July 2, 2010

Hauppauge, NY -- Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy called upon candidates in the gubernatorial race to embrace the legislation that he proposed earlier this year which would end late budgets forever in the Empire State. Levy also urged editorialists throughout the state to demand that the State Legislature immediately pass legislation that would create certainty in the budget process.

Earlier this year, Levy included in his Contract for New York -- his platform to radically change the archaic ways of New York State Government -- a proposition that would require that the governor’s budget take effect on April 1 if the State Legislature has not acted by that time to modify the budget.

Said Levy, “We have become the laughing stock of the rest of the nation with these chronically late budgets. These late budgets cause tremendous pain to schools, localities and not-for-profit agencies that are dependent on this money. There is absolutely no reason why the State must continue down this path of anarchy.

"There is a reason that we do not see late budgets from our counties or our towns. Those levels of government have charters that create a sense of certainty after a particular date has passed. There is no reason why we cannot put into place that type of certainty on the state level. A simple bill, that any legislator could introduce, would end this insanity once and for all. If the Legislature has not modified the governor’s budget by March 31st, the governor’s budget will take effect the next day. You will see how fast the Legislature comes back from vacation to do its business when they know the governor’s budget will take effect as the alternative.”

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