Zack Fink gives the latest update on budget negotiations in Albany.
After days of round-the-clock negotiations, a weary Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says things are once again moving in the right direction.
"I think we are making progress to close this down so we can have a complete budget," Heastie said.
Heastie and the Democratic conference in the Assembly had some concerns over provisions in the budget dealing with charter schools, but the more controversial issue of raising the age of criminal liability in New York State appears to be settled.
"Raise The Age is fine. Raise the age has been fine for, I'd say a day or so. Save for maybe a small detail," he said.
Talks fell apart Wednesday night as Assembly Democrats were meeting in a closed-door conference and one of the members texted Cuomo about what was being said. That led Cuomo to immediately text Heastie and ask "why are you bad-mouthing me?" Heastie was upset, and efforts are now being made to identify who Cuomo's spy was.
Some believe Cuomo may not even want a budget because his message has been mixed since lawmakers passed what's known as an extender to keep government operating.
"I am looking for continued financial flexibility in the budget process, but certainty and permanence in the operations of government, which is what we accomplished in the extender," Cuomo said.
Members of the Republican-controlled state Senate have left the Capitol, which means getting their approval on a deal is that much more logistically challenging.