Conte Criticizes Budget Inaction

Assemb. Jim Conte, R-Huntington Station, criticized Democratic state legislative leaders on Tuesday for not tackling the state's looming fiscal crisis during this week's special session.

 "Once again, state leaders have failed to put the state's fiscal house in order and instead focused their time on passing legislation that will stifle job creation and cost the state $1 million in permit revenue," Conte said.  "The longer state government puts off making necessary budget cuts, the deeper the cuts will be."

The legislature met Monday in a special session called by Gov. David Paterson but did not act on the matter, with some legislators complaining they hadn't seen a bill from Paterson that would have addressed an existing $315 million gap.

The failure to act to close the current gap will only worsen matters in the next budget, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli warned. 

Conte said the state faces a $9 billion deficit, which could be as high $11 billion at the end of the fiscal year in March. 

"By not acting now, the Democratic majorities are hampering the Legislature's ability to make across-the-board reductions, which will negatively affect schools, hospitals and local governments next year," Conte said.