ALBANY — Keep the state budget pork-free!
Gov. Cuomo said yesterday he opposes reinstating pork-barrel spending this year, as Assembly Democrats want to do.
“I don’t support it,” Cuomo said on Albany’s Talk 1300 AM radio when asked about Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s suggestion that so-called “member items,” traditionally for everything from Little League fields to senior-citizen centers, be restored in the 2012-13 budget.
But Cuomo added, “I understand the Assembly’s point of view.”
There haven’t been any new member items since the 2009-10 budget, with Cuomo and former Gov. David Paterson saying the state couldn’t afford the $200 million-a-year cost.
Even without member items in the budget, Cuomo said he’s confident about a state budget approved on time, by April 1, for the second consecutive year.
Meanwhile, Cuomo identified approval of a $15 billion infrastructure fund as his top priority in the $132 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins next year. It would include funds for a new Tappan Zee Bridge.