We all thought the budget was completed and put to rest back in April.
But like Jason in A Nightmare on Elm Street, it was resurrected, slashed, reduced, and re-examined. Pushed and pulled and tweaked to within an inch of its life.
I'm exaggerating.
The dramedy unfolded on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, during a special session of the Legislature called by Governor Paterson. The usually-quiet-in-August-Capitol was thrown into a tizzy reminiscent of a aristocratic Victorian family expecting royalty at the last minute.
Hundreds of lobbyists stalked the corridors of the Capitol; protesters of all stripes chanted outside the door to the Governor's office; and the press were ubiquitous. As the always eloquent Denise Murphy McGraw observed outside the packed Assembly chamber, "It's just another day in Albany."
On the next New York Now, we will detail the cuts that the legislature agreed upon. Plus, one of the key architects of these cuts, Dean Skelos, the new Majority Leader of the State Senate, joins us in the studio to talk about pork, taxes and property tax reform.
Both James Madore of Newsday and Karen DeWitt of New York State Public Radio will join us with analysis at the big table.
It's all coming up on the next New York Now. Friday August 22nd, Saturday August 23rd and Sunday August 24th, on your local PBS station:
WNET, New York City
Saturday at 11am
WMHT Capital Region
Friday at 7:30pm
Sunday at 11am
Sunday at 11pm
WNED, Buffalo & Toronto
Sunday at 9:30am
WXXI, Rochester
Sunday at 6:30pm
WCNY, Syracuse
Sunday at 11am
WPBS, Watertown
Sunday at 7:30am
WSKG, Binghamton
Sunday at 6:30pm
WLIW, Long Island
Sunday at 6:30am
Mountain Lake Public Broadcasting, Plattsburgh
Sunday at 10:30am
Think Bright
Friday at 8pm
Sunday at 12:30am
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