ALBANY, N.Y. — A threat by two Democratic senators to shut down government over Gov. David Paterson’s push for a budget has Democratic leaders in Albany seeking support from Senate Republicans. “I’m shocked and I’m appalled,” the Democratic governor said at Wednesday’s budget meeting with legislative leaders. Paterson appealed to individual Republican senators to offset the threatened opposition of Democratic...
ALBANY, N.Y. — A threat by two Democratic senators to shut down government over Gov. David Paterson’s push for a budget has Democratic leaders in Albany seeking support from Senate Republicans.
“I’m shocked and I’m appalled,” the Democratic governor said at Wednesday’s budget meeting with legislative leaders.
Paterson appealed to individual Republican senators to offset the threatened opposition of Democratic Sens. Pedro Espada Jr. and Ruben Diaz Sr. and to vote for his emergency bills, which include long-term spending cuts. He described the two Democrats as “rogues.”
The Legislature missed the April 1 due date to pass a budget even as the state contends with a $9.2 billion shortfall.
Espada and Diaz object to Paterson forcing the Legislature to accept yearlong budget cuts as part of weekly emergency spending bills, which by law the Legislature must accept in total or reject. The Senate’s Democratic majority needs every one of its 32 members to pass the legislation if there is no Republican support.
Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos of Nassau County met privately with Paterson in the late afternoon after the morning meeting. Skelos emerged saying that if Paterson agrees to some proposed budget cuts in mental health and human services and as much as $300 million in savings from a restructuring of Medicaid, he and other Republicans will support next week’s emergency spending bill.
“The governor made no commitments to put anything in there and Dean Skelos made commitments to not shut down government,” said Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook.
Paterson is scheduled to release his emergency spending proposal on Friday. The legislative vote is scheduled for Monday.
What would a shutdown mean?
With the state budget more than two months late and continued discord in Albany, the fear of an unprecedented shutdown of state government is getting more attention among state planners.
A shutdown would likely mean a fraction of the number of troopers patrolling highways and investigating crimes, delayed tax refunds, suspension of lottery games and closed unemployment offices just when the state is hovering around its highest unemployment rate in decades.
The National Conference of State Legislatures reported that some state shutdowns, such as Tennessee’s partial shutdown in 2002, forced suspended classes at public universities and a halt to state-funded construction and issuance of driver’s licenses. But essential services, including public health programs, welfare, child support services, mental health clinics, prisons and highway patrols, continued.
At the morning leaders’ meeting, Paterson called on Senate Republicans “who believe in government, and I’m sure out of 30 there are a few who can vote for it to diminish the capacity of those who shut down the Senate last year to shut down the whole state this year.”
Last year, Espada led a Senate coup by creating a coalition with another dissident Democrat and Republicans for a month. Espada later returned the majority to the Democrats and was named majority leader.
Wednesday, Espada declared victory. He said he was assured by Senate Democratic leader John Sampson late Tuesday night that the next emergency spending bills would not include any of Paterson’s deep cuts to programs such as health care and school aid. Instead, Espada said, Paterson will work out a full budget soon in partnership with the Legislature.
“My actions got results,” Espada said, adding that it returned the budget process to the Legislature. “You’re darn right I would vote to shut government down if they continued to put these cuts that would create tremendous pain and damage.”
In a later interview, Espada made it clear that if Paterson puts long-term cuts into the emergency bills and cuts Medicaid further, he would vote against the legislation. “If the governor changes ... I will vote ’no’ on Monday,” Espada said.
Sampson confirmed the call. He said it was a good conversation, but he wouldn’t elaborate. “I will manage my conference and I will manage my members,” said Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat.