In this conversation, Joanna Pasceri and Jack O’Donnell discuss the ongoing budget negotiations in New York, highlighting the tensions between the governor and legislative leaders. They explore key issues such as criminal justice reforms, public sentiment regarding the late budget, the MTA’s budget gap, and the implications of proposed legislation on mask bans and legislative pay. The discussion also touches on changes to the lieutenant governor election process and recent developments in federal budget discussions.
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 talks are tense and unproductive.
- Both sides are entrenched in their positions regarding criminal justice issues.
- Public sentiment is not focused on the late budget due to other pressing issues.
- The MTA faces a significant budget gap that may require tax increases.
- Legislators currently do not receive pay if the budget is late.
- The governor’s push for a mask ban faces significant challenges.
- Changes to the lieutenant governor election process may gain support.
- Speaker Johnson’s recent budget approval is a notable achievement.
- The impact of federal budget developments is closely watched.
- The conversation emphasizes the complexity of state and federal budget negotiations.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri (00:06.504)
Hi everyone, thanks for joining us from the lobby for another Monday morning minute. It’s when we check in with Jack O’Donnell, managing partner of O’Donnell and Associates for a deeper dive into our award winning newsletter, Monday morning memo. It’s week two of the late New York state budget and talks have turned tense. Are we at an impasse? Let’s bring in Jack to find out the latest from Planet Albany. Welcome Jack.
Jack O’Donnell (00:33.812)
Hey Joanna. Great to be spending some of budget overtime with you.
Joanna Pasceri (00:40.072)
Yeah, back to work. mean, the legislature was supposed to be on a two-week break right now, but the late budget has put that on hold. So, do you see talks turning productive this week?
Jack O’Donnell (00:51.821)
No. I don’t know. I’m a little skeptical. think both sides are kind of set in their positions, especially around some of these criminal justice issues. And I think one of the dangers that as things drag on, people get more more settled in their positions and then we saw that with dueling press conferences last weekend the governor out there doing more press conferences again today but it wasn’t a lot of progress over the weekend and so i’m i am not optimistic about this week either
Joanna Pasceri (01:35.064)
As you mentioned, the governor’s changes to the state’s discovery law to keep criminal cases from being dismissed on technicalities are the stickiest issues. The legislative leaders say they’re looking for more compromise from the governor on this issue. Does she give in?
Jack O’Donnell (01:52.022)
Well, I don’t think she’s about to give in. mean, she seems to be doubling down. I think it’s whether there’s a way, not so much for either side to give in, but is there a way to kind of thread the needle through the middle to find something that both sides are comfortable with or at least willing to live with? But certainly no indication of that. Today Monday the governor’s to another roundtable with some domestic violence survivors you know to talk about discovery and and how personal this issue is for her so i’m certainly not a any indication that she’s willing to back down right now
Joanna Pasceri (02:40.251)
Well, as these budget talks drag on, the jabs from both sides have increased, each blaming the other for the delay. So what impact does these tense talks have? And which side do you think is to blame?
Jack O’Donnell (02:54.783)
Well i i think you know i guess i had mentioned this but i think really what happens as we go further on p people people get further hardening their views governor had a number of district attorneys making the rounds of the capital last weekend and talking about this and i think you know i think it it means people double down at the same time you saw large group of legislators.What happens is that as this drags, people dig in their heels further.
Joanna Pasceri (03:44.655)
One thing you mentioned was that, you know, one thing the governor mentioned is that she’s betting on the fact that people want her to get this right and aren’t really concerned with the budget being late. Do you agree with that?
Jack O’Donnell (04:09.847)
I certainly agree that I don’t think New Yorkers are focused on the late budget. mean, look, some of this is the culture in New York. Some of it is the unique April 1st budget deadline, which is unlike other municipalities and other states. But I also think this year, especially, people are focused on other things. The chaos coming out of Washington.
Whether you support what the president’s doing or or oppose it it certainly a lot of change a lot of really shiny objects a lot to digest and i don’t think people are as focused on the state budget now that can change when things like school boards are are having trouble doing their budgets and you know local municipalities have to raise taxes because they haven’t gotten state aid but for now New Yorkers are feeling any impact from it and there’s a lot of other things to to keep an eye on
Joanna Pasceri (05:14.411)
What about the $38 billion budget gap from the MTA? You write in the memo about a deal to raise revenue through a payroll mobility tax increase on New York City businesses. What is this and is it something everybody can buy into?
Jack O’Donnell (05:32.359)
Well i think any pay increases is not something that a tax increases is not something that that a lot of people will be happy with i think you know this is something that exists and and that the city of new york in the metropolitan transit area so that means people who who are outside of new york city but have access to the whether it’s the subway or Metro North or Long Island Railroad, all pay into. And I think the decision, and to be clear, this isn’t done. It sounds like they’re close to an agreement between the leaders on this. don’t think the houses have conferenced it. I don’t think the rank and file legislators have signed off and we still need a full budget deal before a lot of those things happen. But I know the conversation is around increasing it on companies that have pay rolls over ten million dollars keeping it the same for folks in between and lowering it for people for employers who under five million dollars so you know i think the idea there is a a lot of folks don’t see this because it goes to the employers and and not directly to to the workers are are the voters.
Uh… but at the same time other trying to make a progressive enough that uh… some folks will see some relief and at the end of the day uh… the mt a is is very important to the region uh… mccary’s is is a very people as the airlines to go into everyday uh… and is very important i think people really want to see that that investment so uh… we will see how it goes
Joanna Pasceri (07:19.71)
Lawmakers also appear to be deadlocked on the mask ban the governor is pushing for to keep people committing crimes from hiding their identities. Does this issue survive?
Jack O’Donnell (07:31.394)
I don’t know. It sounds like there has not been an awful lot of conversation about this between the majority caucuses and the leaders and the governor, sort of putting that off till after discovery. It’s very much a double-edged sword here where I do think there are a lot of folks who are concerned about people hiding their identities and committing crimes, especially around on some anti-semitic crime that we’ve seen across the state but especially in new york city but at the same time the the trump administration’s crackdown on folks living even permanent residents you know the impact on them and those civil liberties has a lot of legislators kinda worked up on that side as well so on this is going to be another tough one that’s going to be hard to resolve if it if it gets resolved at all
Joanna Pasceri (08:30.449)
Legislators currently do not receive a paycheck if the budget is late but the assembly speaker is trying to change that he has introduced a bill that would allow lawmakers to get paid if a budget is late over policy-related issues only is this going anywhere
Jack O’Donnell (08:47.106)
Well and to be clear that the the legislators do get paid they just don’t get paid wallets late they make up that money afterwards but i i i you know i think the legislators i think the leaders are are frustrated with the governor from for bringing these policy things especially bring some of them late to the negotiating table but that said that this is a going anywhere and even if it did cover their wooden sign it
Joanna Pasceri (08:53.894)
I’m correct.
Jack O’Donnell (09:15.066)
I governors, whether it’s this governor or the last three or four governors, really like how the budget process gives them the upper hand, and they’re not going to give that up.
Joanna Pasceri (09:27.783)
Well, we asked our Monday morning memo readers to weigh in on this bill over the paychecks in our weekly poll. There was a really strong response. So check it out, have your say, and we’ll have the final results in next week’s memo. Now, speaking of policy issues put in the budget, the governor has also included a change in the primary election for lieutenant governor that would essentially eliminate the separate public vote for the second in command. Does this win legislative support?
Jack O’Donnell (09:56.398)
Yes, I think this might. I mean, we do have kind of a weird system here in New York that after some other changes were made 50 years ago, just didn’t catch up, which is that lieutenant governors run separately in party primaries, but not in the general election. so, you know, in the general election, voters are voting for a ticket. And that, but that ticket has been decided by on folks in a close primary so you know this this governor has been kind of be deviled by that but but so have others uh… you know to a lesser extent and recall but to a much bigger extent mario cuomo and and you carry out both ended up with people uh… more running mates of the rivals and i do think most uh… new yorkers most voters feel like the governor i’m should get to pick her number two.
Joanna Pasceri (10:52.899)
A quick turn to what’s happening in DC. was a good day last week for Speaker Johnson as Republicans in Congress squeaked out approval of the Senate’s budget blueprint. So what happens next here?
Jack O’Donnell (11:05.883)
Yeah, this was a little iffy. I was in DC when they were holding votes open, trying to whip members in. But make no mistake, it’s a major accomplishment of Speaker Johnson with such a tight majority to be able to pass the Senate resolution through his house. Now I think is the actual hard part. I think they need to actually identify, there’ll be some specific resolutions.
That have to have some details where where are cuts being made where spending going what is the overall plan what that means for tax cuts are there enough cuts one of those cuts look like and i think that that’s going to be really hard to do but more all be watching very eagerly
Joanna Pasceri (11:55.905)
Yeah, stay tuned for that. Did you have a favorite read this week in our news links?
Jack O’Donnell (12:00.945)
You know, I read a lot. We have a few articles in there about the tariffs, including two really interesting ones, one from the Wall Street Journal and one from the New York Times about why President Trump made the decision to pause or rescind the tariffs for 90 days. I think those were really worth people’s time to try to understand what’s happening right now and why.
Joanna Pasceri (12:28.523)
And they did check them out. were among the top clipped stories for this week. So Jack, thanks for that deeper dive. News, as you know, is breaking fast on both the state and federal levels. So stay up to date with our award-winning Monday morning memo. Information and insight all in one place. Check it out on our website or get it sent right to your inbox. You can do both. Just head to odonnelsolutions.com. That’s O’Donnell Solutions.
Thanks for joining us for this Monday Morning Minute. We’ll be back from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
