Suffolk legislature OKs money for nursing home

The Suffolk legislature, in a heated marathon meeting Wednesday, amended Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy's $2.7-billion budget by approving funding to keep the county nursing home open until the Levy administration can muster the votes to sell the complex.

But Levy and legislative allies immediately blasted the maneuvering as illegal, unbalanced and "makes no sense." They argued the veto-proof budget purports to use revenue Levy included for selling the nursing home to keep the complex running. "It's the most illegal and dishonest budget I have ever seen," Levy said. "The only silver lining is that they don't have the votes to override my eventual veto of the nursing home."

Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook) said Levy delivered them a budget that was skewed and the escalating battle has resulted in a "standoff. He doesn't have the votes to sell and we don't have the votes to override. It sounds like time for a compromise."

Gail Vizzini, director of budget review, conceded the amendments do not change Levy's nursing home revenue estimates, but maintained the county executive also did not include any revenue after April that would come from Medicaid revenue - which funds about 80 percent of the nursing home. She also said the legislative budget moves $3.5 million in sales tax revenue to the nursing home account.

That change raises sales tax revenue growth projection from 4.2 to 4.6 percent - beyond what the legislature's own budget analysts forecast. It also called for reinstating $800,000 in park fee hikes for 2012, and restoring at least some of the funding to a variety of human service groups. It also delays some 60 police hirings by five months next year.

At the heart of the meeting, however, was maneuvering to make a last-minute changes to the so called "omnibus resolutions" which packages multiple budget revisions together so lawmakers on both side of the aisle can support it.

The initial version only got 11 votes - one short of what is needed to withstand a Levy veto, when freshman GOP Legis. Tom Muratore of Ronkonkoma, a member of the budget working group, balked at backing the final product.

Lindsay called several recesses which led to a new version of the omnibus resolutions which stripped out portions relating to the nursing home.

That was done so that Legis. Edward Romaine (R-Center Moriches), whose wife works at the nursing home and who does not vote on nursing home issues, could be free to vote on a revised version.

Legis. Thomas Barraga (R-West Islip) assailed the ploy as being similar to a school board that put up a budget for a revote after a defeat. "You're trying to manipulate the vote to get a different outcome and that is just wrong," he said.