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo will propose spending an additional $10 million on state-based efforts to have people respond to the coming U.S. Census, he said Monday in a conference call.

If approved, it would bring the state's total spending to $70 million on Census-promoting efforts.

How can you close a $4 billion Medicaid gap? One audit at a time.

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office on Friday released a package of audits of aspects of the Medicaid program, finding $790 million in potential savings. The four audits come as New York faces a $6.1 billion budget gap in the coming fiscal year, which begins April 1.

The business-aligned Unshackle Upstate on Tuesday released a 2020 agenda that focuses on opposing both the creation of single-payer health and expanding the prevailing wage while also backing more workforce development investment.

The Rochester-based business group has found little cheer about in Albany, opposing increases in the state’s minimum wage and blasting New York’s tax climate.

State lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo should not take on more debt to close a $6.1 billion budget gap, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said on Monday in an interview with Spectrum News.

At the same time, he wants lawmakers and the governor to address the underlying issues for the gap, stemming from the state’s Medicaid program in the budget and not kick the can down the road.

Middle-income earners and working class New Yorkers should not take the brunt of closing a $6.1 billion budget gap, but there’s a “discussion to be had” over whether richer people should be asked to pay more, Sen. Mike Gianaris said in an interview Wednesday on NY1’s Inside City Hall.

“I think there’s a discussion to be had about whether we want to focus on some of the wealthier individuals in the state who can certainly afford to contribute a little bit more when times are tough,” he said when asked about a potential tax increase. “But that’s something we haven’t resolved yet.”

Raising new revenue through taxes is not the “first fallback” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Monday told reporters during a retreat of the Democratic conference.

The state faces a $6.1 billion budget gap ahead of the state budget due March 31, fueled in large part by a gap in Medicaid spending.