New York voters OK $2.9B transportation bond

ALBANY, N.Y. - Voters on Tuesday soundly rejected the state Legislature's attempt to gain control of crafting state budgets from the governor, according to unofficial results.

Voters also authorized the state to borrow $2.9 billion for transportation projects statewide. With 86 percent of districts reporting, 56 percent of voters favored the transportation bond act; 44 percent opposed it.

With approval of Proposition 2, New Yorkers will see the results in the coming construction season. The transportation bond act will provide funding to current and planned highway and bridge projects statewide and to subway and tunnel projects in New York City.

"This is important not just because it will rebuild roads and the economy, but because it shows people are willing to invest in their public infrastructure if they know how it will be spent," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat. "Our job was to remind people they can trust their government."

Sixty-four percent of voters said no to Proposition 1, which would have given more budget power to the Legislature; 36 percent favored it.

Under Proposition 1, the Legislature would have gained control of crafting the state budget, to which nearly every program in state government is tied. The governor would lose the upper hand now provided for in the constitution.

"I wouldn't give it to them," said voter Talbert Turner, 35, of Schenectady. "It would be too many people to try to keep an eye on. I think they'll spend money. Not to say that Pataki won't, but we can hold him accountable."

Those who opposed the proposal to change the state's constitution said voters sent a clear message to Albany.

"This is the most important initiative I've seen in my entire time in politics," said Gov. George Pataki, who strongly opposed the proposition. "We are not going to give the Legislature control over the purse strings."

E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center for New York State Policy said defeat of what legislative leaders called budget reform now means "the chances for real reform in Albany are still alive."

"This result is a stinging repudiation of state legislative leaders, and a huge victory for taxpayers," McMahon said.

"This is a victory of New Yorkers over the entrenched Legislature and the special interests they represent," said Marshall Stocker, a spokesman for financial backers of the amendment's opposition forces, Stop the Pork. The group hauled a huge pig statue around the state as the symbol of the Legislature's spending appetite.

Supporters of the proposal called it budget reform because it would have ended what had become a tradition of late budgets. A contingency budget based mostly on the previous year's spending would have automatically been put in place if the governor and legislative leaders failed to agree on a budget by the start of the fiscal year.

"I'm very disappointed," Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said in a prepared statement. "We will move forward from this decision and continue to work for budget reform." Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver didn't respond to requests for comment.

AP