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April 12, 2005
Pataki and Legislative Leaders Close To No-Veto Deal for State Budget
After another weekend of around-the-clock negotiations, Governor Pataki and legislative leaders are close to a deal on final approval for this year's state budget. Pataki has until today (Tuesday) to sign or veto legislative budget bills, and insiders say he's trying to work out a deal that will result in few or no vetoes.
Health Care: On health care, sources close to the negotiations say that there's been agreement on statutory language changes that would define the Family Health Plus vision and dental benefits as equivalent to those received by state workers.
This change would give Pataki a "victory" in his effort to redefine some benefits for "optional"' Medicaid beneficiaries along the lines of private insurance -- a promise he made to federal officials when seeking approval for a new Medicaid waiver program (see Pataki Wins Conditional Approval from the March 17th Update.) On the other hand, Pataki's "victory" isn't necessarily a loss for beneficiaries, as dental and vision coverage in the state employee benefit plan is pretty good -- in some cases actually better than current Family Health Plus offerings.
Welfare: Sources say there's also an agreement on welfare spending, which would include a first-ever block grant of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) surplus funds directly to county governments. Negotiators tweaked some funding amounts, according to sources, but ended up with a final spending plan close to that produced by legislative leaders in conference committees last month.
Of course, as always in Albany, there's no deal on anything until there's a deal on everything. As the Update goes to press, negotiators are said to be aiming to print bills Monday or Tuesday for passage by the Legislature Thursday or Friday. We'll get you more details as soon as we can.