ALBANY -- The special session of the legislature has reaped rewards for the judiciary as well as for groups that oppose hydrofracking, but not much more than that. .
Because of political turmoil in the senate, there was a sense on Monday that reducing the deficit, perhaps the most important issue on Governor Paterson’s agenda, wouldn’t be addressed during the special session.
That sense transformed into an absolute after the Senate Democrats issued a statement shunting all blame for the inaction on to the Governor’s shoulders due to a delay in submitting budget bills. On Tuesday’s Capitol Pressroom radio show, the Governor was asked to interpret that decision through a political prism….
The failure of the legislature to address the current year’s $315 million budget gap means that Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo will have that much more of a hole to dig the state out of by April 1st. Meanwhile, the State Bar association applauded the legislature today for creating a commission to review judicial salaries.
Judges in New York are paid poorly in comparison to other states because their compensation is directly linked to the Legisture’s. They want that connection severed for both practical and political reasons.
