Assemblyman 130th Assembly District
JOSEPH A. ERRIGO
| For
immediate release: March 14th, 2005 |
Contact: Adam Peterson (585) 334-5210 |
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District Office: 3045 East Henrietta Rd., Henrietta, NY 14467 Albany Office: Rm 427 LOB, Albany, NY 12248 |
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COLUMN BY ASSEMBLYMAN JOE ERRIGO
FOR THE WEEK OF 3/14/05
WORKING 24/7 FOR AN ON-TIME STATE BUDGET
I joined my Assembly Republican conference colleagues on Monday to unveil a
state budget deadline clock that is counting down the days until the April 1
state constitutional deadline for an approved spending plan. The clock is
displayed outside Minority Leader Charles H. Nesbitt's office at Room 340 of
the Capitol building to serve as a reminder to everyone involved in the
budget process of the importance of having an on-time budget for the first
time in 21 years.
I'm dedicated to passage of an on-time budget this year. I'm committed to
staying in Albany and working around the clock to get a budget passed for
all New Yorkers.
The public, five-way budget meetings that have taken place over the past few
weeks are worthy of praise because, for the first time, Gov. George Pataki
and the minority and majority leaders of both houses have come together to
work toward a common goal of an on-time spending plan. Open debate on the
budget and the budget process is something that we, as Republicans, have
been striving to accomplish for years.
Another cornerstone of the conference's budget reform package - requiring
the comptroller to be the final arbitrator on revenues if an agreement
couldn't be reached by March 10 - was also agreed to by the legislative
leaders and governor earlier this year. But that step wasn't implemented
because the five leaders reached a consensus on anticipated revenues ahead
of the deadline.
A chief stumbling block to an on-time budget, however, remains the Assembly
majority's insistence on bringing only one-house, nonbinding budget
resolutions to the Assembly floor, while the Senate is prepared to take up
budget bills this week.
I urge all New Yorkers to voice their concerns about and demands for an
on-time budget by contacting the Assembly majority leaders at (518)
455-3791, or e-mail
speaker@assembly.state.ny.us.
New York deserves an on-time budget.
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