Just a few months ago, Governor Cuomo said he supported granting scholarships to undocumented college students, raising the minimum wage, and comprehensive juvenile justice reform. Late last night Cuomo announced a tentative budget deal that included none of those things. What's left? Modest increases in education funding, watered-down ethics reform, and a sales tax exemption for boats costing more than $230,000.

Capital New York reports that the yacht credit "appeared quietly over the weekend." The outlet quoted Ron Deutch of the Fiscal Policy Institute.

“We could not agree on property tax relief for struggling homeowners but somehow we can agree that people who are purchasing yachts shouldn’t have to pay sales tax in New York," Deutsch said. "I wasn’t aware that there was a huge yacht lobby that was pushing for this. This really kind of seemed to come out of nowhere, and I’m surprised to see it in the final revenue bill."
“The ironic part is that your average Joe in New York who wants to go out and buy a small 16-foot bass fishing boat for his own personal use will actually pay sales tax, but someone going out and buying a yacht isn’t going to be subject to the same tax."

Republican Senate Leader Dean Skelos defended the yacht credit, telling reporters that it "creates jobs."

Since he has come into office, Cuomo has used the specter of a punctual budget to ostensibly wring concessions out of lawmakers. But instead of actually forcing policy changes, he has shown "a distinct tendency to cry wolf."

The Times reports that Cuomo's major concessions in the $142 billion budget are favorable to the Republican-controlled Senate, as Republicans loudly opposed the minimum wage legislation and the DREAM Act. (Tax rebates of up to 90% on donations to schools—including private and charter schools—a measure largely seen as pandering to Albany's base of wealthy donors, will be discussed after the budget is fleshed out.)

The governor's third ethics overhaul since he took office four years ago would require state lawmakers to be transparent about any outside income exceeding $1,000 (hi, Shelly). Naturally, there are "some exceptions," and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has proposed his own ethics reforms, described the governor's plan as "more tinkering around the edges, accompanied by some fairly strong and recycled language about how this really solves all the problems."

While Cuomo has pledged to keep pushing for The DREAM Act, the Times reports that its chances are grim:

Immigrant advocates fear that as a stand-alone measure, the Dream Act, which has already passed in the State Assembly, would stand little chance in the Republican-controlled Senate. The Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican, said his members had made it clear that they opposed the Dream Act. “Like most New Yorkers, he doesn’t believe taxpayers should cover the cost of free college tuition for illegal immigrants while hardworking, middle-class families here legally take out student loans that will take them years to repay,” a spokesman for Mr. Skelos, Scott Reif, said.

Last Wednesday, about 50 undocumented SUNY and CUNY students across the state vowed to go on a hunger strike until the DREAM Act was integrated into the state budget.

.@CarlHeastie this is our last meal until #NYSDreamAct is adopted in the budget #CUNY @SenatorPeralta @FranciscoPMoya pic.twitter.com/UDXSjGmy71
— CUNY DREAMers (@CUNYDreamers) March 25, 2015

The deadline for budget approval is this Wednesday, calling for a Tuesday vote. Tomorrow evening, the group CUNY DREAMers will celebrate Cesar Chavez Day, inviting New Yorkers to join students, currently on their sixth day of fasting, in demanding that legislators put the DREAM Act back in the budget.

Day 6: #Strike4DREAM we hear that @NYGovCuomo @CarlHeastie forgot about us in #NYBudget @SenatorPeralta #Disappointed pic.twitter.com/lpZSN5Dz6c
— CUNY DREAMers (@CUNYDreamers) March 30, 2015

At a press conference this afternoon, Mayor de Blasio said he was "disappointed" that the minimum wage increase didn't make it into the budget negotiations, and expressed dismay that the DREAM Act was stalled. He sounded a more positive note on the $1.4 billion in increased education funding the budget provides for:

Over the last several months, what we’ve tried to do in Albany is a continuation of everything we’ve done in the struggle against income inequality and the issues that we face every day in the city. Again, some of the developments we know of, so far, will help us in that effort. The increase in school aid statewide last year to this, appears to be about $1.4 billion dollars. That’s a very substantial increase from one year to the next. So again, that’s statewide. We will get a substantial share of that. If that proves to be true, that will be very helpful in our efforts to address a host of challenges in our school system.