OPINION: New York needs an Extreme Makeover of budget process

Brian M. Kolb (R-Canandaigua) is leader of the Assembly Republican Conference.

You are no doubt familiar with the hit television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," where people roll up their sleeves to renovate and repair a home needing serious work. Here in the Empire State, we face our own Extreme Makeover project, only the prospective candidate isn't a house.

It's the broken institution we call state government. New York's problems extend far beyond the cosmetic and go straight to the foundation, exemplified by a state budget that is now 36 days past due - with no end in sight.

In order to fix New York's broken budget process and get a fiscally responsible spending plan in place, we need an Extreme Makeover of state government. Gov. David A. Paterson, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and my fellow legislative leaders - Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Senate Majority Leader John Sampson and Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos - should join me in a public budget forum to be televised statewide and broadcast on the radio and Internet.

The forum, moderated by the media, would force everyone to lay their cards on the table regarding the budget, taxing, spending and borrowing, while requiring each of us to outline our solutions for closing New York's $9-billion deficit.

A public forum would hold everyone's feet to the fire and force policymakers to get a budget done. Then schools could plan, contractors would get paid, and New Yorkers could stop being embarrassed by their state government. This Extreme Makeover would make Albany do its job.

That job requires getting a spending plan in place by April 1, the state's fiscal deadline. Passing the budget is supposed to be the primary responsibility for all 212 state legislators and the governor. But, since 1985, the budget has been late 21 times.

In the absence of a budget, Albany funds government operations on a week-to-week basis through emergency budget extenders. Like a payday loan, extenders contain just enough funding for New York to meet payroll and keep the lights on for another week, nothing more. Their short-term nature makes it virtually impossible for school districts to plan effectively, which can drive up property taxes.

Late budgets also hurt contractors who have done work for the state but gone unpaid. This year, construction contractors were hit hard as the governor refused to include any state funding for them in his extenders, forcing many contractors to lay off workers and stop work on road and bridge projects.

All of this raises the question: If the state budget is so important, why is New York's spending plan later than a college freshman to an 8 a.m. class? It's because our broken budget process allows majorities to convene in secret - far from the watchful eye of the media and taxpayers.

By doing so, the Assembly and Senate Democrat majorities are behaving like lawbreakers, not lawmakers. The Budget Reform Act of 2007 required the majorities to hold public meetings and release public timetables for getting the budget done. But the Assembly and Senate majorities have failed to do so. To make matters worse, Gov. Paterson has not convened a single public legislative leaders' meeting on the late budget. Not one.

Clearly, state government's problems are serious, and fixing them is going to take more than spackle and a new coat of paint. It will require nothing short of an Extreme Makeover. We need a public budget forum, broadcast for all New Yorkers to see. It's time policymakers in Albany rolled up their sleeves, fixed the problems and made state government work for taxpayers again.