Housing, Crime, Cannabis: The Big Questions Holding Up New York’s Budget

For those who say that an on-time budget in New York State is about as likely as a solar eclipse, the odds on an eclipse are about to improve.

The negotiations over the state budget, which was due on April 1, have stretched on for more than a week past the deadline as differences over housing, education and health care have divided Democratic legislative leaders in Albany.

Now an eclipse has become grounds for further delay: The Assembly has decided not to hold session on Monday to allow members to view the astrological phenomenon from the comfort of their home districts.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a moderate Democrat from Buffalo, has sought to use the budget to address what she sees as some of the most pressing issues facing the state: rising education and health care costs; a housing shortage; and the stubborn persistence and residual damage of retail theft.

But an increasingly progressive Legislature has its own ideas, rejecting the governor’s proposals on education and health care and calling for more tenant protections, climate measures and an expansion of free bus service in all five boroughs.

Ms. Hochul said that negotiations with leaders in the Legislature had been respectful and productive.