Source: http://www.wten.com/global/story.asp?s=12685065
By JOHN McLOUGHLIN, NEWS10 Staff
ALBANY, N.Y. – After a warning from the comptroller that state worker paychecks could hang in the balance, both houses of the Legislature approved another emergency spending bill plus a bill that raises taxes on tobacco products by an estimated $440 million.
With lawmakers continuing to meet and hash over the twelfth budget extender bill in lieu of a budget that’s now nearly three months overdue, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned that, unless the extender was approved by 6 p.m., at the latest, there would not be enough time to authorize and deposit the payroll in time for Wednesday’s payday.
With only 20 minutes to go before that deadline, the Senate and the Assembly passed the budget legislation. The Senate approved the bill in a party line vote of 33-28, with Democrats in the majority.
Sen. Roy McDonald, Republican of Saratoga County, broke ranks and voted in favor of the budget extender, the lone Republican to do so.
Grouped with the extender was another bill that includes huge increases in tobacco tariffs. The tax on a pack of cigarettes will now be increased by $1.60 a pack to $4.35, the highest in the nation.
The bill also calls for a higher tax on non-cigarette tobacco, including snuff, cigars, and so-called “little cigars”. Tobacconists say the tax on cigars will double their prices.
Controversy erupted in the Senate chamber over another part of the bill that implemented a tax collection on cigarettes sold on Native American reservations.
Several Senators expressed frustration over this part of the bill, saying they disagreed with the inclusion of collecting cigarette taxes from Native American reservations, but had no choice to vote for it in order to keep New York State running.
One Senator, George Maziarz (R), even warned of a violent “clash of cultures” between Native Americans and the State of New York if the taxes are put into practice.
The tobacco tariffs passed 32-29. McDonald did not join the Democrats this time.
The new tax on cigarettes goes into effect on July 1. The taxes on non-cigarette tobacco begin August 1, and New York State will begin collecting taxes on cigarettes sold on reservations September 1.
So when do we get a real budget? Lawmakers are vowing to do that by the weekend and before Governor David Paterson’s deadline of June 28.
Unreal.
