Legislature Rejects
Pataki’s Education
Cuts, Even As Gov. Continues Stalling On CFE
By Assemblyman Steven Sanders
Despite our best efforts, the Governor refuses to acknowledge
the most recent findings of the courts, and despite our most
vigorous objections, the Governor has entered into another
round of frivolous appeals, doomed to failure, but timed to
delay and defer this issue for yet another budget. We have
a Governor who claims education is his first priority and then
has his lawyers argue in court that an 8th grade education
is sufficient. He
spent millions of taxpayer dollars and wasted 10 precious years
fighting the historic Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) ruling
in the courts. He lost, and he lost his appeal, yet he still
avoids taking action. And regrettably, the Senate Republican
majority cheers him on.
But even in the face of this irresponsibility and abdication
of leadership, we have succeeded in securing historic changes
with the Senate in the funding of capital and infrastructure
projects for the 200 high-needs school districts across the
state. And for the first time in history, New
York City will be reimbursed for over 50 percent of the cost
of its five-year capital plan. This, coupled with the third
largest increase in State school aid, makes this a budget worth
passing. If we can reach agreement with the Governor and enact
this budget this week, you can be sure that the Assembly majority
will go right back to working out a CFE solution—this
year.
The joint Assembly/Senate education budget subcommittee reached
an agreement on spending that will provide $840 million more
in funding to public schools than was provided last year, far
more than the Governor proposed. We restored the Governor’s cuts for various expense-based
aids—funds that local schools have already spent and
for which they are entitled to State reimbursement, including
transportation costs and services for students with disabilities.
You can be sure that
we in the Assembly will again vote and pass legislation in
this session that fulfills the CFE mandate—ensuring
that each and every student can receive a sound, basic education
from pre-K through high school. That
remains our constitutional as well as our moral obligation.
The Legislature was dealt a terrible blow this year affecting
our budgetary powers. The Court of Appeals, where plaintiffs
and every student won such a huge victory in the CFE suit,
in another historic decision reached this year, has thrown
off the balance of power in our State government and given
the executive—the Governor—nearly unlimited power
in the budget process, more authority than even the President
can wield. The decision permits the Governor to change laws
without legislative amendment, so long as he joins those changes
with budget appropriations.
No longer can the Legislature
simply reject the Governor’s
budget proposals and pass our own. We must either reject the appropriation
in total or accept it in full and then add to it, our additions
being subject to being vetoed. It
is either that, or we can refuse to pass any budget and be
subject to the Governor’s emergency spending bills, which
would likely provide no new education increases at all and
probably cut programs.
Still, we can be proud
of what we have accomplished, even under the threat of vetoes
by the Governor. We will continue to implore the Governor
to meet his obligations in the CFE suit and are committed
to getting legislation on the Governor’s
desk—this year—to implement the CFE ruling, so
that every child, across the State, will receive the sound
education guaranteed by our State constitution.#
Assemblyman Sanders is chairman of the Education Committee. E-mail
him at sanders@assembly.state.ny.us or phone 212.979.9696. His mailing address is 201 East 16th
Street, New York, NY 10003.#
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