ALBANY – State legislative leaders said Thursday that budget talks have yet to address Gov. Hochul’s proposed expansion of charter schools – as bail reform and her controversial housing plan dominate the discussions.

“It’s not been a focal point as of yet,” state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) told reporters Thursday.

“Nothing other than bail and the housing compact has gotten any real discussion,” agreed Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx).

The Democratic supermajorities in the Senate and the Assembly have already passed budget resolutions rejecting Hochul’s plan to allow roughly 100 more charters to open in the Big Apple – setting up a showdown with Hochul.

Neither Stewart-Cousins nor Heastie have explicitly ruled out that a final spending plan might allow more charters to open.

The Assembly speaker has previously said there is “minimal” support within his legislative conference for allowing more charters in the Big Apple — while leaving the door open to a compromise.

“It’s all part of negotiations,” Heastie, whose own constituents favor increasing charters, said March 15.

Charter boosters say they give black and Latino children in particular a chance for a public school education while keeping them away from underperforming schools in the regular system.

“Education matters, and our children matter,” state Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Nassau) said at an Albany rally earlier this week backing expansion. “And unlike the rhetoric that’s out there these days, charter schools are not evil. That is how we need to start this conversation. They educate our youth, our future leaders.”

Just 275 out of 460 charters allowed statewide can currently operate in New York City, including so-called “zombie” schools that no longer function.

Hochul has proposed allowing the zombie charter slots to be reallocated – an idea that progressives have vehemently opposed, along with removing the cap on charters in New York City specifically, at the behest of powerful unions like the United Federation of Teachers.

“I believe every student deserves a quality education, and we are proposing to give New York families more options and opportunities to succeed,” Hochul said while unveiling her proposal.

The state budget process gives the governor enormous leverage over state lawmakers by holding out in negotiations while issuing so-called extenders to keep state government going in the meantime.

“It’s not about a race to a deadline, it’s about a race to getting the right results. We are working on getting the right results to deliver for New Yorkers,” Hochul told North Country Public Radio on Thursday, admitting she would miss the April 1 budget date.

But it remains to be seen how much political capital Hochul wants to spend on her charter push as negotiations continue on bail reform and a housing plan that suburban legislators have resisted by claiming it undermines local zoning laws.

Opponents say charters, which are publicly funded but privately run, unfairly divert resources from regular public schools while shielding their internal operations from scrutiny.

“If charter schools are so good, why don’t rich white communities want them? Why doesn’t Westchester clamor for more charter schools?” state Sen. Jabari Brisport, a former public school teacher, said at the Capitol earlier this week.

Anti-charter activists rallied Thursday in a show of force highlighting how upcoming talks on charters could get testy between the “three people in a room” – Hochul, Heastie, and Stewart-Cousins – who will ultimately decide the budget.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Sochie Nnaemeka, statewide director for the progressive Working Families Party, said about keeping the fight going against loosening the cap.

Hochul spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hays said Thursday that the governor remains committed to the various proposals included in the $227 billion spending plan she unveiled Feb. 1.

“Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget makes transformative investments to make New York more affordable, more livable, and safer,” Crampton-Hays said, “and she continues to work with the legislature to deliver a final budget that meets the needs of all New Yorkers.”