Hochul says the new Bills Stadium will pay for itself by 2043

And what to expect at the Capitol next week as budget talks continue.

Good afternoon — it’s Friday and Vitamin C Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul defended the state’s $600 million investment in the new Bills Stadium during a stop in Erie County Friday.

• Here’s what’s happening at the state Capitol next week as negotiations on the state budget continue.

• A new bill would target Elon Musk’s business holdings in New York. Another would open up doors for people who need organ transplants.

• Hochul signed three chapter amendments Thursday related to guns.

• Catch up on what you missed from the week with Eyes & Ears.

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Josh Allen, Liz Krueger, Blanca Lopez, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Crystal Peoples-Stokes

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Hochul on Friday (New York Governor’s Office)

🏈 Hochul defends new Bills Stadium at milestone ceremony

There was no news on the state budget Friday so I thought we’d switch it up and start with something you never read about in CapCon: sports, kind of.

Well, it’s not completely separate from the state budget. Three years ago, around this time, Gov. Kathy Hochul surprised the state Capitol and her colleagues in the Legislature by announcing an unexpected investment from the state.

That investment — $600 million — was Hochul’s commitment toward a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills. She would say a few weeks later that she was worried the Bills would leave New York.

It wasn’t a surprise that a new stadium would be built. Negotiations on who would pay for it had been underway for months between the team, the state and Erie County.

But what was a surprise, at least for the Legislature, was the timing. Hochul announced the state’s $600 million commitment for the stadium on March 28 — three days before the state budget deadline. Those funds very suddenly became part of budget talks.

It wasn’t something Hochul could renege on so the $600 million ended up in the final state budget that year and the Legislature went home in a sour mood.

That stadium is now being built and Hochul traveled out to Erie County Friday for a “topping out ceremony,” whatever that is.

We knew that Hochul expected the revenue raised from the new stadium would eventually outweigh the state’s cost. But as she was responding to criticism about the cost of the project, Hochul broke that out in a way I found interesting.

“We calculated this — and this is before Josh Allen got the big pay increase — that by year 17, just our income taxes alone on the players who play here, we’d be more than fully reimbursed as a state,” Hochul said.

The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2026 season. That means the team’s players will pay off the state’s cost by 2043 if Hochul’s right.

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At the Capitol gives you information about scheduled committee meetings, hearings and other government goings-on at the Capitol and in the Legislature.

🕥 At the Capitol: Monday and next week

The Legislature is expected to approve a third budget extender Monday as negotiations continue.