BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — New York State is now more than two weeks past its budget deadline.
While negotiations continue in Albany, the effects are being felt closer to home, especially by local governments and organizations waiting for funding.
Senator Sean Ryan says the hold-up is frustrating.
"These delays really don't serve anybody, and they really decrease the public's confidence in having a government that functions and runs on time," Ryan said. "Now we're falling back into this bad habit of being late, and most of it's not because of budgetary items, it's legislative items that are being put into the budget. I generally don't like putting legislative items into the budget, because you skip the committee process, the hearing process, the whole public discourse process."
The state budget was due April 1, but has been extended week to week.
"We are not in Albany debating or talking about budget issues. We are talking about the governor's policy issues," Senator April Baskin said. "We want to find compromise, and we want to get back on schedule, and we want there to be a healthy budget that passes, but the more that we are prolonged talking about a lot of these policies that are wrapped up in this budget process, and I don't believe that this is the proper place to negotiate them or discuss them, we are going to see more delays."
Assemblymember Steve Hawley said that every extra day lawmakers remain in Albany without a budget costs taxpayers $40,000.
"We're already here four extra days that we weren't scheduled to be, that's $160,000 for all of your listeners and my friends and neighbors," Hawley said. "That's a lot of money when we didn't need to be here. They've had three months to get this budget done. Let's get to work and get it done."
Senator George Borello and Assemblyman Pat Chludzinski expressed similar frustration regarding the delay.
"It doesn't seem like a whole lot is getting done behind closed doors, as far as the negotiations," Chludzinski said. "The process doesn't appear to be very transparent to myself and quite a few of my colleagues. You know, some of the holdups, from what I understand, are the discovery reforms and some of the scale backs to that to make our procedures more workable for District Attorney's offices."
"It's costing money. I'm not supposed to be here this week. We're supposed to be on break, but expenses have to be covered," Borello added. "Hotel rooms, food, staffing, everything else that goes along with having to have sessions when we weren't supposed to have sessions."
Lawmakers aren't being compensated until the budget is finalized. A proposal has surfaced to change this, allowing legislators to receive compensation regardless of the budget status.
A spokesperson for the governor indicated that the responsibility to resolve this issue rests with lawmakers, stating, "The policy priorities Governor Hochul announced back in January -- holding violent criminals accountable, cutting middle-class taxes, tackling the mental health crisis and bell-to-bell distraction free schools, all while providing record school aid and Medicaid funds -- have the overwhelming support of New Yorkers. If the highest-paid State Legislators in America are worried about their paychecks, there's a much easier solution: come to the table and pass a budget that includes Governor Hochul's common-sense agenda to make New York safer and more affordable."
Lawmakers voted to extend the budget again, this time through Thursday. Many expect that to be pushed back again, with the hope of getting a deal next week.
