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Speaking to the public in a live, televised address, the governor said the proposal would give him the power to make spending cuts and take other actions.

"The people of New York have waited too long. I stand willing and responsible to preserve the future of New York's finances," said Paterson.

The governor is also asking for an up-or-down vote on his deficit reduction plan, which he presented to lawmakers Tuesday.

Paterson says he's calling for these measures in response to inaction of the legislature.

“If the Legislature is unwilling to make the necessary cuts, I will," he said. "If the Legislature is unwilling to do what needs to be done, I will. If the Legislature is unwilling to endure the criticism and the consequences, I will. All I ask the Legislature for is to take the same action that so many hard-working New Yorkers are taking every day -- make the tough decisions."

Lawmakers say they do not think they can constitutionally give the governor complete control over the budget process.

"It would be foolish of us as members of the Legislature to abdicate our responsibilities," said State Senate Conference Leader John Sampson. "This is what we were elected for, to make the tough decisions. We are making the tough decisions. But at the same time, we have constituents and we have the State of New York that we have to be concerned about."

"There is no way, no way could I vote for, or any member of my conference or any member, I believe, of John's conference either, abdicate to the governor unilateral authority to make adjustments to the budget the way he wants to," added State Senate Minority leader Dean Skelos. "We're elected to do that. He's Governor Paterson, he's not King David Paterson."

Lawmakers say they will review the governor's deficit reduction plan and will likely vote on it next week.

The new plan reduces school aid cuts from $686 million to $295 million, and also modifies his cuts to health care so the state won't miss out on federal matching Medicaid funds.

For the past three weeks, lawmakers have been traveling to Albany trying to negotiate ways to reduce the state's deficit. Despite countless closed-door meetings, and several days of special session, the parties still have not been able to reach an agreement.

Earlier this week, Paterson threatened to keep lawmakers in Albany through Thanksgiving if a deal is not reached. Lawmakers say they will not stay in the Capitol during the holidays and will return no sooner than Monday.