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Sure, a state budget deal seems a week or more away, but Monday brought a different type of consensus: Senate Democrats and Gov. Kathy Hochul have an agreement on a new chief judge.

Unlike the fiasco that was Hochul’s previous pick for the state’s highest court, Democrats supported Hochul’s pick of Rowan Wilson as the next chief judge — ending a standoff that raged since Janet DiFiore abruptly resigned last year as the head of the Court of Appeals.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said Wilson, a more liberal member of the court, has a “distinguished record and has served the state effectively.” She added that Hochul’s pick to replace Wilson as an associate judge, Caitlin Halligan, has “an impressive legal resume and a strong legal mind.”

The praise is quite different from when Democrats, unions and progressives railed against Hector LaSalle as Hochul’s first pick last December —ultimately voting him down in the Senate Judiciary Committee and then on the floor. The episode was an embarrassing loss for the first-term governor.

Senate Democrats and Hochul have been building toward this moment for weeks. Hochul tipped her hand last month when she submitted a program bill that would allow a governor to fill two seats on the Court of Appeals from the same pool of candidates recommended by the Commission on Judicial Nomination.

That signaled she was going to pick the next chief judge from the current court — clearly one that would appease fellow Democrats.

“Judge Wilson’s sterling record of upholding justice and fairness makes him well-suited to lead the court at this critical time,” Hochul said in a statement.

Hochul’s picks now seems destined to cruise through the Senate in the coming weeks. That, of course, is in direct contrast with the way budget talks are going.

Rank-and-file lawmakers were back on the state Thruway before 1 p.m. Monday after they swiftly passed a one-week budget extension to keep the government operating.

They aren’t expected back for a week as legislative leaders and Hochul try to hash out a deal behind closed doors.

“There’s been progress made, but it’s still not that close,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie told reporters Monday of the ongoing budget talks.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: After the Texas ruling Friday to suspend the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, New York lawmakers are calling for the Empire State to invest more heavily in abortion services.

Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas (D-Queens) wrote in an op-ed Monday that New York should make law the Reproductive Freedom and Equity Act, which would be a dedicated funding stream within the state Health Department for abortion providers and non-profit organizations.

Hochul last year created a $25 million Abortion Provider Support Fund after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, fueling concern that more people would come to New York to get an abortion.

González-Rojas wrote that the act would help give abortion providers in New York ”real support from the state for workforce training, technical assistance, and capacity building to shore up access to complex reproductive health care.”

Hochul said Saturday that New York would look to take additional steps to protect abortion rights.

“These are rights we cherish, have always taken for granted. And this is an insult to all women, and it has to stop,” she said on CNN. — Joseph Spector

REVEL WITHOUT A PAUSE: Mayor Eric Adams spoke Monday at the unveiling of an ultra-fast electric car charging station built by rideshare company Revel.

The mayor characterized the new station, which will be publicly accessible and capable of refueling a vehicle within 20 minutes, as a key part of the city’s goals of getting gas-powered automobiles off the streets.

Earlier this year, for example, he announced all Ubers and Lyfts will be electric by 2030 and noted Monday that drivers of those cars will be able to top up their batteries at the new facility.

“Government didn’t build every gas station, so we can’t build every electric charging station,” he said. “We need a partnership.” — Joe Anuta

ENERGY: Assembly Democrats and environmental advocates want Gov. Kathy Hochul to consider alternatives to rewrite the state’s landmark climate law to tackle the costs of climate action. Hochul has backed down on her push to change the way New York calculates its emissions progress, which would enable New York to keep burning more fossil fuels for longer.

Under the state’s current accounting, for example, New York has achieved about 37 percent of the progress needed to meet the 2030 goal, according to an analysis of state data by POLITICO. If the state were to switch over to the accounting method being pushed by Hochul’s administration, the picture is much rosier: the state has already gotten three-quarters of the way to the 2030 goal.

Officials from Hochul’s administration have said affordability concerns are driving this proposed change. But lawmakers say she should be considering other options instead of moving the goalposts enshrined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act signed in 2019.

“If Governor Hochull is concerned about the burden of the CLCPA on working New Yorkers, the Legislature has a number of multiple common sense bills that will cap utility costs, make polluters pay and stop the expensive public subsidies for the gas system,” said Assemblymember Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn), who sponsors a measure to ban fossil fuels in new buildings.

As Hochul presses for lawmakers to endorse a cap-and-trade mechanism to limit emissions and raise revenue for climate action and a rebate to cushion likely hikes in energy costs for consumers, one alternative or add on pushed by several Democratic lawmakers is a Superfund-style measure targeting oil and gas companies. The Climate Superfund measure would charge large fossil fuel companies for global historic emissions, raising about $75 billion over 25 years.

“This legislation is fair. It’s not a tax,” said Assemblymember Jeff Dinowitz (D- Bronx), who sponsors the bill. “Taxpayers should not have to pay for all the costs that [fossil fuel companies] caused in the first place.” Hochul has so far not backed the proposal and it does not appear to have gotten traction in budget negotiations, which remain focused on bail. — Marie J. French

EDUCATION: Micron is creating a workforce pipeline with its new “Northeast University Semiconductor Network” that was announced on Monday. The company plans to partner with 21 public and private higher education institutions to conduct research and educate the next generation interested in entering the workforce. The list of partners includes several New York universities such as: SUNY and CUNY; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York University, Columbia University and Cornell University.

“Together we are laying the foundation for educational and economic opportunity for SUNY students across the state. Building on Micron’s strong partnership with Onondaga Community College, the entire SUNY System is committed to ensuring our programs, curriculum and hands-on training prepare New Yorkers for prime technician and engineering roles inside Micron’s leading-edge memory manufacturing facility and throughout the semiconductor industry,” SUNY Chancellor John King said in a statement. – Katelyn Cordero

HOUSING: Adams has appointed Doug Apple, president and CEO of 1811Consulting and a former first deputy commissioner in the city’s housing department, to be a new public member on the Rent Guidelines Board. Apple works on supportive and transitional housing projects at his firm and was previously head of the non-profit Samaritan Daytop Village. Adams also appointed Genesis Aquino, executive director of the advocacy group Tenants & Neighbors, to serve as a tenant member to the rent board.

Adams, in a statement, said Apple and Aquino “bring an invaluable combination of policy expertise and on-the-ground experience to serve as stewards of our rent-stabilized housing.”

The nine-member body has five “public members,” who are theoretically impartial to both landlords and tenants, as well as two members representing owners and two representing renters. The body votes every June on whether, and by how much, to raise rents on the city’s nearly 1 million rent-regulated apartments. — Janaki Chadha

— A minor in cannabis studies is now available for SUNY Cobleskill students. (New York Upstate)

— While New Yorkers were enjoying Easter’s weekend, Troy’s City Hall was ransacked by burglars. (Times’ Union)

— The first Seneca Nation-owned cannabis dispensary will open on Wednesday in Niagara Falls. (Buffalo News)

— New York City legal service groups are asking for a $461 million investment to help low-income New Yorkers in their eviction cases. (WNYC)

— The Red Hot Chili Peppers are going to perform in Syracuse on Friday. (Syracuse.com)