New York state lawmakers have no immediate plans to return to Albany to tackle legislation related to the ongoing influx of migrants arriving in New York City, despite facing repeated calls to act from activists, city officials and some lawmakers.
Two weeks ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul floated the idea of a special session at the Capitol as the city continues to struggle to find shelter for newcomers arriving in the five boroughs, including many asylum-seekers.
But the idea has since lost steam.
A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) says she isn’t planning on having her members return to Albany — at least for now. And Hochul herself is shying away from forcing lawmakers to do so without a plan of action.
“We have no plans to come back,” Senate Democratic spokesperson Mike Murphy said on Monday.
For months, Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and elected state and city officials have urged the federal government to do more to assist with the surge of newcomers — either by sending additional funding or expediting work approvals for asylum seekers. Adams wants President Joe Biden to go a step further and declare a national emergency.
But as Congress remains sharply divided on immigration policy, some advocates and officials are asking Democrat-controlled Albany to step in by allocating more money, stopping local governments from refusing migrant arrivals, or — most controversially — approving some sort of state-level work program for asylum-seekers despite federal resistance.
“If we don’t receive help from the federal government and additional help from the state government, then this is going to come from somewhere, and it’s going to hurt low-income New Yorkers,” Adams said on Sunday on MSNBC.
Adams is already threatening steep budget cuts across city agencies, which he said last week will continue into the winter and spring unless the city receives more federal and state aid to assist with caring for migrants.
But when it comes to money, Hochul says the state is pitching in more, such as by picking up the tab for large-scale, tent-based shelters for single adults at locations like Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn; the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center and John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens; and on Randall’s Island.
All of that has pushed the state’s total commitment to aiding migrants and localities that take them in to $1.7 billion, according to Hochul. That’s up from roughly the $1 billion Hochul and lawmakers allocated in the state budget earlier this year — of which the city has only drawn down a portion so far.
“When people say the state needs to do more, I say: We’re paying for these large-scale sites,” Hochul told reporters last week. “We’re also paying 29% of all the other housing costs. Plus, we’re spending $200 million this far and rising on the National Guard. So people shouldn’t take (that) for granted.”
A Siena College poll released on Tuesday found 18% of New York voters view the recent migrant influx as the most important issue Albany is currently facing. Voters ranked it as the third-highest-ranking issue among those polled, behind only the cost of living (27%) and crime (19%).
The results showed a significant difference by party, according to Siena pollster Steve Greenberg.
“For Republicans, addressing the migrant issue is the most important issue – even bigger than cost of living,” he said. “For Democrats, availability of affordable housing is virtually tied with cost of living as the top issue.”
On Monday, 20 Democratic lawmakers who identify as socialists — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens — signed a joint letter laying out a variety of state, local and federal actions they believe would help “meet our current moment with courage and humility.”
Among their recommendations are for Albany lawmakers to tap into the more than $13 billion the Hochul administration has set aside for “economic uncertainties” — money that, in theory, is available in the event of a recession or some other sort of economic downturn, though state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has said the fund’s purpose is not well-defined.
“The economic uncertainties fund is essentially a source of emergency funding that … has been underutilized by the executive, and it just makes perfect sense that right now would be the moment for both New York City and our state as a whole to actually deploy all of our available resources,” said state Sen. Julia Salazar, a Brooklyn Democrat who signed the letter.
As it stands, the state Legislature isn’t scheduled to return to the Capitol until January. Salazar said she’s among those who believe lawmakers should return sooner for a special session.
“I haven’t received notice or been told to prepare for a special session, but I’m ready to go back to Albany if a special session is required,” she said. “Anything that is required of us at this moment in order to adequately address these needs, I’m ready to do it.”
Hochul, a Democrat, has the ability to call the Legislature back to Albany and set the agenda for an extraordinary session. But there’s little point in doing so without the Legislature agreeing to the terms — otherwise they can simply gavel into session and quickly gavel out without taking action.
The governor met with Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) in her Manhattan office last week.
“We talked about, if there were to be a session, what would be involved?” Hochul said last week. “And we’re trying to game out and figure out what is the objective of that? There has to be an objective. I mean, of course, I can call anybody (back) anytime. But it has to be for a certain objective.”
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