ALBANY, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo concluded a contentious state budget season last week, but the post-budget legislative session stands to be even more difficult with a number of issues facing upstate New York up in the air. Cuomo last week defended so many issues dropping out of the spending plan.
"It's become a laundry list of issues in some ways that are important that session, and issues that are important to me this session, and issues that are politically important to deal with that session," said Gov.
Left for later in the legislative session includes the passage of a new property tax rebate program that Cuomo sought in the budget, as well as the education investment tax credit, which is designed to encourage donations to schools and scholarship programs.
"Just because you don't authorize a rebate now or a tax credit now like the EITC, doesn't mean the money goes away," Cuomo said.
But Cuomo enters the second half of the legislative year with less leverage. Senate Republicans want to the tax credit, but also note a number of Democratic-related issues such as mayoral control of New York City schools are up for renewal.
"One of my priorities obviously is the education tax credit. That will be one of the issues brought up post-budget -- as will mayoral control, as will rent," said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R.
Cuomo this year also wants to make permanent the state's cap on local property tax increases, a signature economic achievement of his first term, but Assembly Democrats fret that that the cap has been troublesome for school districts.
"We have enormous pressures coming to us from our superintendents and from our school boards that with the two percent property tax cap, it doesn't even cover health insurance expenses and rising utility costs and pensions costs so they have to see additional aid," said Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell.
Cuomo insists those issues he supports, as well as ones backed by the state Senate and Assembly left on the to-do list can still be accomplished later this year. The last day of the legislative session is scheduled for June 17.