Despite what you may think, the Assembly Minority are the only ones who actually debate the budget. When we debate the budget, the people of the state get a complete picture of what is in the document. This year, the governor did all he could to hide the contents of each budget bill from us. We were given budget bills dozens to hundreds of pages long, with only hours to read and understand them before we were expected to cast our votes, circumventing the constitutionally required 3 day aging process.

We slowed down the process as much as we could; making motions to table budget bills that would have given us and the public an opportunity to thoroughly go through them. Each time, the Assembly Majority voted our motions down and proceeded with an unjust and non-transparent process the likes of which is far too common in Albany.

We took to the floor on Thursday, March 31 at 9:30 a.m. and debated bills until 4:45 a.m. Friday, broke for three hours, and then returned to debate until 7 p.m. This was the most secretive budget process I have ever seen.

I am pleased the Gap Elimination Adjustment (GEA) has been restored, giving our schools back the money they deserve. Unfortunately, we were given no increase in Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program (CHIPS) funding and the appropriation was ambiguous as to how much our communities would be allocated.

Transferring the New York Canal System to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) was a colossal mistake, because the authority has no idea how to run and operate a canal. This will cost NYPA $70 million a year that will be paid by ratepayers in their electric bills.

The governor’s $15 minimum wage hike on Long Island is going to result in the loss of jobs, the closing of small businesses, getting in the way of small-business expansion (which creates new jobs) and creating an underground economy with more people working off the books. Non-for-profits will be forced to lay off many employees who are charged with helping the most vulnerable people in our society and we will see a decline in our small family farms and there will be a rise in illegal immigration.

In the near future, we will be digging into the budget to see what we would have debated had the governor not been so dishonest during the budget process. This year’s budget process was the most irresponsible I’ve ever seen. When two of Albany’s most powerful men leave office in handcuffs, you’d think it would shake things up around here. Apparently not.