As the State Budget deadline clock continues to tick away, Governor Cuomo is beginning to unlash plenty of weighty policy proposals that he had tied to the passage of the state's next fiscal plan. Suddenly, a no-frills budget seems to be on the horizon.
As the Buffalo News' Tom Precious observes: "Criminal justice, education, infrastructure, immigration and tax issues all started falling off the budget table as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and lawmakers erased their previous lines in the sand."
The governor is still trying to salvage some sort of an ethics deal to be in the budget, walking from his office to talk with Senate Republicans about his proposal. But unlike his stroll to the Assembly's side of the building last week, there was no bear hug with Majority Leader Dean Skelos to celebrate a tentative agreement.
By being so obsessed with getting a budget passed by April First, Cuomo is effectively negotiating against himself, making lawmakers realize that the governor prizes promptness over virtually anything else. From the Dream Act to a tax credit that would help parochial schools, the governor is kicking the policy can down the road past the April Fools' Day deadline for the budget.
In the end, Cuomo may have to be satisfied with keeping his record intact for promptness – and worry later about dealing with a lot of other major issues before lawmakers close up shop in June. It was a big legal gamble to link outside policy issues to budgeting -- and now it appears that the governor is taking his chips off the table.
Bob Hardt