Governor Cuomo has vetoed over half a million dollars of legislative member items, saying he’s following through on a promise to ban the funds, which have been used in the past to finance lawmakers’ pet projects.
The Governor’s $640 million dollars in line item vetoes for member items does not include any new money from this year’s budget. Rather, they are what’s known as re-appropriations for member items that were approved in earlier budgets from two years ago, before Cuomo was in power.
As the redistricting battle nears an end, many Democrats are unhappy with a deal that’s reportedly being worked on. The Times Union reported last week that a proposed amendment would create a new ten member commission under this agreement. Final revisions would still be in the hands of the Legislature according to the report.
Queens State Senator Mike Gianaris (D) is not happy with the proposal he heard and states that it would be an 'epic fail' that would 'permanently enshrine a bad process.’ Gianaris is hopeful that Gov. Cuomo will stick to his promise of a ‘better process and better product’ by rejecting the proposal.
Watch the video for the full interview with Gianaris, a review of the week's top stories, and analysis from our Reporters Roundtable with Karen DeWitt of New York Public Radio and Yancey Roy of Newsday.
