ALBANY, NY - Monday afternoon the New York State Senate approved a bare bones budget extender in order to keep New York's state government running until the end of May. Th extender will allow funds to flow to critical services such as law enforcement, first responders and schools. While lawmakers spent the weekend working to come to a final agreement on New York's $162 billion, State Senator Terrence Murphy said the following:

"It is very disappointing that we failed to pass a comprehensive on time budget and only shows Albany at its worst. As I have said before, this is a very complicated and challenging process. The insertion of policy into the budget only makes it more difficult to pass an on time budget."

"The passage of the extender is the responsible decision that will protect vulnerable New Yorkers who rely on the generous safety net our state provides. However, it is a broken promise to the people of the State of New York and everyday that we play politics on policy issues that do not belong in the budgetary process is another day that New Yorkers question the motives of our state government. Given the options left on the table, which included forcing a shutdown of New York State's government, I am left with no other choice but to approve the proposed extender."

It is unclear if the Assembly will take up the extender when they reconvene on Monday.