Legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to push for a state budget deal Saturday, agreeing on a pay raise for non-union state workers and appearing to be close to increasing school aid by as much $1.4 billion.

“We are moving forward on schedule,” Cuomo told reporters. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed, but we hope to have it done on time. The conversations are going well.”

Cuomo said his main goals remain education, ethics reform, and determining how to spend a $5.4 billion windfall resulting from bank settlements. He said “a really comprehensive transformation of what is probably one of the most entrenched systems in the state of New York” is vital for schools, along with “real ethics reform, ethics reform you haven’t seen in 50 years” for state government that has been wracked by scandal.

He said talks on education reform are moving very close to the proposals he made, which included weakening teacher tenure and enacting more robust job evaluation procedures for teachers to make it easier to get rid of incompetent educators. He would not disclose the size of the increase in school aid under discussion.

Cuomo’s press aides spent time on Twitter Saturday bickering with teachers union supporters who staged another protest rally against him in New York City. Cuomo’s statements drew criticism from others online.

“Gov. Cuomo argues that ethics changes will be ‘transformational.’ My prediction, not so much,” Blair Horner of NYPIRG posted on Twitter.

Empire Center lobbyist E.J. McMahon noted that one of the agreed-to bills out Saturday dropped mentions of Cuomo’s plans for a dedicated fund to hold the $5.4 billion, adding more money to reserve funds, and requiring more detailed estimates of future costs of public employee pensions. He also faulted Cuomo for not pushing for a tax cut.

“Real property tax relief — permanent tax cap + mandate relief — wouldn’t cost a penny,” McMahon posted on Twitter. He has dismissed Cuomo’s tax credit proposal as a gimmick that does nothing to lower the huge, growing burden of property taxes in New York state.

The $142 billion budget is supposed to be passed before Wednesday, the start of the state’s 2015-16 fiscal year. To meet the deadline, Cuomo said he expected to issue “messages of necessity” – emergency orders from the governor to have immediate votes on a bill rather that let it age for the three days normally required.

Cuomo emerged to talk to reporters after the release of the two completed budget bills, one of which included a pay raise for so-called “management/confidential” state workers who cannot belong to a union. They have not gotten a raise in years.

Their pay will rise 7 percent annually between now and 2018, with salaries ranging from $32,142 to $170,487, depending on pay grade. DOCCS state prison superintendents are also in line for raises under the new budget.

With talks dragging on, Cuomo was scheduled to travel to New York City Saturday night for a stop at dinners put on by the NYC Greek Independence Day Parade group and the Inner Circle, the group of reporters whose beat is City Hall.

© 2015 NYSNYS News

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