Shades of NY Senate coup: 3 may vote no on budget
ALBANY, N.Y.—The New York senator who set off a debilitating coup in the chamber a year ago said Tuesday he is willing to vote against any more emergency spending bills even though that could likely force a shutdown of state government.
Espada said it no longer matters if government is shut down after living on bare-bones emergency spending for 10 weeks and with Paterson trying to force a state budget of his own design.
"This eviscerates the legislative branch if we don't stand up," Espada said. "I think if we give into this form of blackmail, it would be worse than the shut down of government."
The state has long passed its April 1 budget deadline and is operating with a $9.2 billion shortfall.
With the budget crisis, Gov. David Paterson has begun including permanent spending cuts in line with his proposed executive budget in the short-term spending bills. The Legislature must by law adopt the bills in whole, or reject