Skelos: State budget passage imminent

ALBANY -- Lawmakers are on track to adopt a state budget more than a week ahead of schedule, the legislature's top Republican said Wednesday. If so, it would mark one of earliest budgets ever passed in New York.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) said there are no major outstanding issues and suggested that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo will relent on controversial proposals to expand executive power and to dole out a chunk of school aid in competitive grants.

"I just think it's not such a huge issue with the governor that it's not going stop a budget from being done early," Skelos said in an interview at the State Capitol.

Skelos' remarks came five days before the Senate and Assembly are slated to unveil separate spending plans. In January, Cuomo proposed a $132.5 billion budget for fiscal 2012-13, representing a 0.2 percent decrease from the previous year's budget. After all the proposals are on the table, Skelos said: "I really don't think any reason we can't wrap up this budget within a week."

Cuomo and legislators agreed months ago on raising school aid and Medicaid 4 percent and hiking taxes on households earning more than $2 million annually -- settling the traditionally most contentious issues months before the budget deadline.

Cuomo, however, rankled legislative leaders in January when he proposed expanding his powers to shift money from state agency to agency even after they've enacted a budget, and to skip "pre-audits" performed by the state comptroller's office on large contracts.

"We're not going abdicate our role in checks and balances," Skelos said. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) also opposes Cuomo's idea. His office didn't immediately comment on Skelos' early-budget prediction, although Silver has said budget negotiations have proceeded smoothly. Lawmakers must enact a budget by April 1, the beginning of the state's fiscal year.

Skelos has said the Senate wants to scale back a Cuomo proposal to earmark about $250 million for competitive grants rather than typical school aid closer to $50 million.

"That won't be contentious. I think the governor understands there will be changes," he said. The Assembly also favors lowering the amount.

Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing said in a statement: "The governor's $250 million innovative competitive grant program puts the students' needs ahead of the bureaucracy's interests by ensuring that student outcomes help determine funding as well as rewarding school districts based on improved performance and management efficiency."

Skelos previewed his budget proposal by rolling a broad package of tax-cut and spending-cut proposals. He said his "New Jobs-NY" plan would:

Cut the corporate tax rate for small businesses by 20 percent.

Give businesses a $5,000 tax credit for every new person hired; $8,000 if the new job goes to someone on unemployment; $10,000 for hiring a military veteran returning from service.

Impose a state spending cap that would limit annual increases to 2 percent growth or 120 percent of inflation.

Lower taxes on energy bills.