Capitol Bureau Reporter Jimmy Vielkind joined BTPM Assistant Managing Editor Ryan Zunner on 'All Things Considered' on Thursday, April 17, 2025. The two discussed the NYS budget, Buffalo-centric legislation and the subsidy situation at Tesla's South Buffalo plant.
Click the listen button above the photo to hear the conversation. Below is a transcription of that segment:
Ryan Zunner: And this is BTPM, your NPR station here on this Thursday, I'm Ryan Zunner. We're going to be speaking now to Jimmy Vielkind, our capital bureau reporter, who joins us from Albany right now, to talk about the New York State budget and how things are looking there. Jimmy, thanks so much for joining us today.
Jimmy Vielkind: Happy to be here, Ryan.
Zunner: And let's just start out here. Now the budget is 17 days overdue. There is a proposed $252 billion plan, but there still seems to be some roadblocks. What's the current situation look like in Albany?
Vielkind: Well, lawmakers, before leaving the state capitol earlier today, did pass yet another budget extender, which should get things until early next week. Most of the holdups in this budget have not had to do with dollars and cents, but rather with a series of policy proposals that Governor Hochul put on the table starting in January. There has been some progress this week, where lawmakers say they've reached a framework of a deal on changes to the laws governing the exchange of evidence before a criminal trial, the discovery process. This has been a major sticking point, and lawmakers are hopeful that the resolution will let things start to move forward on other issues and possibly be concluded by the latter part of next week.
Zunner: And Hochul's supposed mask ban, that seems to be a roadblock as well. What's the what's the situation there?
Vielkind: That's right, that's one of the other issues that has been a sticking point in these talks. I spoke with a bunch of lawmakers today, they say that they haven't had substantive conversations with the governor in the last several sessions about this very issue, so no updates. Can mean a few things. It can mean that it's something that's going to be fought about and negotiated later, or it can mean that it would drop out of talks and not get done in conjunction with this $252 billion spending plan. At this point, it's a little bit early to see. Governor Hochul had said she wanted to see some additional restrictions on public masking, perhaps a new penalty of mask harassment. But there was lots of tension and lots of resistance in the legislature. I haven't heard yet, if there is a compromise on the table that could turn this into reality sometime next week.
Zunner: And shifting our attention to some I guess, Buffalo based legislation. Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon is pushing for state approval — legislature approval — on two things, the buffalo parking authority and the bed tax. Let's start here with the bed tax. I mean, other counties around New York have one and municipalities. The mayor, Chris Scanlon, seems to have some support, at least from Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Majority Leader. What's that looking like in the Senate and the likelihood that we see something here in this budget process on that?
Vielkind: I spoke with a few people who are familiar with that issue. They say it's still very much up in the air. Governor Hochul is said to be quietly supportive, these people tell me, but it's unclear whether this would be adopted in conjunction with the budget. There are, as you said, lots of municipalities that have individual hotel taxes, but usually it's considered as standalone legislation. So, the majority leader, Crystal Peoples-Stokes does have quite a bit of political juice. It remains to be seen whether it can be pushed into the budget or there. It's something that will have to happen perhaps later in the year.
Zunner: And one of those legislators who seems to be against that hotel bed tax for Buffalo is State Senator Sean Ryan, who's also running for mayor. I know he had some input on everything happening with the Tesla plant in Buffalo, right? There's a push from certain leaders across New York to start charging rent for Tesla. There was all those subsidies' years ago for that plant. You did a story on it just the other day about that Tesla plant in Buffalo. What does that pressure look like on Hochul to restructure the deal with Tesla?
Vielkind: Well, that's right, Ryan, this is something that has really come under increased scrutiny as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken a major role in the Trump administration through his work with DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, which has been laying off federal workers and shuttering federal agencies. Of course, Tesla has what many consider to be a pretty sweet deal for the massive plant in South Buffalo. Taxpayers spent almost a billion dollars to build and equip that building and that factory, and many analysts, including Senator Ryan, say it's never really lived up to its promise. Right now, Tesla is asking the state to renegotiate its lease because the company is short of the job figures that it agreed to in 2014 when it originally struck a deal with former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Whether or not the lease will be renegotiated is now coming a bit of a political question. I asked Governor Hochul about this the other week. She didn't say that she was going to necessarily affirm the deal that's on the table, negotiated by her economic development aide, but she said she wanted to get more information, so it's possible that the terms that have already been agreed to will have to change. And as we see lawmakers, mostly progressive Democrats, pushing back against Tesla, it's possible that whatever arrangement is struck, if an arrangement is struck, won't be quite so favorable for the company.
Zunner: All right, we'll have to end things there. That was Jimmy Vielkind, capital bureau reporter for the New York Public News Network. Thanks for so much for joining us today, Jimmy.
Vielkind: Thanks Ryan, always a pleasure.
