A CLEARLY frustrated Gov. Paterson is making it clear that he won’t be at fault if tomorrow’s “emergency” session of the Legislature fails to adopt his plan to slash state spending by $2 billion in order to control the ballooning deficit.
“I’m not going to take the blame if we come out of the session without a budget-cutting package,” Paterson, who is likely to be rebuffed by the Legislature, told The Post.
“I’m not taking the blame. I’ve worked hard from the day I became governor, sounding the alarm, cutting the budget on my own.
Paterson: New York Needs To Bite The Bullet
“I brought the Legislature back to two special sessions, and if people don’t understand how severe the problem in our economy is, it won’t be for lack of trying. I put my proposals on the table. But I haven’t heard of a dime anyone else wants to cut.”
Paterson’s reference to “anyone else” includes not only lame-duck Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau), who has been critical of the governor’s plan, but also Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, the governor’s most important Democratic ally.
While Silver publicly praised Paterson’s budget-cutting efforts, he has also conspicuously refused to endorse them and has yet to say whether he will pass the governor’s plan when the Legislature reconvenes.
Paterson asked Silver and Skelos to present him with their own plans to cut state spending, but, in a bipartisan display of Albany’s signature dysfunction, both refused to do so.
Meanwhile, Paterson, Skelos and Silver held a brief meeting yesterday afternoon at the governor’s Manhattan office to discuss the legislative session, but sources said no real progress toward a budget agreement was made.
It’s “anybody but Skelos” for Paterson when it comes to electing a new Senate majority leader in January, and that includes another Republican.
While Democrats have won majority control of the Senate for the first time since 1964, it’s a narrow, 30-32-seat majority that is being threatened by a “Gang of Three” Democrats who are negotiating with Skelos.
Paterson publicly favors Minority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) for majority leader, followed by Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), but sources say he would be content if Skelos’ well-liked GOP rival, Sen. Tom Libous of Binghamton, won the post.
“Just anybody but Skelos,” one source said.