Where NY’s most powerful politicians stand on the biggest budget issues

As the April 1 deadline to approve the state budget approaches, elected officials are wrangling over what to include in the $150 billion-plus spending plan and what to leave out.

Here’s a rundown of some of the top priorities of “the three men in the room” negotiating the budget – Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan and Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie – and where each man stands on the issues.

$15 Minimum Wage

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo is spearheading the push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, launching a campaign named after his late father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and joining forces with unions like 1199 SEIU. However, he has suggested that it could wait until after the budget is done.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan says any increase would need to coincide with support for businesses that exceeds Cuomo’s proposal for $300 million in small business tax cuts. There have also been reports of divisions in the Senate GOP over allowing a higher minimum wage.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie has embraced the proposed $15 minimum wage, calling it one of the Democratic conference’s top priorities. The Assembly’s budget proposal follows Cuomo’s in phasing in a hike over several years, but then calls for indexing it to inflation after it hits $15.

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Paid Family Leave

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo also invoked his father, who died last year, in announcing a paid family leave plan. A top priority of the governor, it would allow for 12 weeks of vacation to care for a child or sick family member, eventually covering up to 67 percent of the employee’s salary.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Although it would be funded through a payroll deduction, Senate Republicans have raised concerns. Flanagan’s conference included paid family leave language in its budget resolution, but called for further assessment and respecting the needs of small businesses.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie’s conference passed paid family leave legislation in February. The Assembly’s budget resolution calls for increasing the Temporary Disability Insurance benefit too and taking other steps to protect employees.

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Community Schools

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo in January announced a $100 million fund for more community schools, a strategy that addresses poverty in failing schools by offering health care and other services.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan’s budget proposal did not include specific funding for community schools, but it would increase foundation aid funding, which could be used for such schools.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie would add $100 million for community schools in districts with struggling schools, doubling Cuomo’s proposal for a total of $200 million.

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Closing the Gap Elimination Adjustment

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

The Gap Elimination Adjustment, the Paterson-era school aid cuts, has gradually been closed as the economy recovers. Cuomo in January called for closing the remaining $434 million over two years.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan said that closing the GEA is essential, and that it should be done more quickly, over a one-year period.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie’s budget resolution also calls for closing the full $434 million, adding another $244 million to Cuomo’s $189 million restoration.

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Income Taxes

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo has not proposed any income tax changes this year, and he shot down Heastie’s call for a tax hike on the wealthy, saying there's no “appetite to take up taxes.”

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan’s Senate Republicans have touted a tax cut proposal they say would lower taxes for middle-class residents 25 percent by 2025 and save $3.5 billion a year. Some 5 million taxpayers would benefit in 2018, when existing tax cuts are set to expire.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie’s conference would also cut income taxes for some 5 million middle-class New Yorkers, as well as increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit. But Heastie would raise the income tax rate for top earners, which Cuomo and Senate Republicans oppose.

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Property tax cap

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

Last year, Cuomo extended his 2 percent property tax cap for another four years. He has not tried to extend it to New York City, but he did propose shifting other costs since the five boroughs are exempt from the cap.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan and his Republican colleagues want to make the property tax cap permanent. The conference also wants to extend the cap to New York City, which has been exempt.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie has said the tax cap should allow for 2 percent growth every year, even if inflation is lower. He downplayed the issue in New York City, saying rates are already low there.

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Ethics reform

Gov. Andrew Cuomo

After the convictions of two legislative leaders, Cuomo proposed campaign finance reform, closing the “LLC loophole,” limiting lawmakers’ outside income, and other reforms. But the governor has not been pushing the measures and has suggested they would not be in the budget.

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Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan

Flanagan has not made ethics reform a priority. His conference is opposed to taxpayer-funded campaign financing and a full-time Legislature, but supports stripping pensions from public officials convicted of a felony and eight-year term limits for leadership positions.

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Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

Heastie has also downplayed ethics, but he recently rolled out some proposals, including closing the LLC loophole, better regulating housekeeping accounts, instituting more generous limits on lawmaker incomes, and stripping pensions from convicted officials.

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