They're late of course. Will Richard "the borrower" Ravitch show up, or is he still in the witness protection program? Is Shelly planning on going to the Democratic convention in Westchester, or will Paterson barricade the roads and air space to keep everyone in town? I'm not there in the Red Room but watching on computer, which you can do here. And here they come.
Paterson says he wants to focus on specific spending cuts, which sounds promising. No Ravitch. Governor is focusing on differences between his and Assembly plans, where he cuts more than they, but says individual cuts are not that far apart although "multiplier effect" comes into play. Paterson says re parks, he tried to address issue yesterday [getting into a dispute with S. Silver] but is negotiating against himself because money must come from somewhere.
"We are in an economic crisis," governor says, as are other states.
Silver starts by referring to death of "an Albany institution," Jay Gallagher, "one of the brighter spots of the Albany press corps ... Our prayers are with the family."
Silver drones on dollar number after number. I feel like Jon Stewart talking about Goldman Sachs, just give them the money. Apparently there are all sorts of staff etc. steps to be taken before conference committees can meet. Staff would need at least until Thursday afternoon, then rank and file would need to weigh in.
Paterson notes Gallagher interviewed "all three of us just three weeks ago" at NYPIRG event.
John Sampson says Senate will be here five days this week (as Paterson said last week he wanted). Regular session only scheduled up to Wednesday.
Paterson said parks can be open if $5 million in new savings are identified.
Brian Kolb endorses Silver's Thursday staff deadline. His people have met with governor's budget staff. Paterson says Kolb's ideas may conflict with labor contracts. Kolb says unions should be open to reopening contracts, not insisting on negotiated raises. (I'm making it clearer than he does, but I think that's what he's saying.)
Dean Skelos starts with Medicaid. Says Dems are "party of no" on reforming it. NYS spends 70 percent more per enrolee on Mediciad than national average. Wants more eligibility screening, does not think new federal health care law prohibits it. Anti-fraud measures, including finger imaging. Delay expansion of Family Health Plus, he calls for. Tighten eligibility loopholes. Medicaid expected to grow 37 percent over next 3 years, we need to slow it down. Also wants agreement on charter schools so NY can compete for Race to the Top funding ($700 million). Skelos says Andrew Cuomo has adopted many GOP ideas, including opposition to borrowing. Asks re Ravitch plan, opposes borrowing.
Paterson says plan mischaracterized, but doesn't rule out borrowing, but wants to focus on spending cuts now.
Sampson jokes about whether Skelos is endorsing Cuomo. Skelos says "all four" gubernatorial candidates oppose borrowing and higher taxes.
Paterson tries to get back to "substance" not politics.
Kolb asks about Race to the Top and Power for Jobs.
Paterson says Power for Jobs negotiations ongoing. On Race to the Top, gov says encouraged by NYSUT agreement (on linking teacher evaluations to student test results).
Paterson gets back to budget gap numbers, and broader budget issues. Why is budget late? "It's me," because he won't agree to higher spending. He's glad to hear "leaders have agreed to get together in conference committees on Thursday (they did?). There'll be another leaders meeting at 11 next Tuesday, and maybe another one this week. Staff will meet. And that's it. Done before 11, which given late start makes meeting about 45 minutes long.
This is NYS politics for you. There's a $9 BILLION budget gap and the most fury is over $5 MILLION for parks.
At the end of the day, the legislature forfeits its right to whine about Paterson's plans for the simple fact that he has a plan and they don't. If they don't like what he's trying to do, then they can pass the budget themselves... something which should've been done two MONTHS ago. Paterson submitted his executive budget in, what, January? The ball's been in the legislature's court for four months and they still haven't done anything except whine about the governor.
In politics, something nearly always beats nothing.
Posted by: Brian | May 26, 2010 at 09:40 AM