In this episode, Jack O’Donnell provides an update on the ongoing New York State budget negotiations, discussing the implications of the latest budget extender and the governor’s priorities. He also explores the political landscape as potential candidates like Elise Stefanik consider running for governor, and the challenges faced in Washington regarding budget negotiations and spending cuts. The conversation wraps up with a light-hearted mention of Monty Python’s influence.
Summary of this Episode
Guests
- Joanna Pasceri: Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates.
- Jack O’Donnell: Managing Partner at O’Donnell and Associates.
Major Topics Covered
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- The New York State budget is still under negotiation with multiple extenders.
- Governor Hochul’s agenda is popular and may aid her re-election campaign.
- Public safety issues have led to compromises in the legislature.
- The relationship between the governor and the legislature is complex, balancing safety and civil liberties.
- Federal budget cuts are influencing state budget negotiations significantly.
- Lawmakers are likely to grant the governor expanded powers for budget cuts.
- Elise Stefanik is a potential candidate for governor, but her run is uncertain.
- Washington is struggling to reach a budget deal before Memorial Day.
- Negotiating diverse requirements in budget bills is challenging.
- Monty Python’s influence remains strong even after 50 years.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri (00:01.8)
Okay. A monthly and counting what is happening with the New York State budget. Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell for our Monday Morning Minute, the podcast version of our award winning newsletter, Monday Morning Memo. A budget framework has been announced, but still no final deal. So let’s get the latest from Jack, managing partner at O’Donnell and Associates and author of our Monday Morning Memo.
He joins us now to add some more insight into what’s happening in Albany and beyond. Hi Jack and welcome to the podcast.
Jack O’Donnell (00:37.373)
Hi Joanna, great to be with you from the lobby.
Joanna Pasceri (00:41.515)
You kicked off this memo this you kicked off the memo this week announcing the approval of the 10th budget extender to keep the state running. Is this getting old yet for anybody at the Capitol? And is this the week we finally seal the deal?
Jack O’Donnell (00:57.579)
It’s getting pretty old for me, I don’t think I’m alone in that. Well, today it looks like the legislature is going to approve the 11th extender, which is the bad news. The good news is that only goes until tomorrow. And it looks like later tonight or first thing tomorrow, we’re going to have some budget bills. Senator Michael Gennariis, who’s the floor leader of the Democrats of the majority in the state Senate, told people to expect budget votes tomorrow.
Joanna Pasceri (01:35.095)
Great. Well, you mentioned that Governor Hochul got much of what she wanted in the tentative deal, and she isn’t wasting any time spreading news of her wins. So what kind of impact does this have on her re-election campaign next year? Or is all forgotten by them?
Jack O’Donnell (01:52.663)
I think election campaigns, certainly with incumbents, about what the incumbent’s done and whether you think she’s done a good job or a bad job. So we’ve seen a lot of polling that say a number of these issues from cell phones to public safety to free lunches to a lot of the Hochul affordability agenda.
is very popular so i think that the governor was very excited to get out there and and be talking about these things so you know i think it certainly helps that doesn’t mean that come election time and she won’t have to be out there again or or maybe we use some paid media to remind people of it but of course it’s very helpful to the governor
Joanna Pasceri (02:44.331)
Legislative leaders did push back a bit on some of the public safety issues she was pushing for. Ultimately though, compromises were reached. What does this say about Hochul’s priorities and her relationship with the legislature?
Jack O’Donnell (02:58.55)
yeah i think gavin whole goal has been really trying to frame herself from day one as middle way democrat a third-way democrat if you will you know someone who who who cares about people cares about working families but also really prioritizes public safety and you know i i think that’s more than an act i think that’s who kathy hokal really is and and what she cares about.
You know, that said, there are plenty of folks in the state legislature who agree with her on a lot of these. But the state legislature, to a large extent, especially driven by the Black Puerto Rican and Asian caucus, which is one of the biggest groups or the biggest group within the legislature, you know, they also really see themselves as defenders of civil liberty. You know, they’ve been working for years now to try to reduce the over incarceration of New Yorkers, especially black and brown New Yorkers. And so that was really important to them as part of this public safety conversation. It isn’t that anyone doesn’t want people to be safe. It’s though at what cost and who’s paying that cost by spending years in prison. And so you know, that’s why this took a lot of negotiation, but it seems like, especially when it comes to discovery and how that pretrial process goes, as well as mental health and keeping people in mental health institutions who might be a danger to others, it seems like they’ve really crafted a middle of the road compromise on these issues.
Joanna Pasceri (04:51.594)
Are there any further negotiations needed on this budget?
Jack O’Donnell (04:56.212)
Well, you know, since the last extender, have been a lot of negotiations around things beginning and to some extent ending with sort of a reaction to what’s happening in Washington. You know, the federal government, Congress is looking to make budget cuts through the reconciliation process. The Trump administration has been very vocal in cutting different funding much of which goes to to the state or institutions in new york and so what the the deal appears to be again we have not seen this language but is that if there are more than two billion dollars in federal cuts to new york or a recession or a couple other triggering factors the governor has some emergency powers to make almost unilaterally mid-year budget cuts and react to what’s coming out of Washington. The legislature then would have 10 days to accept or reject those, something that they could do in some way remotely, right? Rather than trying to gather everyone in Albany and going through some of what we’ve been going through in this budget over time.
You know, some smaller things out there, regional things, City of Buffalo, NASA County, you know, a lot of individual pieces that needed to be resolved over the last few days, but reacting to those federal budget cuts, that’s been the biggest thing, and it seems like there’s a deal.
Joanna Pasceri (06:40.085)
Do you think lawmakers will go along with the governor and giving her these expanded powers?
Jack O’Donnell (06:45.724)
Yeah, it looks like they’ve agreed to that. Again, we’ll have to see the fine print here, but they also would have up to 10 days to reject the governor’s plan for those cuts. you know, it gives her some expanded powers, but also, you know, has a sort of fail safe for the legislature if they don’t approve.
Joanna Pasceri (07:08.17)
Got it. Turning now to Washington, you write about North country Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and her potential run for New York governor next year. What do you think of this race? Does it happen?
Jack O’Donnell (07:22.301)
Well, know, Congresswoman Stefanik has been through a lot lately. You know, she was a high profile Trump surrogate supporter, really made her mark in some congressional hearings last year, taking on the presidents of several universities and frankly, getting the better of them. And so she was the first nominee announced by the Trump administration as the ambassador to the UN. As we’ve talked about, that’s fallen through. Members of Congress were very concerned about their narrow majorities in the House. So President Trump asked her to stay. Now, a general election is different than a primary election or a special election. And so, you know, there might be a little bit more freedom for her to run for governor.
We saw some polls last week that say she’s immediately the number one Republican in the state. Now that said, the governor basically said bring it on this week, equating Stefanik with Trump and saying that she didn’t think mega policies would be very popular in New York.
Will see i i think some of that is true i also think stephanik is a of of fierce debater again we watched her get the best of some some really smart people in in those hearings you know she has been a staunch vocal strong defender of of israel a policy that might help her earn votes in and around new york city so if i had to bet i’d probably bet that that she ends up not being the Republican candidate because she decides not to run, but man, a long way from there to here.
Joanna Pasceri (09:24.958)
Right, we’ll stay tuned to that for sure. Well, as you mentioned, there are big issues happening in Washington as they try to reach a budget deal. Spending cuts, as you said, to programs like Medicaid are needed if Congress wants to continue tax cuts. Does Speaker Johnson get this done by Memorial Day?
Jack O’Donnell (09:45.395)
No way. The big beautiful bill seems to be on hold right now as they kind of negotiate through it. You know, these bills, even when everybody’s aligned, it’s hard to get them done and get them done quickly. You know, we watched Democrats go through this process, you know, maybe a decade ago.
It’s really hard. It’s really hard to get everyone in line and write language that meets those diverse requirements. There have been some committee markups that were scheduled this week, agriculture, ways and means, and they’ve been delayed, which I think is an acknowledgement by the speaker and his leadership team that this is going to take some more work.
Joanna Pasceri (10:32.178)
Favorite read this week in our news links?
Jack O’Donnell (10:35.088)
Well, I’m going to go little outside the box on this one, Joanna. We had an article in there about the 50th anniversary of Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, which was a powerful influence on me from my high school years to the dad humor I impart.
Joanna Pasceri (10:45.395)
Yeah.
Jack O’Donnell (10:59.332)
Either to or inflict on my children at home. love that. Thought it was a really funny look at, you know, a really biting, you know, look at society. So, a lot of fun and something that really still holds up today.
Joanna Pasceri (11:18.995)
My husband’s a big fan too, so 50 years later still has a lot of people out there watching Monty Python and laughing away, right? All righty, Jack, thanks so much for your insight behind the headlines.
Jack O’Donnell (11:27.807)
Exactly.
