A compromise with State Senate leaders on Governor Cuomo’s “Raise the Age” bill has allowed the New York State Budget to move forward, now five days after the deadline.
The change allows 16-and-17-year-olds who commit violent crimes to be tried in Family Court and kept out of the adult prison system, unless their crime involved use of a “deadly weapon, significant physical injury or sexual misconduct.”
Agreement between the governor and senate leadership on that point allowed budget bills to be printed, a little more than a day after approval of a budget extender bill designed to keep the state running during a protracted budget showdown.
The State Assembly will work its way through the bills this afternoon after the senate voted on them through the night.
It’s a roughly $142 billion budget.It extends the so-called “Millionaire’s Tax” by two years instead of three while keeping state income taxes flat for the rest of us. It raises state education aid slightly; we won’t know the actual breakdowns until the budget is approved and printed. It puts $2.5 billion into repairing rundown public water systems around the state and it allows ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to operate outside of New York City.
There’s also a long-debated reform of New York’s Workers Compensation System senate leaders say will save businesses $700 million a year.