“Similar to my first three years in Albany, the budget was passed in the middle of the night without proper time to review each bill or gain input from New York residents. This particular year, however, was the most dysfunctional of them all. Several steps meant to increase transparency throughout the process were bypassed and rather than closed-door meetings, the three Legislative leaders conducted negotiations of a $178 billion budget on closed-line Zoom conference calls.

“Despite some small victories, like continued funding for our veterans, local roads and bridges and some provisions to roll back the incredibly flawed bail reform measures that were adopted last year, there was very little in the budget that I support in good conscience. In a time of such uncertainty, the residents of the 112^th Assembly District, and entire State of New York, deserved much better than a budget that prioritized policy over fundamental needs, as well as those related to the COVID-19 public health crisis.

“One of my greatest concerns as a result of this budget is the unhealthy amount of authority that has been shifted to the Director of the Budget, i.e. the Executive Branch, to make quarterly adjustments to each allocation outlined in the approved financial plan. While the Legislature was given an inadequate 10 days to vet and provide an alternative proposal, this is a dangerous precedent and is an unreliable funding stream for our schools, municipalities and all other agencies depending on it.”

“It is unclear what the future holds for the rest of this Legislative Session, but it is my hope that we are able to return and continue fighting for all those who were not represented in this budget and for our middle class families, medical professionals and first responders, small business owners and all essential workers being impacted by these uncharted times.”