Top lawmakers say negotiations will continue until Tuesday, when legislators will return with the intention of voting on whatever compromise is reached.
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Cuomo had Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) shuttle back and forth to his offices several times Thursday, preferring to meet with each separately rather than bringing them all together.
A similar bill has been introduced by Assembly Codes Committee Chairman Joseph Lentol.
About 2 million New York City tenants in rent-controlled units are subject to paying market-rate prices if their leases expire while the regulations are inactive.
They say many workers face unsafe conditions and unfair practices like inadequate ventilation, lack of protective equipment, unpaid wages, and no worker’s compensation coverage, absent business liability insurance and unlicensed facilities.
“It does not have the issues that we’d like to see”, Heastie said.
Landlords of rent-regulated units must give notice to tenants about rent increases or evictions, and Cuomo said the state will go after landlords who exploit the law’s expiration.
The GOP Senate has passed such extenders for upstate counties but has yet to do so for Democratic-dominated New York City.
As the stalemate wore on, even the long-time tradition of three men in a room seemed to deteriorate, as Senate Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie were repeatedly called into separate closed door meetings with the governor, and emerged tight-lipped about details.
“We’re still talking”, Heastie said. Cuomo even skipped a fundraiser at the Plaza hotel in New York City as the talks dragged on. The Republican-led Senate passed legislation that would add income and residency verifications to ensure tenants aren’t cheating the system by living in rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments they aren’t eligible for.
The New York Assembly has followed the Senate and passed legislation to prohibit workplace discrimination based on family status, intended to protect women from bias in employment, pay and advancement.
Lawmakers were scheduled to adjourn the 2015 session Wednesday. The laws expired Monday, but lawmakers can pass an extension retroactively.
Lawmakers are also grappling with proposals to legalize professional mixed-martial arts, create private school tuition tax credits and extend Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control of New York City schools.
ALBANY – Plagued by scandal and indecision, the state Legislature is heading into bonus time at the Capitol as they remain stuck over key issues before the session ends.
Provisions meant to soften opponents, who say the sport is too violent, would give the New York State Athletic Commission jurisdiction with an expanded Medical Advisory Board to draft regulations.
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