Tedisco to Comptroller: When is a Budget On-Time?

As the April 1^ststate budget deadline approaches, Senator Jim Tedisco (R,C,I,REF-Glenville) today is calling on State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli for clarification on when the budget would be certified as “on-time” from a fiscal standpoint.

            This year, state legislators stand to gain another $10,000 pay raise with the “on-time budget passage by April 1^st” according to the state’s Pay Commission Report. However, the Pay Commission Report does not clearly specify if all the state budget bills or just one or some of the bills need to be passed by April 1^stor if a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown would suffice. 

Moreover, it is not clear from the report whether the budget is considered “on-time” if it is passed by 11:59 p.m. and 59 seconds on March 31^stor 11:59 p.m. and 59 seconds on April 1^st.

In the past, lawmakers have stretched the definition of what constitutes “on-time” and have even gone so far as to stop the clocks in the legislative chambers. 

“Our constituents deserve to have a good, balanced and on-time budget. Protecting their tax dollars by providing the best economic plan for New York may be the most important obligation we have as state representatives and most important in keeping the trust of our constituents in this year’s budget process is being transparent so all know what would represent an ‘on-time budget,” said Senator Tedisco. 

“We should all be made aware of what that definition constitutes as the budget moves to the April 1^stdeadline before the Majorities ram through a bad budget for taxpayers, stretch the definition of what it means to be ‘on-time’ and then give themselves a $10,000 pay raise for their incompetence. For this reason, I am asking for the exact time and date that the entire budget and all budget bills can be passed which shall be defined as an ‘on-time budget.’ Taxpayers deserve to know.”