The state budget: What they’re saying

Legislative leaders had a generally amicable response to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget presentation on Tuesday — for now.

But there will be plenty of room for speedbumps as lawmakers begin to go over the details that will be made public in the coming hours.

A LIFE FOR DEATH ISSUE: The push to make New York the latest state to legalize euthanasia is once again coming to a head, with lawmakers vowing 2024 is the year the Empire State will join neighboring New Jersey, Vermont and eight other states in legalizing the practice.

Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and Assemblymember Amanda Septimo gathered at the Capitol on Tuesday morning to promote the Medical Aid in Dying Act — with faith leaders, public health organizers and other advocates standing behind them.

“I think death is just an uncomfortable thing for people to talk about,” Scarcella-Spanton said when asked why it has taken almost a decade for the measure to be passed in New York.

The bill was initially introduced in New York state in 2015 and Oregon became the first state to legalize the practice in 1997.

The renewed enthusiasm comes as a Siena College poll in November found New York voters support medically assisted death by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

“I don’t think there’s even a lack of support. I just think that there is an unwillingness to kind of put their name on it,” Scarcella-Spanton said. “I don’t think you think about death as something that’s legislated all the time.”

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