What’s a budget without a few protest votes? Legislative leaders painstakingly negotiate budget language with the executive branch, only to have a handful of lawmakers refuse to vote for the bill – saying its cons and unmet needs outweigh its positives – while knowing it will still pass.
It happens pretty much every year in Albany, and in New York City’s own budget process. In those majority Democratic legislatures, votes against the budget usually come from farther left Democrats, or from Republicans.
But this year, three Democratic state lawmakers who are running for mayor of New York City didn’t ruffle feathers and focused on legislative wins in the budget instead. State Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos, and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani all voted in favor of all the budget bills. Among the bills they voted in favor of is the policy-heavy so-called “big ugly” bill, which contained some of the more controversial provisions that have held up a budget deal between the governor and Legislature, including changes to the discovery law and a new penalty for wearing a mask while committing a crime…