Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said Thursday his house will look for alternatives to Gov. Paterson’s proposed $2 billion in budget cuts.

“We’ll review the governor’s proposal, hope to hear from our partners in government like Mayor Bloomberg, [examine] some alternative proposals … and find some common ground with the Senate,” Silver said.

The Democratic speaker did not detail which cuts his members don’t like or what alternatives are under consideration.

“Everything is on the table,” Silver said. “It is our job to make tough choices next week, and we are prepared to do that.”

Paterson, who has called a special session Tuesday to deal with the budget crisis, has proposed cutting the budget by $2 billion, with $1.4 billion coming from education and health care.

Top GOP senators want to see Paterson’s plans for next year’s budget before deciding on cuts to this year’s.

Paterson shot back on WRGB-TV in Albany: “This is just a farcical way of avoiding taking action [by those] who are unwilling or unable to perform their duties by cutting this deficit.”

Source: NY Daily News