WXXI: Budget Stalled Over Congestion Pricing (2008-04-03)

Work on the state budget remains stalled over the issue of a congestion pricing plan for New York City. Assembly Democrats have been busy discussing the issue, and the Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, says the talks will spill over into the weekend. Meanwhile, lobbyists for the poor provided a bit of comic relief in the form of political theater.

The Assembly and Senate were expected to pass some minor budget bills, but talks remained stalled on major pieces, like education spending, and a revenue bill that will likely include a record hike in the cigarette tax.

Assembly Democrats were spending a second day in closed door conference meetings, having, by some accounts, heated discussions over the issue of congestion pricing. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says the talks will last into the weekend, to allow all members to have their say.

"There is a lot of passion on this issue," said Silver. "Something should be done about congestion. Some people are not sure that taxing working men and women is the way to go in this."

The Speaker says if there are enough votes by Monday, which is the deadline for passage in order to receive federal funds, then the measure will come to the Assembly floor. If not, he says, "our conference will have spoken on the issue".

It remained uncertain whether Senate Republicans, who support New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg's plan, had enough votes to pass the bill in the Senate, or whether they would need help from Senate Minority Party Democrats.

In the near empty state Capitol, which seemed devoid even of lobbyists, advocates for raising the welfare grant were engaging in a bit of political theater, as they posed as "Billionaires for Bruno".

"Rob M. Blind" was dressed in a top hat and tux, and chomped on a fat fake cigar. He handed out "thank you" letters to Senators as they trickled into the chamber, to express his gratitude for the Senate's rejection of the Assembly's proposal for an additional income tax hike on millionaires.

"Remember it's the little people that pay taxes," said "Blind".

The "billionaires" also handed out a list of top 10 reasons why it's a good idea not to tax the rich.

"The yacht needs a paint job, and the maid needs bus fare," he said.

When he's not lobbying for "Billionaires for Bruno", "Blind" goes by the name of Joe Seeman, one of the little people, who lives in Ballston Spa.

Governor David Paterson is also against the millionaire's tax, and the proposal is not likely to be revived during budget talks. But many analysts believe that, given the worsening financial picture, lawmakers may be back later in the year to curb spending and raise more revenue, and the income tax hike for New Yorkers making more than a million dollars a year could be back on the table.

As budget talks dragged on, Speaker Silver hinted that if a speedy accord was not reached, he might want to revisit parts of the spending plan.

"If it's not going to be a budget that's done relatively on time, there a lot of issues in it I'd like to debate," said Silver.

The state budget was supposed to have been passed on Monday.