State Budget Deadline Passed and Still No Budget

Still no state budget agreement.

After missing Friday's midnight deadline, the Governor granted lawmakers a grace period this weekend to work out the final details.

It appears criminal justice reform is one of the two sticking points, and Assembly members, like Pat Fahy, agree.

"Every year, I have serious concerns about this, but every year it happens."

Fahy and other lawmakers feel that a policy issue as important as raising the criminal age of responsibility from 16 to 18 should remain out of the budget process so lawmakers can focus on the numbers.

They also feel important issues can get put off when lumped in with the budget, but as of now, there is no plan to remove policy issues from the process.

School aid is the other issue currently holding up lawmakers.

The Governor says he will put forth emergency legislation to extend the current budget until these final issues can be sorted out because other Assembly members, like Angelo Santabarbara, do not want to see their hard work go to waste.

"The priority has to be to fully fund these schools, we've been working on this for far too long to not reach the finish line now."

Charter Schools are also a tough issue.

Republicans and the state want to increase funding for these schools, while Democrats want to keep it capped.

Photo: Getty Images


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