Housing, cannabis and more: Here’s what’s in the $237B NY budget (so far)

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and lawmakers are poised to pass measures meant to bolster housing production and protect renters from eviction, crack down on retail theft and restore some Medicaid funding the governor previously had on the chopping block.

Just as soon as they agree on the pesky specifics known as "bill language."

On Monday, Hochul, a Democrat, announced she and legislative leaders had a handshake deal on “the parameters of a conceptual agreement” around a $247 billion state budget, which is now nearly three weeks past the April 1 deadline.

But negotiations on the ever-important details have continued since — even as a cyberattack on the Legislature’s bill-drafting system threw a wrench in the process.

Hochul and lawmakers are trying to hammer out exact language in a series of dense bills that lay out the budget and its accompanying policy tie-ins — where every period and comma have to be scrutinized to ensure the legislation does what Hochul and lawmakers intend it to do. And they’re hoping to do it soon: Lawmakers are scheduled to be on recess next week for Passover, which begins Monday.

Read the full story on Gothamist.com