Politics & Government
Cuomo 'Hap-Hap-Happy' with Albany's Progress on Budget
Despite a sharp debate into the wee hours of the morning, the state Senate passed all of the budget bills - five of the six by wide margins.
Just past midnight on Wednesday, the state Senate debate started to grow weird, full of sharp debate and references to fruit.
Perhaps the members were delirious. But by 4:30 a.m., the budget bills taken up by the state Senate finally passed, with five out of the six by wide margins, the Times-Union reported.
The exception was the Health and Mental Hygiene measure, which was approved 34-26 — with only a two-vote margin of victory — due to Democratic opposition to cuts for programs that aid the disabled and its failure to bail out Brooklyn's financially troubled SUNY Downstate Medical Center.
Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
But Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was "hap-hap-happy" with the results so far.
The Senate adjourned until April 15 and the new fiscal year begins Monday. If all goes according to plan, this year will mark the first on-time completion of the state budget for three consecutive years since the 1980s, the paper reported.
Find out what's happening in Bayside-Douglastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"It's a new record," he said in a Wednesday interview. "Government is working. It's a smart, sound budget."
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.