Spending Agreement Possible Today On Budget, Silver Says

Legislative leaders emerged from a roughly hour-long meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo this morning to, once again, say they were close to forging an agreement on the final spending plan for the state.

Lawmakers believe they are close to reach a deal on the level of spending for each part of the budget sometime today.

Once those spending levels, known in Albany speak as table targets, are locked down, the leaders will hold another closed-door meeting with the governor.

“We’re continuing our discussion,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said. “We’re going to convene the joint conference committees, hopefully we can hammer out a table target deal today and we’ll reconvene with the governor.”

A deal reached today or tomorrow could allow bills to be printed over the weekend and then voted on early next week. The goal for lawmakers is to pass a budget by March 21 in order to be out of Albany before Passover and Easter.

Cuomo has indicated he does not want to issue messages of necessity to waive the required three-day aging process for bills.

It appears that policy-level issues such as a plan to site up to three casinos north of the New York City area will not be in the final spending plan.

But no agreement has been reached to increase the state’s minimum wage. Cuomo backs an $8.75 minimum wage in his budget, while the Assembly approved a $9 minimum wage, with indexing of future raises to inflation.

The Senate’s coalition-backed budget resolution included language that was generally supportive of an unspecified minimum wage increase would be in the budget.

Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos disagreed with his Democratic co-president Jeff Klein that the language was a sign the wage increase would be in the final spending plan, leading some to say there was a fracture in the still young coalition.

Asked after the meeting if there was a fracture, Skelos looked around for Klein, who had walked toward an elevator.

“Jeff, is there a fracture?”

Klein walked over to Skelos and the two did a grip-and-grin hug in front of the cameras.

“There you go,” Skelos said, “we’re not fracturing on anything.”

Watch Leaders’ Press Gaggle Here >> (TWC ID required)