A fierce dispute over charter-school funding — and two other nagging issues — has held up adoption of the $163.5 billion state budget, Gov. Cuomo announced Wednesday night.
“This is in many ways an unprecedented situation,” the governor said at a press conference to announce the stalemate.
Other sticking points were over the timetable for extending rhe 421-a tax break for affordable housing and whether correction officers or family-services workers should supervise 16- and 17-year-olds under the new “Raise the Age” law.
When ironed out, the spending plan will increase spending by 4.7 percent over last year’s $156 billion plan.
Charter schools
They proved to be the major flashpoint. A freeze begun in 2009 on the aid formula for charters expires in June.
Without taking action, the state’s charter schools — which now get $15,920 per student — would get $1,500 more per pupil. For New York City, that’s an extra $200 million a year, said Cuomo.
The Democratic-controlled Assembly, with close ties to teachers unions, wants to block the “windfall,” as the governor describes it.
But the Republican-led state Senate is balking at extending the freeze. “That is an area that needs to be compromised,” Cuomo said.
Education funding for public schools, which now get an average $21,152 per student per year, would increase by at least 3.9 percent.
Mayoral control of schools
For the third year in a row, Albany agreed to extend Mayor de Blasio’s authority to run the city public-school system for just one year.
The move is a payback by Republicans still fuming that the mayor supported candidates against them in 2014 in an attempt to win Democratic control of the Senate.
“That’s all he will get and I don’t even want to give him the one year!! It’s about trust!!” Sen. Terrence Murphy (R-Westchester) told The Post via text message.
421-a tax abatement
The tax-break program for affordable housing got hung up on the expiration date of the law.
Assembly Democrats want the law to expire in two years, the same time as rent regulations, so they have a lever to retain rent controls. Cuomo wants four years.
Raise the age
For most alleged crimes, 16- and 17-year-olds will no longer be treated as adults. One outstanding issue: whether the state Department of Correction or the Office of Children and Family Services monitors the teens following incarceration.
Millionaires’ tax
All parties have agreed to extend the added income-tax surcharge on high-income taxpayers for two years, keeping the top rate at 8.82 percent instead of 6.85 percent.
College affordability
There’s agreement to expand state financial aid to cover students of families with annual incomes up to $125,000. Tuition would be free for nearly all students attending CUNY and SUNY.
Students who attend private colleges will benefit from an increase in the Tuition Assistance Program.
Water infrastructure
Some $2.5 billion will fund new water-infrastructure projects following the contamination crisis at Hoosick Falls.
Housing authority
The city’s Housing Authority scored $200 million that hadn’t been released last year for repairs.
Ethics reform
Cuomo acknowledged that despite a cascade of corruption scandals, he was unable to enact new ethics reforms.
The budget negotiations were the most contentious of Cuomo’s seven-year tenure and the first in which talks extended beyond the April 1 deadline, the start of the new fiscal year.
After discussions on key issues stalled, lawmakers passed a six-week stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown.
Lawmakers holed up in Albany for weeks had enough by Wednesday.
“I packed three weeks of underwear and I still had to wash it by hand,” said Assemblyman Jose Rivera (D-Bronx).