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NY State Legislature avoids government shutdown

Marco Varisco
/
Flickr

New York state will avoid a government shutdown after lawmakers approved a two-month stopgap spending plan.

The short-term budget passed Monday was introduced by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo after he and lawmakers failed to reach agreement on a one-year budget.

"Passing this extender isn't a punt of our duties," Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters. "I'm just trying to make sure that government isn't shut down."

The budget was supposed to be approved before Saturday, when a new fiscal year began. But negotiations over the more than $150 billion spending plan bogged down over juvenile justice reform, education spending and an affordable housing tax credit for New York City.

Lawmakers won't get paid until they pass a budget. Cuomo's short-term spending plan runs through May 31, though lawmakers hope to strike a deal on a long-term budget sooner than that.

“We really want to get it done. We’re still here for three more days and we’d like to get it wrapped up before the end of the week,” Heastie said.

The Democratic leader of the state Senate agreed.

“But I hope and I know that we can relax until May 31, hoping that it all goes away, hoping that we’ll get tired, we won’t get tired, we can’t get tired. People have sent us here to give them a budget that reflects our highest values for all of our constituents here in New York,” said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

But Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, a Republican, predicted the budget would get passed after legislators return from their upcoming Easter recess.

The Associated Press contributed to this report