As the state budget deadline of April 1 approaches, Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) expressed adamant frustration with the negotiation process that has yet to yield any guarantee that the budget will be on time for the third consecutive year.

“Right now there is a lot of puffing of egos going on with little regard for taxpayers’ needs - which is relief now,” said Hawley. “This budget spends too much and offers little in the way of tax cuts and is highlighted by partisan politics that has put the needs of citizens on the backburner.”

“The ‘three men in a room’ need to display a sense of duty and commitment to the overburdened, over-taxed people of this state, set differences aside and do their jobs. The art of compromise is a part of the real world; let’s make it a part of Albany’s world. Despite the governor’s claim that it’s better to have a late budget that is good, than a bad budget that is on time, a late budget is still a bad budget.”