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Better Late than Never Budgets
New York State's government has received national recognition for the past 17 years. Unfortunately, this recognition is the result of a state government renowned for their inability to produce a timely budget as mandated by the New York State Constitution. Currently, the New York State budget process is dominated by three men in a back room setting. The governor presents his budget each year. That budget must be approved by each house of the Legislature - the Assembly and the Senate. The Speaker of the Assembly and the Majority Leader of the Senate with their absolute control over their respective houses, have the power of life and death over the budget. In effect, it is these three powerful political bosses who control the budget and its adoption. But the Senate with its Republican majority and the Assembly with its Democratic majority wheel and deal ad infinitum to preserve the special interests the leaders represent. The result is an unending series of delays and amendments in getting an agreement on a state budget. This ridiculous scenario has been replayed over and over again for 17 consecutive years. It has cost New York taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in temporary funding of important state programs, it has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in unnecessary interest expense, it has cost school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars re-planning and redrawing district budgets, and it has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in delayed critical construction projects and programs across the state. Multiply this by 17 years and we are looking literally at millions of dollars. But nobody in Albany really seems to mind - not the governor, not the Assembly speaker and not the Senate majority leader. They don't mind because they are not paying. They are only collecting from the special interest groups they're representing. But the citizens of New York mind because they are paying the cost of this political fiasco. While the governor, speaker and majority leader fiddle, the 209 legislators are sitting there doing nothing but burning your money eating and drinking at the rate of $138 a day per member plus their annual salary. Nice work if you can get it. Help Jack Cheevers Fix Albany and Save New York. Support and vote Jack Cheevers for Governor in 2002. |
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Jack Cheevers for Governor | 108 Washington Avenue | Endicott, NY 13790 | 607-785-8240 | Security & Privacy | Contact Us
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