Paterson Defends Session Record ALBANY, NEW YORK (WXXI) - Governor David Paterson is defending his record at the end of the 2008 legislative session, saying that, despite criticism, he thinks he and the legislature accomplished a lot.

Paterson, who's been governor for just over three months now, says he reached more agreements with state lawmakers at the end of the just concluded session than any governor in at least a decade. And he took a shot at news articles and editorials that say Albany lawmakers haven't done enough.

"I guess more is expected of me than the last four or five governors put together," said Paterson. "If I finished all the business there'd be nothing for them to cover, now would there."

Paterson and the legislature did agree to a partial bail out of New Yorkers caught in the sub prime loan crisis, and they did finally fix up a flawed Brownfields economic development program, but many of the agreements were on relatively minor issues. Lawmakers did not address the rising property taxes, which many of them have labeled a crisis.

Paterson says a gubernatorial commission report that recommended capping property taxes at 4% a year was not released until June 3rd, too late to realistically expect a resolution by the end of the session.

Lawmakers have yet to work on closing the state's projected $20 billion dollar budget gap, despite a request by Paterson that they make some preliminary plans before the conclusion of the session.
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