Flanagan: Talks progress, no rent extension planned
Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-East Northport) arrives for a meeting at Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office in the Capitol on Thursday, June 18, 2015. Credit: AP / Mike Groll
The leader of the State Senate said Tuesday that he has no intention of again extending rent-control laws on an emergency basis, setting up a potential showdown on the debate that is holding up the adjournment of the 2015 legislative session.
After reaching a stalemate last week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative houses agreed to an emergency extension of the rent-control law through Tuesday night at midnight; the law expired June 15. The session was supposed to wrap up last Wednesday.
Rank-and-file legislators are arriving back at the State Capitol Tuesday, ostensibly to settle rent and finish approving hundreds of local bills -- such as extending Nassau County's authorization to collect sales taxes. House leaders have been scurrying back and forth to Cuomo's office Tuesday morning. They weren't planning on being in Albany past today.
Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, in a brief interview, said "rent" was the main holdup. While he didn't predict it would be settled, he said leaders were making progress.
"We're getting closer but no final deal," Flanagan (R-East Northport) said outside his third-floor office.
When asked if another extension of rent was looming, he said: "I'm not intending on passing another extender. We made it clear we're only doing a one-time extender."
"We're closer," Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said after meeting with Cuomo, adding that another was scheduled in the early afternoon.
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