What was supposed to be a special session of state legislators in Albany to vote on Governor David Paterson’s proposed budget cuts has turned into a meeting of leaders this afternoon.

The governor’s call for urgently-needed reductions to close a $2 billion deficit has met with some resistance from state legislators, particularly Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and State Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco.

As a result, there is no vote today.

Instead, without a consensus, there is a meeting between Paterson, Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with minority leaders.

Silver said that he hopes lawmakers can return in January to finish the task he hoped to complete today.

“Senator Skelos is not interested in passing bills, he’s interested in passing the buck,” said Silver.

Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith criticized the majority leader for threatening to bring the budget cuts up to vote when he knew they would fail, saying practices like that are why New Yorkers have no faith in state politics.

Paterson says the economic situation has worsened and his earlier projection of a $12.5 billion deficit in the next fiscal year has now ballooned to $15 billion.

The governor is very concerned that, in his words, “no one has offered alternatives or offers to negotiate.”

He said he is not asking anyone to negotiate in public, but instead wants a public meeting to determine if there’s interest in reducing growth in spending.

The Republicans complained Paterson’s proposal has too much of an impact on education and health care spending, and the only way they can consider cuts is to see the governor’s budget for next year.

The governor insists that next year’s budget is not the issue. But, he said that he will submit the budget to leaders anyway.

Source: NY1