New York state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul must have either a finalized budget agreement in place or approve a sixth temporary extension of state spending by next Tuesday in order to avoid disrupting state employees paychecks on May 4, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli in a letter said Wednesday. 

Institutional payroll for thousands of state workers is scheduled for May 4, DiNapoli wrote in the letter.

Separately, workers at the state Division of Military and Naval Affairs, who are paid May 8, must have a spending measure in place by May 4 in order to cover their payroll. 

Hochul on Tuesday told reporters she was optimistic a deal could be attained by the end of the week after more than three weeks of delays in the budget. But state lawmakers on Wednesday believed that to be an optimistic assessment, making it likely the state budget will now be more than a month past the April 1 due date. 

New York's budget is already the latest spending plan in more than a decade. 

Lawmakers and Hochul have been at odds throughout the process on changing the state's 2019 law that limited when cash bail is required in criminal cases as well as the governor's plan for statewide housing policy. 

The bail issue has been settled in recent days, and Hochul's housing proposal is off the table. 

Now, lawmakers and Hochul are working on a plan meant to address the sale of illegal cannabis in stores across the state, which has hampered the legal marketplace.