New York State Budget Fight

The New York Sun reports:

ALBANY - The state Legislature is expected to override all of Governor Pataki's budget vetoes, as relations between the two branches of government fall to historic lows and the state veers toward a constitutional crisis.

Leading the revolt, the Democratic controlled Assembly yesterday overrode about half of Mr. Pataki's vetoes, voting to restore more than $1 billion of Medicaid spending that the governor wants to cut. The Senate is expected to follow suit today, which would effectively terminate budget negotiations and set the stage for a historic legal battle over the separation of powers in state government.

With almost no allies to speak of in the Capitol building, Mr. Pataki took his case to the public yesterday, dialing up the editorial boards of several newspapers and speaking directly to editors. Two weeks ago, the lame-duck governor muscled his way back into the budget process by vetoing $2.9 billion in spending and tax cuts and declaring a good portion of his vetoes immune from legislative overrides.

As we've said before, do you really want to be a long term creditor of the state of New York? Can you imagine the budget fights coming in the next five years?