The three Amigos are at it again! Governor David Patterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith want to bypass the one-house budget resolutions and the conference committee process to broker a State budget. More here.
ARE YOU KIDDING?
The budget process needs an overhaul. It has needed an overhaul for a long time. The past several years, the conference committee structure has (arguably) allowed a little public openness in the budget process. Most of the major negotiations were still done behind closed doors between the three leaders. At least with the conference committee system in place, your representative (Democrat or Republican) had a small voice in the process.
Malcolm Smith and Shelly Silver announced that they want to bypass the system. Essentially that means that your representative, in the Assembly and the Senate has no voice in the budget process. Their argument is that because Albany is controlled by one party (Democrats), there is no need for the conference committees thus speeding up the process. This also means that NYC constituents are the only ones who matter (and will benefit from this budget). Upstate residents do not matter! Any representation upstate residents have, will have no say since all three leaders are from NYC.
As for the GOO GOO’s they should be mad as hell. Smith who has publicly announced he wanted to implement a more transparent system has done just the opposite. He has left his own conference out of the loop on this one. If I was in the Majority in either house I would be screaming right now.
This move by Smith also contradicts the very platform of transparency on which the Senate Democrats won control of the Senate last November.
It’s a slap in the face to all elected officials, but it’s a bigger slap in the face to all New Yorkers, especially Upstate residents.
