Sources: Leaders meetings at governor's mansion resume after stalling

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have been meeting at the governor’s mansion to discuss this year’s state budget, just not at the state Capitol, sources told City & State.

“I definitely think they’re having meetings. I know they’re going to the mansion every night and meeting,” state Sen. Liz Krueger told City & State on Tuesday. “They’re meeting, they’re just not advertising it, but they never advertise it.”

Krueger added she didn’t know if all three leaders were meeting at the same time, or if Cuomo was meeting with Flanagan or Heastie individually.

But an anonymous source confirmed to City & State that the three leaders were routinely meeting at the governor’s mansion most of last week to discuss the budget. The source added that talks had broken down and there were no leaders meetings since last Thursday. After City & State published that news, however, two legislative sources said that leaders talks were resuming in the governor's mansion on Tuesday afternoon. It is unclear whether Cuomo, who made two appearances in Western New York on Tuesday, had joined the talks.  

The first source had said Flanagan and Heastie were not budging on some of the more controversial proposals in the budget.

The Cuomo administration said the description of the status of the state budget negotiations as stalled was entirely false.

“Every part of (this story) is incorrect,” Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said in an email sent around 1:30 p.m. “You should get better sources.”

Flanagan’s Republican conference has raised concerns about the governor’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage, including its impact on small businesses and agricultural companies.

Flanagan also has vowed repeatedly he would not agree to a budget that did not close the Gap Elimination Adjustment, a multi-year reduction in school aid, this year. Cuomo has proposed closing it over a two-year period.

During his visit to Western New York, Cuomo told reporters in Buffalo that they were “on the five-yard line” in terms of budget negotiations.

Heastie, answering questions from reporters in Albany on Tuesday, said they were “nowhere near” a budget agreement.

In the past, leaders meetings usually took place behind closed doors in the state Capitol. This year, the three leaders have kept a tight lid on any details about the meetings – including even whether or not they are taking place.

Additionally, Cuomo has not held a press conference with the state Capitol press corps in more than 250 days.

A spokesperson for the Assembly Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for the state Senate Republicans had no comment besides saying the conference’s discussions on budget issues were ongoing.

State of Politics reported earlier this month that the leaders meetings had started as early as March 3.

Cuomo has already said publicly that the minimum wage may be taken up after the budget. 

The first anonymous source said the governor’s office is now preparing to pass an on-time budget by taking up the measures that are holding up an agreement after the April 1 deadline.

Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect that leaders meetings resumed on Tuesday afternoon. Justin Sondel contributed reporting.