Legislative leaders say despite their differences with Governor Cuomo, they intend to continue their streak of on time budgets by approving the spending plan on time for the fifth year in a row.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos says he disagrees with Governor Cuomo’s attempts to link unrelated policy items, like education issues and an ethics reform package to the state budget. The Senate and Assembly one house budget proposals reject many of the measures that Cuomo’s linked to the budget. But Skelos says he doesn’t think the differences should hold up the budget, as Cuomo has threatened.
“The bottom line is, this would be our fifth on- time budget,” Skelos said. “A late budget would send an improper message, that this government has gone back to its dysfunctional, Washington ways.”
Senator Skelos says some of the ethics and education issues could be resolved during the rest of the session.
Senate Republicans have also rejected Governor Cuomo’s plan to hold an economic development competition for the troubled upstate region. Cuomo wants seven cities to compete for $1.5 billion dollars, with just three winners who each take half a billion for economic projects.
Skelos says he “likes the idea of competition”, but wants to award the money based on the merits of each entry, and not pit one entire region of the state against another.
“It should be based on individual projects,” Skelos said. “Not that four regions should lose and three regions should win.”
The Assembly does not make any revisions to the economic development competition, but Speaker Carl Heastie says that could change as budget talks progress.