Wilson: ‘Albany Tom’ DiNapoli Must Not Certify Another Bad Budget
Posted by Team Wilson - Fri, July 16, 2010 at 09:34 AM
New York Comprtoller candidate, Harry Willson, issued a press release today stressing the importance of fical responsibility. Albany Tom DiNapoli signed off on a budget last year that was riddled with revenue holes. To read the full press release, please click below:
New York-July 16...Unelected New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli - who was handpicked for his job by Albany legislators in a highly controversial maneuver - must not rubber-stamp yet another bad budget submitted to him by the Legislature, like the one he did last year, which resulted in disastrous mid-year delays and budgets cuts, state comptroller candidate Harry J. Wilson (R-C-I) today said.
Last year Mr. DiNapoli (D-WFP) signed off on a budget with glaring revenue holes, causing fiscal havoc around the state. And Mr. DiNapoli finally issued a report yesterday confirming what Mr. Wilson has been pointing out for weeks -- that the 2010-2011 budget, that will be submitted to Mr. DiNapoli for certification after its final passage, is riddled with bad revenue assumptions. If Mr. DiNapoli truly believes that the budget is as flawed as Mr. Wilson has been saying, then he has a responsibility to do everything he can to stop it before last year's disaster is repeated.
Mr. DiNapoli claims that the office of the State Comptroller lacks the legal authority to withhold certification of the budget, though he has never pursued the matter to test it. Mr. Wilson argues the Comptroller likely does have that authority, and it should have been tested in court before last year's certification of a deeply flawed budget.
"If an accountant signed off on a family's income tax returns that were half as sloppy as this state budget or last year's, that accountant would be decertified," Mr. Wilson said. "But Tom DiNapoli has routinely signed off on glaringly flawed budgets written by the same Albany politicians who gave him his job. The reality is that Mr. DiNapoli has not been willing to take action to defend taxpayers against the Albany politicians who are his patrons and friends."
The legal precedent at issue has been much discussed over the years, but has never been fully tested in the courts. The statutory justification for withholding certification is highlighted here in brief:
· In the 1971 case Posner v. Levitt, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division Third Department ruled that "The Comptroller may have standing to test the validity of the budget, but he is not obliged to do so." This is according to "...duties imposed upon the Comptroller by section 1 of article V."
· A law [Ch. 635, Sec3.] enacted at a special session of the Legislature in late 1998, and upheld by the New York State Court of Appeals in the fall of 1999, provides that "'Legislative passage of the budget', solely for the purposes of this section and section five-a of this article shall mean that the appropriation bill or bills submitted by the governor pursuant to section three of article seven of the state constitution have been finally acted on by both houses of the legislature in accordance with article seven of the state constitution and the state comptroller has determined that such appropriation bill or bills that have been finally acted on by the legislature are sufficient for the ongoing operation and support of state government and local assistance for the ensuing fiscal year...."
In addition, there is no dispute that, if the comptroller fails to certify the budget, legislators' paychecks would be withheld until the Comptroller does certify the budget. Rather than issuing press releases, which have clearly not accomplished anything, the comptroller could and should use the full extent of his powers to protect New York taxpayers from another unbalanced budget, Mr. Wilson said.
"My view of this office is far different than the current unelected officeholder's," Mr. Wilson continued. "I believe the Comptroller must fight vigorously for honest and fiscally responsible governance. Mr. DiNapoli, a 23-year creature of Albany, believes leadership is about issuing press releases, rather than taking action, and clearly doesn't want to rock the boat."
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