Wedneday Headlines: Crunch Time Edition

The state Legislature and the governor have a conceptual agreement on key policy in the state budget, but no bills to speak of. And every day they spend playing catch-up on the rest of the state’s spending plan leaves even less time to do general legislating afterward.

There are conceptual agreements in place on auto insurance, climate law, immigration and infrastructure regulations. But given the slow-moving nature of Albany, state lawmakers need to pass a budget extender this week to keep government moving while the rest of the details for the state’s budget are hashed out.

Still, there is some optimism remaining in the state house. State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said it wasn’t out of the cards that voting on budget bills could start at the end of next week. And it’s been reported that a handshake agreement on the entire budget is coming any day now.

More news:

• Awareness about driverless cars is low despite their ubiquity in other parts of the country. (Newsday)
• Party leaders in D.C. want New York to push through new congressional maps that could net Democrats more seats. (The New York Times)
• Hochul isn’t raising taxes, but she might find more money for New York City schools. (The Daily News)
• If New York limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, the Trump Administration is threatening to put boots on the ground. (Gothamist)
• The Mamdani administration is testifying to the New York City Council about discounted mass transit. (amNY)
• Hochul is down in the polls but still doing better than Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is running for governor as a Republican. (City & State)
• Blakeman met with Trump at the White House. (State of Politics)
• Central New York advocates hope that the demolition of I-81 doesn’t further pollute nearby neighborhoods. (Central Current)