Hochul defends late state budget: 'Good things happen in April'

And new discovery language was introduced Thursday outside of budget talks.

Good afternoon — it’s Thursday and Farm Animals Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul called reporters to her office to defend the late state budget and said she repeated her ‘line in the sand’ to legislative leaders Thursday.

• A new bill includes language on pretrial criminal discovery that looks a lot like what some lawmakers want in a budget deal.

• MISSING: Have you seen this $350 million check at the Capitol?

• New York is updating its list of endangered species. Here’s the latest.

• A new bill would require more surveillance at state prisons and give attorneys for people incarcerated there more transparency.

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Carl Heastie, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Cordell Cleare, Susan Cacace, Julia Salazar

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Hochul in her office at the Capitol Thursday (Dan Clark/Times Union)

🗣️ Hochul defends late state budget after meeting with leaders

The fourth budget extender of the year was approved Thursday by the Legislature, which has now left town until Tuesday. Another extender is expected then unless there’s a budget miracle.

Democrats from both the Senate and the Assembly went into conference after session. I’m told nothing has changed, budget-wise, since yesterday’s CapCon.

But there was one small sign of movement: Gov. Kathy Hochul invited Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins down for a leaders meeting in the afternoon.

Hochul then summoned reporters to her office to make another pitch on her changes to the state’s laws on criminal pretrial discovery. I’ll spare you that pitch because I wrote more on that issue below.

But Hochul did say that she repeated her line in the sand to the legislative leaders on the state budget.