“It is completely unacceptable and irresponsible for the payment of nearly 120,000 state employees to be delayed due to the government’s failure to follow through on its basic duties. These men and women, many of whom are deemed essential and on the front lines of this unprecedented public health crisis, are being penalized and put into financial distress because the budget was not approved on time.

“For a governor who prides himself on delivering 10 consecutive ‘on-time’ budgets, he certainly is lacking the urgency to do so now as employees of the state are being caught in the crosshairs of politics as usual in Albany. While the leaders continue to negotiate policy-laden priorities to be wrongfully included in one of the most critical budgets in our state’s history, New Yorkers are left without their paychecks or answers. This could have and should have been prevented.”