Assemblyman Dave McDonough (R,C,I – Merrick) today called the budget resolution, passed by the Assembly Majority after nightfall last night, irresponsible due to the fact that it calls for $136.7 billion in spending, $2.7 billion more than Governor Paterson had proposed in January. The Assembly Majority also called for $2 billion in borrowing in addition to increases in taxes and fees.

“There is no way that I could vote for this budget resolution in good conscience and look my Nassau County constituents in the eye to say that this would benefit them in any way,” said Assemblyman Dave McDonough. “Having read the resolution before I voted, I saw no up side to this proposal because it fails to cut spending, it fails to provide a blueprint for the future and it fails to provide tax relief to the people of New York. Our best hope is that many of the spending and borrowing proposals will be rejected during conference committees.”

The resolution was put forth in the Assembly in response to the Senate majority passing a budget resolution totaling $136.2 billion. Due to differing spending priorities, the next step would be to convene budget conference committees to iron out the differences through negotiations. Assemblyman McDonough has been named as the minority conference appointee to the Transportation Budget Committee, which has yet to schedule a meeting before the April budget deadline.

“The budget conference committees will be more important than ever this year, as we need to ensure that only those programs absolutely essential to the people of New York will be funded,” continued McDonough. “Since the Assembly’s resolution spends nearly $3 billion more than the governor, I think cutting that increase should be our first move. Then we must reassess the governor’s proposal to see where cost-saving adjustments can be made to his proposal. I vow to vote against any budget that increases taxes, spending and borrowing.”