Governor Andrew Cuomo left Albany Saturday afternoon after legislative leaders failed to reach a deal on the state budget. An on-time budget is still possible, but right now there is no agreement. NY1's Zack Fink filed this report.
Although an announcement of a budget agreement had been anticipated Saturday, Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters in the afternoon that state leaders just aren't there yet.
"The conversations have been doing well. They've been going late into the night. So if you see people walking around bleary eyed, that is why. The taxpayers are getting their money's worth. And we are moving forward on schedule," Cuomo said.
The main sticking points continue to be ethics reform which includes grater disclosure of outside income, which has been the holdup in the state Senate—and education reform, which has been the holdup in the assembly. The governor wants to make major changes to the public school system, but he is running into stiff resistance from members of his own party.
"I think you guys know where it has been starting to move. And that's what we are trying to continue to have discussions with the governor and the Senate," said Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
In order to move talks along, the governor agreed to drop items from the budget including the dream act which allows undocumented students to tap state resources in order to attend college. He also agreed to drop criminal justice reforms.
"Many of the other items that were in the budget were a statement of priority—I believe in them—but we also have a legislative session where we can get a lot of those things done," Cuomo said.
The budget is due Wednesday April 1, so voting would have to take place Monday and Tuesday. Bills cannot be printed until an agreement is reached.