New York leaders are anxiously awaiting today’s announcement of the finalists for Round II of the federal “Race to the Top” cash, which is expecting to come sometime around noon along with a speech by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

The state made the cut last time, too, but ultimately ended up finishing 15th of the 16 finalists – largely due to its failure to adopt reforms that including lifting the charter school cap and changing the way teachers are evaluated.

Since then, agreements have been reached on both fronts, and lawmakers are hopeful that will increase the state’s chances of landing up to $700 million.

That money – or any portion of it – would go a long way toward helping close the budget gap that would likely be opened by the loss of FMAP Medicaid funding, for example, although the two are not interchangeable.

If New York is successful this time around, look for the Senate Democrats to declare a major victory.

Sources say they will be pointing out the fact that the charter school cap bill passed 45-15, with all 32 Democrats – even those who are vehemently ant-charter, like Sens. Bill Perkins and Shirley Huntley – voting “yes” and 15 Republicans in the “no” column.

UPDATE: AP has just announced that 19 states are finalists for the $3 billion in Race to the Top funds. The states are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Washington, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

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