Albany, NY – Members of the New York State Senate and Assembly Republican Conferences today called on Governor Kathy Hochul and the Legislative Majorities not to use so-called “messages of necessity” to bypass the constitutionally required three day aging process once budget bills get introduced. This critically important “aging” provision of the State Constitution helps to ensure that the public, the press, and all interested parties have the opportunity to actually review the budget bills prior to them being enacted into law.  

Senate and Assembly Republicans called for the passage of a constitutional amendment  (S.4285, A.5996), sponsored by Senator Mark Walczyk and Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay, to prohibit an immediate vote from being called by the governor or acting governor on any budget bills.

Yesterday, the Governor indicated a final budget agreement could come as soon as the end of this week. Despite the fact that the budget is nearly a month late, there has been little to no transparency on the details that are being negotiated entirely behind closed doors. 

For example, Governor Hochul indicated that although a deal on changes to the dangerous bail reform laws has been reached, she declined to divulge details until a deal is reached on the overall spending plan.