State budget talks will be impacted by Trump's tariffs, Hochul says

And the hundreds of correction officers who rallied outside the Capitol Tuesday did not sway Hochul, she said.

❗ CapCon Note: I have great news! You can now get CapCon for free through the April 1 state budget deadline. We’re offering a free trial for new subscribers from now through the end of the month. You can sign up for that 30-day free trial here.

---

Good afternoon — it’s Tuesday and National Grammar Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• How tariffs from the Trump administration could impact state budget talks four weeks out from the deadline.

• Hundreds of correction officers rallied outside the Capitol Tuesday but Hochul said the action won’t impact her thinking on the situation.

• What three of New York’s top female elected leaders had to say about Cuomo’s entrance into the race for New York City mayor.

• New Bills of Note: Congestion pricing carveouts, raising the age to buy tobacco and tougher street race penalties.

(Will Waldron/Times Union)

💰 Trump tariffs are expected to disrupt state budget talks, Hochul says

We’re now less than a month out until the state budget deadline of April 1. That’s four weeks from Tuesday, which is a decade in Albany time.

The list of items that Gov. Kathy Hochul and the Legislature plan to negotiate in that time is not short and, if you’re a regular CapCon reader, you know what’s on the table.

But Hochul has this habit that shouldn’t be ignored both within and outside budget talks. She often does something at the last minute — a proposal or action — that takes everyone by surprise and throws the Capitol into chaos.

That might sound dramatic. But remember when she put congestion pricing on pause on the (literal) second to last day of the legislative session in June?

Hochul pitched an extension of mayoral control of New York City schools in the final days of budget negotiations less than two months before that. Then there was how, in 2023, she rolled out a fresh proposal to change the state’s bail laws two days before the state budget deadline.

And few have forgotten how Hochul committed the state to helping fund a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills in 2022 — without the Legislature’s approval — three days before the state budget was due.

My point is that we don’t know what’s coming. But that’s the best part of CapCon.

You don’t have to worry about keeping track of all that. I do and will be writing about the budget every day there’s news to report. I’ll be hunting for scoops as well. Send any tips my way.

But there’s a different disruption on the horizon for this year’s state budget after tariffs imposed on Mexico, Canada and China went into effect Tuesday, Hochul said.

(Will Waldron/Times Union)

💵 What the tariffs mean for the state budget