ALBANY — The New York State Legislature is working on reaching a state budget agreement.
A tentative budget for the state’s new fiscal year was reached late Wednesday night, the same day the budget was due.
As of early Thursday morning, the Assembly stands in recess. The Senate stands adjourned until 9 A.M.
The debate currently taking place is over several items, including the $2 billion in discretionary funding of Capital Projects as the state is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. There are also proposed cuts to education.
One of the assembly members not in attendance because he tested positive for the coronavirus is democrat Charles Barron. He said the budget is “a reverse Robin Hood that steals from the poor to help the rich.
Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara released the following statement on the deals reached in the tentative budget:
“Public education simply can’t take a cut in this state budget, the Governor should know this since he’s underfunded our schools for years, especially in our upstate rural communities! We saw how the GEA devastated public education, the last thing we need is another version in this budget,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. “I’ve also urged the Governor to include rural ambulance services in this state budget. Here in my hometown, the volunteers at Rotterdam EMS are also on the front lines when it comes to responding to medical emergencies and saving lives. We’ve already seen many forced to close and during COVID19 we can’t risk losing more!”
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