April first is the budget deadline in New York State…some years it’s on time and others it’s been a cruel April Fool’s day joke, delayed for days, sometimes weeks and months. Now the governor’s administration is hinting it could be delayed this year. Budget Director Robert Mujica put out a statement yesterday and said getting the spending plan right is more important than any deadline. The governor wants the budget to be fiscally responsible, but he says it must include MTA financing, whether through congestion pricing or fare increases, and it must have a permanent tax cap, and bail reform, which is currently stalled in the legislature. On “The Morning Show” yesterday, Rockland Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee said both legislative houses have been putting in long hours to get the job done…
Mujica added the budget must be complete, and if the legislature isn’t in a rush, then neither is the governor.