No progress on the budget. Side-tracked by Judge selection.

0:00 Speaker 1 With us today. Is Zach Williams, the star reporter for the New York Post for Albany, what the heck is going on? And uh, Zach Williams, another week has gone by. Are we any closer to sanity or are we going to have insanity?

0:17 Speaker 2 Well, that is the question, and the insanity can go in so many different ways at this time of year in the state capital. But what we do know is that, you know, two big issues have really been the bottleneck for so much more. You know. The first one is the governor’s controversial affordable housing plan. She wants to build

0:37 eight hundred thousand units over the next decade, but a lot of suburban nights are upset about how it would undermine local zoning rules. You know, the legislature has been really resistant to go against the suburbs on this one, and they’re you know, and they got they got demands of their own, like more funding for rental assistance for

0:55 nier residents down the city. So there’s that issue, And then, of course there’s the even bigger issue fail. You know, the governor has proposed changes that effectively would change long standing law that make fail solely used to ensure people return to court. What she would do would remove the least restrictive condition standard that judges say kind of handcuffs them,

1:20 if you will, and keeps them from jailing people ahead of their trials who might endanger public safety or maybe go on to get charged with other crimes. Now, the lawmakers and their outside allies are up in arms about this one too, saying, you know, this would go to the heart of the twenty nineteen reforms that have proved

1:39 so controversial in later years. But what they say, you know, keeps a lot of people from needlessly suffering in places like wrikers as they await their day in court. So two issues they’re really like kind of keep holding up everything else inta funding, proposed ban on flavored tobacco taxes, and the whole stuff. You know, this is a budget

2:02 that’s expected to top two hundred and twenty seven billion dollars, but so far, two weeks after they abi first deadline, you know, everything’s just been bail in housing, bail in housing, it seems.

2:17 Speaker 1 And uh, you know how many people have moved out of New York four hundred and eighty four thousand and now according to the poll, that twenty seven percent want to leave New York in the next five years. I mean, who’s going to pay all these taxes?

2:33 Speaker 2 Well, you’re not a true in New Yorker unless you’re constantly threatening to move away, right, But it is a very serious problem. You know, the you know, the long time decline, especially upstate in New York’s population, and you know, we’ve seen hints since the pandemic, especially that you know, at least some people are leaving the city. It’s hard

2:53 to say. You know, some people say the taxes are too high and that’s dragging up the rich who do, to be sure, pay disproportionate amount of you know, state revenues. Others stay crime, you know, others others. You know, for a long time, it’s just the pandemic itself. Who wanted to be locked up in their apartment, you know, with

3:12 a deadly pandemic going around. But you know, the bottom line is here. You know, a lot of people in the political right are looking at crime, they’re looking at taxes, and they’re looking at out migration too. While saying, you know, what the Democrats are doing in Albany just isn’t cutting it.

3:29 Speaker 1 Understood. It’s Sunday morning. People are drinking their coffee. Is there a hope that that New York can become and become the Empire state again and state the Empire state.

3:48 Speaker 2 Well, the grass is still green, this guy is still blue, and it’s a very beautiful day in Albany. So I’m in what you might say an optimistic mood. You know, every year has it by to dance, but this line has gone on far longer than normal, you know, two weeks, and it’s really unclear when it’s going to end. You know,

4:07 the lawmaker is going to be back up here on Monday. They got to either pay, you know, pass a budget extender, give themselves more time, or miraculously a state budget deal has to come together. And that that isn’t going to happen by Monday. Let’s just say that. You know, they’re at least going to need a few more days. You know,

4:24 you got to you got to make the bills, you got to negotiate everything that’s bail and not housing. You’ve got to, you know, give people a chance to debate them, pass them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. And I think the big question here in Albany. You know, we talked about this so much job. You know, this this

4:40 conflict between the executive you know typically you know law for many many decades, you know, the dominant branch of government versus the legislature, and the legislature you know, and as democratic supermajorities we you know haven’t seen you know, you know a part you know, a a party dominate the state centering Assembly so much for deck. So you

5:01 know they’re empowered. The governor’s holding her ground, and you know over bail and other things. And you know it’s just the question of who’s going to win or is there just going to be some way that a deal getstrust in Albany behind closed doors where well me and you are talking somehow everything comes together and nothing you

5:21 know in terms of these existential issues you know, uh, you know, conflict between the legislative and the executive. Just get quit off to another day because they’re just finding me like, you know what, let’s just pass the darn budget.

5:34 Speaker 1 Well, Zach Williams. You know, it’s Greek Easter today. I’m going to church in a little while and I’m going to pray a little extra pick for the Empire state. And thank you so much for filling us in this morning.

5:47 Speaker 2 That’s the spirit John, always a pleasure. Thank you,