It’s a part of our state constitution. The state budget deadline is April 1st. As we celebrate Easter Sunday today the budget is five days late with no projected timeline for its passage.

The worst April Fool’s Joke ever perpetrated by a Governor and Majorities on a group of constituents would have been if they came out on April 1st and said, “April Fools, we’ve got the New York State budget done!”

I’m sorry to say the only people who are fools are the ones that control all levers of power in our state government and can’t get the job done!

I’ve heard it before: “It’s better to have a good late budget than a bad on time budget.” NO!

Our taxpayers deserve a good, balanced, on-time budget, and one that keeps New Yorkers in our state and incentivizes others to come and make it their home.

Budget conference committees were supposed to involve rank and file members in the process. What a joke!

Actions don’t live up to these words because we have had only one non-consequential education budget conference committee, which I am ranking member of, and it is one of the largest parts of the state budget looking to be funding at $39 billion.

This lack of transparency and taxpayer accountability is no way to run a state government.

While there’s been late budgets over the years, in the past 5 decades, up until the last 8 years, one party has never (except for a short time with Governor Paterson) had total control of all levers of power in state government as my colleagues on the other side of the aisle now have.

These powers have not been seen in Albany in modern political history for over half a century. Yet, despite their total domination of state government by one voice from one political affiliation predominantly from one region of the state, they can’t agree to a timely and fiscally responsible budget that puts affordability and public safety first.

The have become the Petrie dish experiment for the failure of one-party rule. Not only have they failed these past eight years to have a timely budget, but it’s led to our beautiful state having the dubious distinction of being number one in out-migration of all 50 states and a mass exodus of New Yorkers fleeing the state with someone permanently walking out the door to a more affordable state every 2 minutes and 23 seconds, as cited by a National Taxpayers Union Foundation study.

It’s important to say that prior to one-party rule with this Governor and Majorities, when budgets were late, Democrats blamed Republicans and Republicans blamed Democrats. Who’s to blame now? It’s clear under the present one-party rule with the Governor and Majorities in both houses after 8 years of failed policies and late budgets what the answer to that question is!

I’ve long been a proponent for the Governor, legislative leaders, and my colleagues to make government transparency a priority and ensure that when final legislation is agreed upon by the Majorities and Governor, it is allowed to be publicly reviewed for three days as required by the state constitution and that bills are not voted on in the dark of night.

The worst words in the English lexicon are “it’s always been done that way.” Sadly, it’s a time-honored tradition by those in power to use “messages of necessity” to avoid the constitutionally required three-day aging period and push through a variety of controversial policy proposals by sweeping them into budget bills passed in the middle of the night while most New Yorkers are sleeping to avoid scrutiny and thorough vetting by the media, public and legislators. This tactic has drawn widespread derision over the years.

That’s why I’ve authored the “NYS Budget Transparency Act” (S.233/A.9089), a constitutional amendment to stop the abuse of messages of necessity and prevent secret government from keeping many legislators, the public and media in the dark when significant legislation is being voted on. Unfortunately, they’ve turned a message of necessity into a message of convenience to cloak their actions.

My bill would stop the clock on all legislative proceedings between midnight and 8 a.m., and limit messages of necessity except in the case of genuine emergencies such as a security threat, natural disaster, or dire fiscal situation. The measure requires a two-thirds majority vote to take up any message of necessity.

We’re calling on our colleagues to work morning to night to get the job done of passing a fiscally responsible budget, but let’s not substitute political expediency for transparency because it’s been shown time after time that nothing good happens for taxpayers when the legislature is forced to do business and called into session at the New York State Capitol in the dark of night.

As I’ve said before, if the Governor and Leaders think passing a state budget that’s projected to be billions of dollars above last year’s in darkness is so good for New York taxpayers, then why don’t my colleagues hold their press conferences at 3 a.m. in the dead of night instead of the light of day?

Clearly, they don’t because they want full transparency and a full airing of their ideas to the public through the media so they can be seen and heard. As the famed journalist Bob Woodward popularized, “Democracy dies in darkness.”

If an agreement hatched in the dark of night at 3 a.m. is so good for our state, then it will still be a good one to be detailed, debated and voted on at 3 p.m.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and this budget process needs a thorough cleaning.