Complaints against New York's prosecutors more than doubled last year

And more than $1 billion separates Hochul and lawmakers in terms of revenue projections.

Good afternoon — It’s Friday and Strawberry Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Complaints against prosecutors in New York more than doubled in the second year since the state launched its Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct.

• The Hochul administration and Democrats in the state Legislature are more than $1 billion apart on revenue projections with a consensus due Sunday.

• Lawmakers have scheduled a hearing for next week to look at white-collar crime and fraud while they consider new legislation to protect consumers.

• A new bill would help immigrants who are victims of serious crimes more easily obtain documentation to help receive a visa to remain in the U.S.

Names in today’s CapCon: Zohran Mamdani, Kathy Hochul, Carl E. Heastie, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Blake Washington, Sandra Doorley, Gustavo Rivera, James Skoufis, Donald J. Trump

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News on the state budget, including proposals, negotiations and results.

State Budget Director Blake Washington (Lori Van Buren/Times Union)

💰 Hochul and lawmakers are more than $1 billion apart on revenue projections

Revenue wasn’t an issue in this year’s negotiations on the state budget until New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in January that the city was facing a multibillion-dollar deficit.

Since then, the city’s budget gap has dropped to $5.4 billion, thanks in part to a $1.5 billion surprise commitment from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Mamdani wants to raise taxes on high-income earners and corporations to help fill that gap but he needs permission to do so from Hochul and the state Legislature. If they don’t grant it, he’s said he’ll seek to raise property taxes.

Both Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins have said they’re opposed to a property tax hike in the city. Hochul is as well and has been staunchly opposed to higher taxes on high-income earners.

So without a three-way agreement on a new source of revenue to help the city, every dollar the state expects to receive in the next fiscal year counts.

That’s why a meeting held Friday between the state Division of Budget, the state comptroller’s office and Democrats in the state Legislature was so important.