we sat down with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea stor cousins for a broad ranging interview we asked the leader about the potential of a change to state law at the time budget negotiations ahead and priorities for the Democratic conference here's that interview thank you so much for joining us here today leader it is really good to be with you thank you I'm so excited for our conversation and naturally I wanted to start with affordability in the state of course it's no secret that is the focus this legislative session and that has been the focus for your conference for some time this year Governor Kathy hokel proposed in her executive budget addressing affordability by way of inflation refund checks um expanding the child care tax credit um middle class tax cuts as well as universal School meals so I wanted to get your take on what the governor is proposing are you fully aligned with the governor's vision or are you hoping to potentially deviate from those plans in the one house um budget for example well let me say that I am certainly aligned with her vision of affordability and the thing that I always say is it's great when you have a partner in Governor government who is rowing in the same direction you know we're not fighting about the fact that that you know Child Care is too expensive we're not fighting about the fact that people need to have more money in their pockets we certainly have been championing things like uh uh free School meals for years so and and also the the Empire State child tax credit we've expanded it before and we know how important these kinds of things are to working fam so uh we are definitely on the same page obviously in our one housee budget we will explore you know as many ways as possible to be able to make life more affordable and in the intervening weeks I think you might have already seen that we've done several packages we did a housing affordability package just yesterday we have uh rather we did a press conference on it yesterday last week it was utility bills we are looking at every aspect of Our Lives to see if we can't create some more opportunities for people to feel that they have a shot that that New York is Affordable and that people uh in these seats are working working to make sure that it's affordable and how will you work with the governor and assembly speaker Carl Hasty to address affordability in a way that suits your you know Senate majority best or is in line with your vision well you know each house Works differently and you know we always say the governor is fortunate the governor has a consensus of one uh and she gets to say well this is you know what I think on behalf of people and of course we uh in the assembly and the Senate have the privilege of working with colleagues from all over the state and I really think that's so important because everybody represents a different constituency and different different issues and so you have an opportunity to sit down and listen to and of course my my uh Democratic conference too is not only uh like the third largest in the history of that chamber but also again represents all kinds of Dem graphics and Geographics and so we really have a wide range of views on what people need and I think you saw that come into play with the housing package last year when we were able to do infill housing Upstate and support Nicha down state and make sure that homeowners had an opportunity if they were in crisis with mortgage to get with their mortgages to get get money and and resources to help them in those situations and and also making commit ments to add more affordable housing and did the uh 485x in terms of building more affordable housing in the city and protecting you know labor and union jobs while we're making sure that we are increasing the housing stock and even with the you know working with the uh city of New York in terms of the city of yes so when you have a diverse opinion and and diversity of opinion and you have uh opportunity ities to to advance the bow in several different ways I think we optimize uh our presence here so that's how we work uh in the Senate I'm sure that's how the assembly works and then we we all get together and and try and craft a package that that works for all New Yorkers and apart from affordability what are some of the other big policy issues that you're hoping to address in the final enacted budget this year well they're always the same policies you know we're always worried about uh uh making sure Health Care uh is is accessible and and you know high quality for our all New Yorkers we're also always focus on education I mean education and Healthcare are the two biggest you know drivers in our budget so we obviously are always focused on making sure that that um you know schools have the resources that they need in order to create uh the the educational uh opportunities that our children need to be able to compete in this global economy so so it's always that and obviously we we got to address the MP because people are are um you know waiting for that to happen and so that is something that we will also be you know addressing in this budget yeah how do you plan to address the MTA I know that before the beginning of session you an um assembly speaker called Hasty actually rejected the capital plan for the MTA caus cing a lot of controversy of course so I'm curious how are you hoping to address funding for the MTA in the final budget this year well see this this is the key so that was the key we had a spending plan uh but we did not have a funding plan so say we didn't reject the capital plan we did not know however how uh the deficit of about $33 billion with a B was going to be met and that's why we both felt that it would be better addressed in the budget while we're talking about resources and we're talking about uh you know how it is that we will be able to make sure that the MTA has the resources that they need in order to to continue being what we know is really the lifeblood of our economy I mean we need to fund it but uh we actually just had a spending plan we did not have a funding plan mhm and are there any non-starters for you as you approach budget negotiations this year no not that I can then think of I mean uh you know there's there's obviously policy uh that has been put into the budget whether it's the cell phone policy or or looking at mental health and and how we're dealing with with the issues that we know uh folks are are concerned about but you know I think all of those things are uh you know important conversations to have and uh I said last year when the governor had uh decided for example that you wanted to change the formula in one particular direction it was around the hold harmless I you may have uh you may remember that but um that was you know that was a non-starter uh because so many school districts had already anticipated revenue and um then with a change in the formula uh almost half of them would have lost that revenue and it would have been problematic which again I'm happy that we all understood and understand that the formulas certainly need updating and tweaking and so in that conversation we came to the agreement that we would take a look at the formula through the Rockefeller Institute and so now uh you know there is a conversation to be had about the elements in this formula but no school district would have less than a 2% increase so you know we're not starting at a a deficit sum uh anticipated more based on the previous formula and we'll have to take a look at that but again no non-starters things that we you're going to have to tweak we're going to have to talk about we're going to have to get to consensus as to how we can move forward but I uh generally feel that you know we are moving in the right direction and certainly with the uncertainty that uh you know know Looms with uh what's happening our federal government I I I do believe that we will be able to you know chart a course that is good for New Yorkers and some Republicans and the legislature have been pretty critical of what they call one party rule here um in Albany and as someone who was in the Democratic conference when you know you all had the minority and now you're on the other side and the majority do you empathize with that at all and do you have any plans to potentially work with Republicans to allow them have a seat at the table or you know compromise on certain policy issues well again uh the in our chamber and a lot of people do not realize this but in our chamber the Republicans had the majority for the better part of a hundred years uh I'm the longest serving Democratic majority leader in the history of the Senate and I have been majority leader for six years so this will give you an understanding of what we're talking about and I always say to my colleagues on the other side you know I just want parody I want this you know 100 years you know like you guys had it but uh you know that being said uh yeah I think whenever you're having ex whenever you've experience being uh the marginalized people the under uh served or or the disregarded or you know uh whenever you're treated in that way uh I think it's good to remember how that felt you know if the circumstances change and one of the things that I've done as a majority leader is always take that into account I you know have a uh good relationship with the minority leader uh unlike when we were in the majority uh I have shared resources whether it's capital or other things that frankly uh never happened before and and I will also say that one of the motivators when I first ran for Senate was the fact that the Brennan Center back in 2004 had named the legislature New York State Legislature the most dysfunctional in the country and one of the motivators was that I would not be part of that and part of that uh being called dysfunction was the inability for anyone in the minority party in the in the Senate in particular uh to be able to pass a bill uh that they authored if you had a good idea and you were a Democrat you had to have Republicans sponsor it in order for it to be passed uh there were so many obstacles to actually seeing what was going on in meetings there weren't transparency nobody was live streaming anything so there has been a number of changes that I'm happy to have been you know part of and continue to be part of in terms of bringing the quote unquote minority to the table and giving them resources and and allowing you know bills to pass with their names on it and and giving them you know appropriate hearings so uh we have I think reflected a more democratic uh chamber and Democratic leaders have been criticized in recent years for late budgets so I wanted to I know you don't have a crystal ball but do you think that you know you all will be able to reach that April 1st deadline this year I know it's early but I want to get your take well you know again uh I've been when I first ran the budget had been late with um again Republican leadership uh 20 years consecutively so and when I say late I'm not talking about a week or two I am saying late so uh again you know we really do strive for an ontime budget because we understand that our reaching you know our budget deadline helps all the other entities that are depending on us to get to that place uh do their work so we really do Thrive for that and you know I have no Crystal Ball but I don't see a reason why this would be late and again um we we've been able to I would say we've been passing budgets pretty much on time for um you know for for the most part and you know we're always trying to get to that deadline we we don't think it's a game and turning away from you know budget talk um your conference has also been heavily focused on Reproductive Rights and maternal Health um in 2019 the state passed the reproductive Health act with essentially enshrined abortion access in New York state and then last November voters voted yes to the Equal Rights ballot measure which basically um helped to protect certain rights particularly around pregnancy outcomes so I wanted to get an understanding of why Reproductive Rights and access continues to be one of the main priorities of your conference and how you're hoping to continue to build on this in the years to come you know I mean first of all we talk about bodily autonomy but the reality to is that uh you there was a time where women had no choice in terms of you know their Reproductive Rights and um even though they quote didn't have a legal Choice people were making choices and they were making choices that you know in many ways uh terminated their lives terminated their fertility you know harm and I always say you know we're the most advanced country in the world medically and why would you not allow everyone to access what we have in terms of our our medical you know services and outcomes and it just makes no sense to me that we would start rolling back what we know has been not only life saving for for you know people who pregnant but also you know it's it's just so out of step with where we are in terms of can Bly autonomy and and and our freedom to choose so it will remain a priority and honestly when I got elected back in 2007 I carry the reproductive Health Bill and back in 2007 I remember the Republicans who again were in the majority and we could never pass it oh no no you why are you even doing this there is no Jeopardy you know Ro is settled law you're just doing this because you want to get attention that was really what happened I carry that until I became the leader uh in the minority in 2013 and of course Senator Krueger is carried in the Senate since then and you know was able to pass it when we took the majority and we also at that point we're trying to update our reproductive Health laws because a lot of times people did not realize that New York in 1970 was actually among the first States before roie Wade got passed on the national level to allow women to have an abortion and so our our laws were so out of date that we were just trying to update them to reflect what today's medical environment was and in fact the reproductive laws were in the homicide codes of in New York so we were trying to take them out of homicide put them into the the public health as well as updated and they fought us every step of the way because Ro was settled and look where we are now you know the nation has uh you know decided to to uh you know that women should not have the right to choose again and it's back in the States and so in New York uh we will be protecting our Reproductive Rights we will be prot protecting our doctors and we will be uh always championing the women's right to choose and New Yorkers obviously agreed because we absolutely passed the Equal Rights and given everything that's going on on the federal level I wanted to get your take on some of the federal you know administrations policies around tariffs and immigration how will that sort of impact the way that you lead Democrats in the state well I think that we are going to lead with our values we always do we tried to be uh pragmatic obviously but we also are you know willing to fight for what we know are the important values of New York and What Makes Us New York so that will always be uh front and center and you know I you know I I met with the uh Canadian Council General uh yesterday actually uh ironically uh they were celebrating as they do annually um the friendship and the relationship between Canada and the United States I mean we have A50 billion you know trade relationship and uh you know the Canadian folks are trying to figure out what what we were solving what the president is solving for what is the issue and obviously as you know there is a pause uh I think everybody is hoping that that pause is a permanent one because again we have relationships we have allies and we are adults and there are ways that we can get whatever the point is across without costing people money everybody knows the tariffs are going to cost Ordinary People money if you're going to start putting a tariff on everything that that I potentially will buy that additional expense will be passed on to me and maybe I won't be able to buy it or maybe it'll again shrink the money in my my pocket so um it's a bad idea I think everyone said it and I think the stock market said it too and it plunged so I'm hoping we can find better ways and I wanted to ask you about election law so recently the capitol Press Room reported that Democrats are considering a change to the state election law to allow the governor to essentially have more time to call a special election and this will of course impact the ny21 congressional seat um when it becomes vacant so you know Republicans have already said that should that measure move forward they will be challenging it and they see it as a way for Democrats to try to circumvent election law so I wanted to get your take on you know some of that criticism from Republicans yeah well I think it gets back to the whole conversation which we've had before which is the uh affordability uh when we consolidate elections it saves money it saves money for the various election boards and municipalities it saves money so giving people an opportunity to really align elections saves money it also boosts voter turnout you know there's so many you got this election that election this people get confused they don't know what they're voting for anymore they don't know when they're supposed to vote or how or whatever so again that consolidation not only saves money but it boosts voter turnout and thirdly I will say that the Republicans have sued us for every voting change we tried to make I mean we did not have early voting I mean when I tell this to people around the country that New York did not have early voting until we took the majority in 2019 they can't believe it and now can you imagine what it would have been like standing online during this latest presidential only on that Tuesday so the reality of whether it was vote by mail or early voting you know whatever whatever we've done or they they didn't like anything we've done uh they've sued us for everything they've never been supporters and oh by the way uh I don't remember anybody uh complaining when the uh you know Supreme Court uh seat was held open uh for over a year when Mitch McConnell decided that that's what he was going to do so it didn't seem to be problematic then so I mean again we're always looking at affordability we're always looking at increasing voter turnout because we believe that you know elections matter and I think if people didn't believe that uh before they should be beginning to believe it now and as you mentioned earlier in the interview you are the longest serving Senate Majority Leader and you're also the first well in on the Democratic side yes on the Democratic side you're the first woman first black woman to hold that um leadership role so I'm just curious how do these inaugural Milestones sort of impact the way that you approach leadership because I don't take any of it for granted and even today we yes in this chamber celebrated black history and I spoke and so many of my colleagues spoke because it's important that when people try and pretend that uh you know everything was always about Merit and now you know people are trying to jump ahead or to make themselves more important than everyone else it's just important that we remember the history and we remember as we spoke earlier what it feels like not to be able to have the opportunity and so the getting rid of all cultural celebrations as there I'm you know told will happen on a federal level or has begun to happen is very sad because when you talk about where we came from then it gives people again a perspective of not only the journey that you had to take in order to get to this place but the fact again that nothing is taken for granted and so uh that informs me every day I know that as I said I was alive for the Voting Rights Act you know I was alive when Brown Board of Education was settled when they were saying yes you know black children can sit in a classroom with white children it was not that long ago my parents would never have dreamt that I would be the leader of the Senate and I don't take that for granted and and I know that people sitting in seats like where I am will chart the course for the future and I want people to understand where we came from and I don't mind telling them and I'm hoping that it will inspire other people to continue to invest in a democracy in an American dream that allows people like me and you and everybody else in that chamber to continue to do what they think is best not only for them but for the country and last what would make for a successful legislative session when all is said and done in June for Democrats and for yourself well I think if we met our goals right if we have a a a outcome that we found you know a myriad ways in order to address the needs that New Yorkers have not only the kitchen table needs but also the need to feel that they are protected and that they they are our first order of business uh you know getting a budget that that again answers the moment uh will be extremely important and you know just going back uh uh to our district being able to tout the things and to educate our constituents about the things that we've done in order to help their lives because I think a lot of times we don't do a good job of really you know explaining to people what government has actually done in their lives so I hope that uh you know success session will'll have a lot of things that we can go back to our community and say look this is what we did to make your life better and um this is how even when we're in the communities we will continue to draw down on the resources not only of state government but also the resources in the community that helps us make the right decisions so I'm sure we'll have a great session and you know I'm looking forward to it well thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today leader I've really enjoyed this convers I did too thank you very much and we were speaking with State Senate Majority Leader Andrea St cousins [Music]