Politics & Government

Gov. 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 exchanges and weird 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, reported the Times-Union.

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.

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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.

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"It's a new record," Cuomo said in a Wednesday interview. "Government is working. It's a smart, sound budget."


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