“Another late state budget and yet another sign of dysfunction in Albany. I wish I could say it was a bad April Fools’ Day joke, but late budgets have become a troubling trend over the last several years that have been made worse by the fact that the Democratic majorities in the Legislature don’t seem to care about missing the April 1 deadline to adopt the state’s spending plan.
Most New Yorkers don’t always have the luxury of nonchalantly going about their lives like the majorities do in Albany during the budget process. If New Yorkers don’t have a doctor’s appointment, they can’t just walk in and expect to be seen by their physician. If they don’t show up at work, they might get fired. Those taking the bus must be at the stop when the schedule says, or they will miss their ride. On April 15, they don’t get to decide to file their tax returns whenever they want to do it. Nightly newscasts air at a certain time and not when the stations feel like it.
Across the state, local governments prepare and meet budget deadlines every year. But, if you are the legislative majorities, state deadlines apparently do not matter, and you can casually go about passing a budget whenever you get around to it.
It is very clear that one-party control of state government has been an abysmal failure. Under the leadership of the legislative majorities and governor, we have seen nontransparent budget negotiations where spending has ballooned to unsustainable levels. More financial burdens have been placed on New Yorkers who are already facing significant affordability challenges. Problematic policies that should be debated and discussed in an open and transparent manner have been included in budgets.
New Yorkers deserve better. They deserve a government that cares about meeting its deadlines and works for them and not against them.”
