ALBANY, NY — car insurance is one of the issues still slowing down New York’s overdue state budget, now late for a fifth straight year. Assemblymember John McDonald said the remaining hold-ups include the Climate Change Protection Act, auto insurance premiums, energy costs and the State Environmental Quality Review Act tied to housing. Lawmakers are still working through nine bills, and a fourth budget extender is expected Thursday morning.
Budget talks remain stuck on several unresolved items
The latest delay comes as the state budget continues under its third extender, with leaders still trying to finalize the last round of bills before any final votes. McDonald said the goal is to reach a result that lawmakers can live with and that benefits New Yorkers, but he also made clear that the process is still moving slowly.
One of the unresolved issues is car insurance, which appears in the context of auto insurance premiums among the remaining budget hang-ups. The budget delay has now stretched into another round of stopgap funding, adding pressure on lawmakers to settle the outstanding items before the next extender expires.
McDonald said, “They’ve got priorities and we’ve got to work to make sure we understand them — and react to them — and actually find some place where we can all agree that this is something that we can live with and the main underpinning goal is to make sure that all New Yorkers benefit. ”
Car Insurance and other issues are driving the debate over timing
In response to the late budget, Senator James Tedisco introduced legislation aimed at restricting messages of necessity. He said those messages are used for bills that require emergency action and allow lawmakers to bypass the usual three-day waiting period before a vote. His bill, S233, would block bill passage from midnight until 8 a. m. and would require two-thirds approval to hold a vote under a message of necessity.
Tedisco said lawmakers need enough time to read the bills before voting, especially when major items are still unresolved. He argued that the current process leaves only eight to ten hours to decide on a bill instead of the usual three days, and he said that is not enough time for informed action.
He said, “It has become a message of political convenience. We’ve had billions of dollars in extenders passed with maybe eight to ten hours of information coming out in the middle of the night. In the morning we get the bill; there’s no way I could read the bills; there’s no way my colleagues could. ”
Lawmakers weigh whether the deadline should change
During the same exchange, CBS6’s Anthony Krolikowski asked Tedisco and McDonald whether the April 1 budget deadline should be permanently pushed back. Tedisco said the date could be moved, while McDonald suggested July 1 might be better because it would give lawmakers a clearer picture of the year’s finances. McDonald added that the public employees are paid, bills are being paid and funds continue to be allocated.
McDonald also said he understands the intent behind Tedisco’s proposal, but does not believe it would change the outcome. That leaves the debate centered on process as much as policy, with car insurance still part of the larger list of budget issues needing closure.
For now, elected officials expect to vote on a fourth budget extender Thursday morning, and the next round of talks will show whether lawmakers can finally close the gap on car insurance and the other unresolved items.
