Friday, April 7, 2017

Albany Is All "Dysfunction And Chaos," Just How Gov. Cuomo Likes It


Throughout Wednesday, details about a supposed budget deal between Governor Cuomo, Senate Republicans, and Assembly Democrats started to emerge that seemed not only odd, but incredibly unrealistic. The massive 421-a tax break for developers, which expired last January, would now be tied to city rent regulations, meaning that if the $800 million a year in developer subsidies were ever removed, the city of New York would be thrown into free market chaos as regulated tenants saw their rents skyrocket. Charter schools would now see a massive increase in funding at a time when public schools were scrambling for funds. Raise The Age was being watered down to a point beyond recognition. And funding for indigent legal services was now something that Cuomo wanted to revisit, after he vetoed it last year.

In fact, Cuomo kept bringing up more and more issues with the budget in the supposed final hours of negotiations. By the end of Wednesday, lawmakers threw up their hands, and many left town wondering what the hell just happened.


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