Plan to rid Albany of the bad and ugly

Governor Cuomo’s State of the State extravaganza is over. Along the way, he skipped Rochester and spent more of your tax dollars by giving six speeches across the state instead of one in the Capital. More important to me than the governor’s speeches are his plans for the coming year and, as always, with the good came the bad.

The good: The governor joined our push to legalize Uber upstate. Ridesharing means more jobs and safer roads, and it’s past time to get it done. The bad: His proposal for free SUNY tuition offered few details on how it will work or how much it will cost, while providing no assistance to private or independent colleges like Nazareth and St. John Fisher. We need to know more before this can be a workable plan that is fair to all students and protects taxpayers.

Finally, the ugly: How these ideas and others will move through Albany in the days to come. Let me explain: Ever wonder why big proposals that have nothing to do with dollars and cents end up in the state budget? That’s not the case in every state. It happens here because a series of lawsuits have reinforced the governor’s ability to put policy in the budget, which gives him incredible power. If the Legislature doesn’t agree with his ideas by April 1, the governor can simply attach his entire budget proposal to any short-term funding bill. The only alternative is shutting down state government, which can harm everyday people, including school kids and seniors.

I have a three-point proposal to return power to the people by ensuring the Legislature can stand up to the governor on their behalf. First, a “One Thing at a Time” requirement would keep Albany from cobbling unrelated bills together — like the “Big-Ugly” package that is rushed-though at the 11th hour of the legislative session every year.

Second, prohibiting the governor from injecting non-fiscal matters into the state budget would again make budgeting more about protecting the bottom line and less about pursuing pie-in-the-sky proposals. Third, restricting the governor’s use of short-term budget extenders would restore the Legislature’s autonomy to stop bad ideas that could harm taxpayers, without harming everyday people in the process. I’m currently working on legislative fixes to make all of these common sense solutions a reality.

If we do these things, we’ll finally get more good and less bad out of our state government this year and in the years to come.

Sen. Rich Funke, R-Perinton, represents the 55th state Senate District.