Assembly Minority Leader Charles H. Nesbitt, Ranking Member of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee Thomas F. Barraga, Assistant Minority Leader James N. Tedisco and members of the Assembly Minority Conference today unveiled a state budget deadline clock that will count down the days until the April 1st deadline. The clock will be on display outside of Assemblyman Nesbitt’s Office, Room 340 Capitol, as a reminder to those involved in the budget process of the importance of having an on-time budget for the first time in more than 20 years.

Assemblyman Nesbitt and members of the Minority conference are committed to staying in Albany and working around the clock to get the budget done on time.

Assemblyman Nesbitt (R,C,I-Albion) said, "We are closer than we have been in more than twenty years to getting a budget done on-time, but we must remain diligent so that we achieve that goal. The clock will serve as a constant reminder of the work we must finish, because it will be sitting outside of my office until the April 1st deadline."

Assembly Minority members praised the public five-way budget meetings that have taken place these past weeks. Open debate on the budget and the budget process is something that Assembly Minority has been striving to accomplish for years.

Another cornerstone of the conference’s budget reform package - requiring the Comptroller to be the final arbitrator on revenues if an agreement cannot be reached by March 10 - was also agreed to by the legislative leaders and Governor Pataki this year. That step, however, did not have to be taken, as the five leaders were able to come to a consensus ahead of the deadline.

Assemblyman Barraga (R,C,I,WF-West Islip) said, "We’ve made great progress but setbacks remain. I am encouraged that budget conference committee will begin shortly so that we can start working out these differences. All parties are to be commended for having negotiated in good faith to this point, but it will all be meaningless if the budget is late yet again. Now we’ll have this clock to remind us how little time we have left."

Assemblyman Tedisco (R,C,I-Schenectady-Saratoga) said, "The citizens of New York State expect and deserve an on-time budget this year. Twenty years is a long time to wait for anything, but it is a ridiculous amount of time for people to wait for their government to fulfill its Constitutional obligation. This is one of the most important aspects of our jobs as legislators, and it is high time we do it right."