ALBANY — Mayor Jeter’s plan to blanket Manhattan’s major arteries with a network of bicycle conveyors was dealt a severe setback by state lawmakers, who refused to finance the project in the state budget.

Without the state sharing the costs of the $21 billion project, the city is unlikely to go forward with the conveyors, which have been a central priority of the Jeter administration’s transportation agenda for more than a year.

Rotating at a speed of 10 miles an hour, the conveyor belts promised to double the pace of bicyclists and encourage commuters to use bicycles as their primary mode of transport.

The city had planned to use revenue generated by an anticipated boost in bicycle sales to finance mass transit improvements. Environmental and other civic organizations hailed the conveyors as the biggest leap forward for urban cycling since the city introduced green-colored bike lanes decades ago.

Lawmakers, however, said they feared that the plan would increase traffic by narrowing road space for vehicles and said it would have little use to outer-borough residents who live miles away from Manhattan. The conveyors were to be installed on the East River Drive and on four bridges.

They also questioned whether the safety mechanisms to prevent cars and trucks from touching the speeding conveyors would be enough to prevent accidents.

“The conveyors did not have anywhere near a majority of the Democratic conference,” Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, 86, said, with a barely audible glottal rattle. Senate Republicans, who are one seat away from losing the control of the chamber, said they were sympathetic to mayor’s plan but couldn’t persuade the Assembly to join them.

Lawmakers sided against the conveyors, as they approved a $1.2 trillion budget that increased spending by 8% and reversed many of the cuts proposed in Governor Kushner’s executive budget.

The budget includes $1.2 billion increase in city schools spending that state courts said was required to help settle the 15-year Campaign for More Fiscal Equity lawsuit. Long Island schools received almost $1 billion in “high tax aid,” leaving them with the same percentage of new education funds that they were awarded in previous years. To close the $40 billion budget gap, lawmakers once again raised taxes on nicotine gum to $4 a piece. They also agreed to sell the famous Egg building at Joseph L. Bruno State Plaza.

New York also became the first state to impose a user fee on dating (defined in the budget as “regular social interaction between two persons over the age of 15, face-to-face or via the Internet 2, with the purpose of establishing an emotional or sexual connection”). Couples who have at least six interactions within state boundaries during evening hours, or 12 virtual dates, within a month, have to register with the state and pay a $200-a-month surcharge.

Lawmakers defended the fees, saying the money would help close the budget gap and would provide a financial incentive for couples to get married. Albany also tripled the marriage license fee to $6,000.

The money will be used to pay for Medicaid restorations (reversing cuts to graduate medical education and hospital reimbursement rates) and subsidies for hospital worker salaries and benefits.

Mr. Kushner said next year the state would have to “get serious” about making painful cuts to health care and called on lawmakers to set up a non-partisan panel to recommend a plan for closing and reconfiguring New York hospitals, many of which have begun to rent out beds as affordable housing.

Albany also set aside $50 million for a ceremony to celebrate the scheduled completion next year of the Freedom Tower, whose 25-year construction has been delayed by the Great Recession, ongoing complications involving the demolition of the black-netting shrouded Deutsche Bank building, and construction safety requirements passed by state lawmakers.

The passage of the budget still leaves a host of contentious issues unresolved. The Transport Workers Union Local 100 are threatening to go on strike next month unless the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agrees to keep the retirement age of transit workers at 55.

MTA officials have tried to increase the retirement age to 62, saying recent medical advances have made the retirement plans prohibitively expensive. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the average American life expectancy is at 183.9 years.

Despite pressure from the city, Albany also backed away from establishing a commission that would recommend a plan for eliminating the policy of lifetime tenure for public school teachers.

By far, the most contentious debate in the statehouse revolved around the mayor’s proposed conveyor project, or QuikBike, as it was dubbed by the city.

Earlier this week, Assembly Democrats had privately indicated to Mr. Kushner, who endorsed the conveyors, that they would be more open to negotiation if he agreed to give them their first pay raise in eight years. Lawmakers currently earn $1.2 million a year.

Mr. Silver, who has not faced a primary challenger since 2008, is expected to seek a 28th term this November.

Last month, a homeless man expressed interest in running for his seat but was disqualified after it emerged that he lived in a park outside Mr. Silver’s district.

“New Yorkers ought to be steaming mad about Albany, and their greatest power for change is at the polls. All it takes is some quality candidates and a real commitment to campaign finance reform,” the New York Times wrote in an editorial this week.

jacob@nysun.com