In typical fashion for a state Capitol known for its peculiar and sometimes dysfunctional habits, the deal was announced after midnight via a five-page news release. But that rollout belied both the significance of some of the changes, as well as the size of the state’s spending, second only to California’s.
Lawmakers were set to vote on the budget later Sunday.
The budget included major victories for the resurgent left wing of the Democratic Party, which in November had helped Democrats win control of the state Senate for the first time in a decade. Newly elected lawmakers had pledged to get big money out of politics, raise taxes on the wealthy, rescue the city’s subway system and overhaul a criminal justice system that disproportionately targets minority communities.
Chief among the new policies was congestion pricing, the nation’s first such plan. Under the plan agreed to Sunday, vehicles traveling below 60th Street will be subject to a toll, revenue that will be funneled into the city’s beleaguered subways and other regional transportation needs.
The agreement also calls for an overhaul of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City’s bus and subway system.
The budget, which is due Monday, typically contains many nonfiscal policies, and this year’s, which includes a raft of changes to the state’s criminal justice system, was no exception.
Under a deal struck late last week, the state will eliminate cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes, though it will not be eliminated, as some of the Legislature’s more liberal members had hoped it would be.
Another is an annual recurring tax on second homes worth $5 million or more.
Although the tax had the backing of state leaders, it evaporated under pressure from real estate interests and legal concerns. In its place, lawmakers and Cuomo agreed to a “mansion tax” coupled with a real estate transfer tax, two one-time levies that would be charged at the point of sale on multimillion-dollar homes. The tax rate would top out at 4.15 percent on the sale of properties worth $25 million or more.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.