Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders appear to have reached an impasse in talks on the state budget, as the March 31 deadline looms..
Senate Leaders abruptly left a nearly two hour closed door meeting with governor Cuomo, saying , that unfortunately, they had nothing new to report.
“We are not there, we’ll get there, but we are not finalized,” said Senate GOP Leader John Flanagan.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says Governor Cuomo’s plan to require New York City to pay a higher share of Medicaid costs remains a sticking point.
“For us in the Assembly, what happens with Medicaid is still a very big issue,” Heastie said.
Governor Cuomo said Tuesday that counties outside of New York City could be asked to help shoulder the $250 million dollars that the governor wants to shift to New York City.
The New York State Association of Counties is urging lawmakers to reject the ideal.
“County leaders strongly oppose this proposal advanced by the Governor and urge the Legislature to reject it in its entirety. Acting in haste to secure an "on time budget" at the expense of local taxpayers is a disservice to the people of New York and will have long term negative consequences,” said NYSAC President William Cherry, in a statement.
Cherry says that the proposal to take the money form counties is also tied to a plan to raise the state’s minimum wage.
Neither leader would say whether raising the minimum wage is even still in the budget plan. They had been talking about how long take to phase in a $15 an hour rate, and whether there should be a lower top rate for upstate New York.
They also could not predict whether they’ll reach an agreement by Wednesday night in order to print bills and pass the spending plan on time.