Assemblyman John McGowan (R,C-Rockland) joined members of the Assembly and Senate Minority Conferences at a press conference yesterday to discuss the 26-day late state budget and the dysfunction surrounding it. The Assembly and Senate have now passed five budget extenders to ensure roughly 80,000 state employees are paid– in the meantime, Minority members are left out of all budget discussions and negotiations on topics such as concerns on bail reform, tax increases or the increased, bloated state budget.

“Another week of being in the dark as the Albany Majority lawmakers continue to leave the Minority out of the loop as they proceed with their closed-door conversations. My colleagues said it best today– nothing good happens after midnight and based on the reputation here in Albany, most of the budget debates are done in the late hours of the night into the early hours of the following morning. That means our constituents are left out of viewing the floor debates, budget bills do not have time to age when the budget is shoved in front of us for the first time and one-party rule wins again,” said McGowan.