Jacobs' Budget Reform Effort Gaining Momentum

New York State Senator Chris Jacobs (60^th SD) issued the following statement after the New York State Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of his budget reform resolution (S5817).  The bill now progresses to the Senate’s Rules Committee, the last step before going to the full Senate for a final vote:

Senator Chris Jacobs:

“The purpose of the New York State Budget is to provide funding for the core and fundamental operations of New York State government.  Unfortunately, for several years now, Governors have been manipulating the budget process and holding passage of a budget hostage to secure approval of their own political agendas.

New Yorkers have not been well served as legislation with major policy and budgetary implications has been passed without the appropriate level of analysis, debate, and public transparency.  The most notable example of this is the common core disaster passed in the budget a few years back.  That should never have been forced in the budget.

The resolution reported out of the Judiciary Committee today would put an end to this practice by amending the state constitution, requiring that any legislative language introduced as part of the budget must specifically relate to an appropriation or revenue source necessary to implementing the budget.”