Senator Murphy comments on approval of late budget

Late Sunday night the New York State Senate finally approved an agreed upon $153 billion budget that honors the self imposed spending cap for the 7th year in a row. Amid criticism for failing to pass an on-time budget, lawmakers spent the past week and a half scrambling to build consensus over critical portions of the budget, going as far as passing the first budget extender since the days of Governor David Paterson.

State Senator Terrence Murphy said, "I remain very disappointed that we failed to pass an on-time budget. However, the approved budget delivers on several critical points that will have a positive impact on all New Yorkers. Despite the frustrations of the past two weeks, there is a silver lining in the measures that we ultimately passed that I believe my constituents, and all New Yorkers, will benefit from."

• Record Funding to Combat Heroin & Opioid Addiction
• Delivering Ridesharing Services to the Hudson Valley
• Historic Funding for Clean Water Initiatives
• Protections for Proposed Indian Point Closure
• Historic Expansion of Tuition Assistance Program
• Additional Components

"No budget is perfect, especially New York's," Murphy continued. "The process we have endured over the past few weeks was unacceptable mostly due to the insertion of public policy into a budgetary process. Ultimately, the end result does advance a number of important initiatives that will help give all New Yorkers an opportunity to succeed. As always, the devil is in the details, but I will remain vigilant to protect the hard earned tax dollars of all New Yorkers from undeserving or devious individuals."

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