Lawmakers fell short of the budget savings Gov. Paterson wanted – but it didn’t stop them from making sure they got their pork-barrel spending.
Slipped into the recent budget gap bill was language making it easier for senators to get their grant money.
Because the Senate, unlike the Assembly, did not specifically list its $85 million in local projects in the current budget, it needed a joint resolution to get the cash.
But under the new language, the Senate can get the cash simply by submitting a spending plan to the state budget director.
“The Senate shouldn’t be making new loopholes in the member item system, [it] should be plugging them,” said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran defended the move although the Legislature failed to fully close a $3.2 billion budget gap. Both houses cut member items by 12.5% – $10.6 million each.
E.J. McMahon, head of the Manhattan Institute’s Empire Center for Public Policy, said that’s beside the point.
“They shouldn’t be spending anything on member items,” he said.
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