Lawmakers avert state government shutdown

ALBANY - Lawmakers Monday night averted a shutdown of state government by approving the necessary spending bills.

Their passage and anticipated signing by Gov. David A. Paterson put an end, for now, to the specter of Albany shutting down for the first time in modern history.

That possibility was raised last week when two Democratic senators from the Bronx said they would vote "no," forcing the need for Republican support to get the bills passed.

In the Senate Monday night, a handful of Republicans joined most of the Democratic majority in backing the emergency spending bills, 34-27. In the Assembly, the bills passed comfortably, 87-50.

However, the shutdown threat returns next week because the budget is 76 days late. Paterson has threatened to include in the June 21 bills cuts to school aid and higher education, which many lawmakers oppose.

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) warned Monday that his 30-member conference would vote "no" on new taxes and borrowing - even if it meant shuttering Albany.

"I am putting Governor Paterson and the Democrat legislative leaders on notice that if any future budget extender includes taxes, fees or borrowing, they will not be able to count on our support," Skelos said.

The votes of three Republican senators, including Charles Fuschillo of Merrick, stopped a government closure Tuesday. A shutdown would have suspended jobless benefits and closed DMV and most other state offices.

"I felt it was important to keep government running," Fuschillo said.

It was first time in five weeks that the Senate GOP didn't vote in a bloc against the spending bills, that Paterson has issued the past 11 weeks.

Monday's bills, like last week's, included components of the unfinished budget. About $11 billion in spending was approved, mostly for public assistance and treatment for drug addicts and the mentally ill. However, these programs were cut by $324 million from 2009-10 levels.

The legislature now has approved more than 50 percent of the $136-billion budget, Senate Democrats estimated.

Separately, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli blasted proposals from Paterson and lawmakers to borrow money from the state pension fund to make contributions to it. New York and local governments are facing hefty increases in pension costs at the same time their treasuries have shrunk.

Borrowing from the Common Retirement Fund would save the state more than $200 million this year, helping close the $9.2-billion budget deficit. DiNapoli, the fund's sole trustee, said it "will not be used to balance the budget."