Hochul's top 5 state budget priorities as April 1 deadline looms

And here's when budget extenders are due if negotiations stretch beyond April 1.

Good afternoon — It’s Monday and Math Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• I asked Gov. Kathy Hochul Monday what she viewed as the top 5 most divisive state budget issues heading into next week’s deadline. Here’s what she said.

• Hochul and lawmakers will have to pass short-term budget extenders if the spending plan is late. Here’s the full schedule for when they’re due.

• Jackie Bray, director of state operations, wrote a memo to state agencies Monday asking for a review of their individual permitting processes.

• Here’s what’s happening at the state Capitol Tuesday, March 24.

• The 1911 State Capitol Fire and abolishing slavery in New York.

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Micah Lasher, Sam Sutton, Donna Lieberman, Zohran Mamdani, Jackie Bray

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

Hochul on Monday (Will Waldron/Times Union)

💰 What Hochul says are her top 5 state budget issues with one week left

We’re about a week away from the deadline for Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats in the state Legislature to reach an agreement on this year’s state budget.

The state’s fiscal year begins next Wednesday, April 1. If Hochul and lawmakers don’t reach a deal on a new state budget by then, they’ll have to approve short-term funding extenders to keep the state’s workforce paid.

They could approve extenders of any length but, last year, Hochul sent funding requests to the state Legislature every few days to keep their feet to the fire amid ongoing negotiations.

Those extenders matched the different deadlines required to meet payroll obligations for different sections of the state’s workforce: institutional, emergency and administrative.

The state comptroller’s office has already compiled the dates for those deadlines in a handy table that I’ve included for you here.

This is the schedule you should have in your back pocket if budget talks, as they’re expected, continue beyond April 1.

Hochul and lawmakers remain divided on several issues that she included in her executive budget proposal in January.

I asked her Monday which of those she views as the most divisive leading up to the state budget deadline. She listed five, including one that could be resolved outside of negotiations on a new state spending plan.

One that she didn’t mention, but that we know will be among the biggest budget fights this year, was her proposed changes to New York’s energy and emissions mandates.

At this point, it’s common knowledge that those proposed changes will be a centerpiece of negotiations. Don’t read anything into her not listing them.

1. Hochul’s proposed SEQRA shake-up

Hochul held a roundtable event at the state Capitol Monday to promote her proposed overhaul of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, more commonly known as SEQRA.

Holding such an event this close to the budget deadline suggests Hochul has been met with resistance from lawmakers on her proposed changes to the law, which is the state’s environmental review process for new development.

“I feel optimistic that the Legislature will agree and we’ll be able to get this resolved,” Hochul said during the event.