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ALBANY IS RELIABLY LATE WITH BUDGET April
1, 2002 -- Gov. Pataki and the state Legislature have managed to
extend a dubious tradition to its 18th consecutive year by their
failure to produce a budget on time today, the start of a new fiscal
year. Despite post-Sept. 11 promises by all the parties in Albany
to begin a new era of bipartisanship, talks over a timely budget
in 2002 failed due to squabbling. "I am very frustrated and
very kind of exasperated," said Senate Majority Leader Joseph
Bruno, who insisted Senate Republicans did everything they could
to make a deal. Pataki, who campaigned in 1994 on a promise to enact
on-time budgets, blamed lawmakers for the eight years of budget
failures during his two terms. "I'm disappointed the Legislature
hasn't enacted a budget by April 1st," he said. The Democrats
in charge of the Assembly, meanwhile, have become more and more
insistent that a late budget is preferable to one that doesn't include
enough money for social spending, especially on schools. "We
always seem to have a problem getting this governor to understand
that we have to deal with our future, and we do it with education,"
said Herman Farrell Jr. (D-Manhattan), who chairs the state Assembly's
Ways and Means Committee. There are no penalties to the governor
or legislators for failing to bring in a new budget on time. There
was even less suspense this year than usual about whether the Legislature
and governor might strike an 11th-hour deal on a new budget. Lawmakers
haven't even been in session since March 26. AP |
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