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For Immediate Release: July 8th, 2004 Contact: Jordan Isenstadt (c) 516.991.3842 (w)
212.490.9535 (f) 212.490.2151 ***PRESS RELEASE*** State Senator Liz Krueger
Calls Final Day of 2004 Legislative Session
“A Pathetic Failure” Believes Budget Reform
Package will Change Landscape of Future Budget Negotiations Albany,
NY – On Tuesday, June 22nd, at about 11:40 PM, the State
Senate adjourned for a six-week recess.
To make this possible, both
houses passed Governor Pataki's $14 billion emergency spending bill before
leaving town, keeping government running for six-weeks or until August 1st. “The final day of the 2004 legislative
session was, as expected, the usual finger pointing and game playing by
Governor Pataki and the legislative leadership,” said State Senator Liz
Krueger (D-Manhattan). “Across
the spectrum, hardly anything of note was accomplished this year. Whereas last year there was the silver
lining of increased bipartisanship, this session resulted in a major
breakdown in bipartisanship, despite the emergence of conference committees. In addition, I am wary of the six-week
recess because I do not believe that anything will change between now and
then. The only satisfying piece of
business that I can refer to was the passage of a comprehensive budget reform
package that was largely based on bills that I authored.” The most substantive package of legislation to pass
through the Legislature was a budget reform package. The
Budget Reform Conference Committee shaped a reform package that includes
provisions to create an Independent Budget Office (IBO) that is
empowered to issue binding revenue forecasts if consensus cannot be reached
by the legislature and a change of
date for the fiscal year from April 1st to May 1st.
One of the highlights of the package includes a contingency budget that
would continue the previous year’s spending if a budget is not in place at
the start of the state fiscal year. The legislation also calls for three-year
financial plans and requires agency budgets to be made available to the
public at the time of Executive Budget hearings. The new plan is an important step in the much-needed budget
overhaul. “I believe this is a
significant step towards reform,” said Senator Krueger. “It includes a number of bills and ideas
that I have long advocated for. I can
only hope that the Legislature’s ability to pass this bill shows promise for
future budget reorganization. Taken
together, I believe these reforms will represent a significant step towards
the creation of a more rational, open, and accountable budget process. The success of the conference committee in
putting together this package is also unheard of in the recent history of the
legislature.” Important
legislation that was not addressed during this session included failure to
pass Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) legislation; Timothy’s Law legislation;
Rockefeller Drug Laws reform; Help America Vote Act (HAVA) legislation;
Article X Power Plant Siting legislation; improved Bottle Bill/Recycling
legislation; MTA Oversight legislation; public authority reform; increased
access to emergency contraception legislation; minimum wage increase
legislation; Empire Zone reform; a canned hunting ban; the Refund
Anticipation Loan (RAL) act; procurement lobbying reform; and regulations on
assisted-living facilities. Additionally,
there is still no fiscal budget for the 2004-2005 year, only a six-week
extender bill. “The 2004
legislative session will not be remembered for its bipartisanship or for any
innovative legislation that we passed,” concluded Senator Krueger. “Instead the dysfunctional session will be
recalled as a gigantic failure. The
continued practice of ‘three men in a room’ negotiating secret deals at the
last minute is just an example of one of the dysfunctional practices that
disenfranchise constituents and the Senators and Assemblymembers who are
elected to represent them. I pledge
to continue to do everything in my power to make sure that we pass a fair
budget and help resolve all of the outstanding issues that the Senate
Democratic Conference has been working on.” -30- |
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