Assembly Passes Third Round of Budget Extenders

By Karen DeWitt

Albany, New York – New York is set to begin its third week without a budget. Lawmakers approved yet another round of emergency spending extenders, but not without some complaints, as Senate Democrats considered new ways of gaining much needed revenue through a series of new fees on cars, boats, and houses.

Governor Paterson sent the legislature a third set of austerity spending measures aimed at keeping the state running for another week, until April 25th.

In the spending bills, the governor is holding up road and bridge repair projects, unless they are financed by federal stimulus monies.

Many lawmakers have objected, saying it punishes construction workers who remain unemployed. Republicans in the Assembly attempted to pass an amendment to free up the construction projects. Assemblyman Jim Conte is from Long Island.

"There's two seasons here in New York State, it's winter and construction season," Conte said. "And we're losing the construction season."

The amendment failed. Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Denny Farrell says Democrats agree with the GOP that the construction projects need to begin, but he says their hands are tied, and they can't change the governor's bills.

"I agree that we should not be stopping jobs, we should be creating jobs," Farrell said.

As for the Governor's motivations, Farrell said "we don't know what he's going to do".

Paterson has also delayed state worker raises of 4% that were to have taken effect at the beginning of April. Unions have filed a grievance. And the governor is withholding an over $2 billion dollar payment to schools, because, he says, New York is out of cash.

The governor did not make any public comment Monday, but he issued a letter to New Yorkers, saying he was reluctant to agree to a number of proposals put forth by the legislature to close the over $9 billion dollar gap, including a plan by his own Lieutenant Governor, Richard Ravitch, to borrow $2 billion dollars. Paterson demanded more spending cuts and urged lawmakers to adopt his plans for new taxes on cigarettes and sugared soft drinks. The governor said he would not accept a budget that contained what he called "the same tired fiscal tricks of the past".

Senate President Pro Temp Malcolm Smith says the stalemate between the governor and the legislature continues.

"Obviously, we are far apart," Smith said.

Senate Democrats are mulling some new revenue raising proposals of their own, including boat docking fees, and a charge for new car buyers and home mortgages. Senator Smith says nothing is set in stone, though.

"We have to put everything on the table to try to close that gap," Smith said.

In the Assembly, Democrats are waiting for the complete figures from the April 15th tax returns, before making any final budget decisions.

Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Farrell says there are some positive signs already. He says 30% of the tax returns are counted, and they show a slight increase in revenues. Farrell says those numbers might not be finalized, though, until early May.

Some lawmakers expressed worries that the budget is now so late, it could still be unresolved by the May 18th statewide school budget votes, making it more difficult for schools to plan for the next academic year.