Don't Ram State Budget Through, Groups Say to Legislature and Governor Cuomo

ALBANY, NY (03/30/2011)(readMedia)-- Two organizations that have been aggressively pushing for a state budget that responds to the needs of all New Yorkers called on the Governor and the Legislature to have a full and forceful debate on the floors of the State Senate and State Assembly, particularly on controversial portions such as the millionaires tax. The groups will be joining with allies at the State Capitol Building today to voice their concerns about the budget and share the dire impacts it would have on their communities.

"It's offensive that they haven't listened to the people throughout this whole process, and now they're trying to rush it through before we get there," said Loretta Manning, a Community Voices Heard Member-Leader from Newburgh, NY who will be attending today's demonstration with 3 of her children and her sister. "They can't ignore us, and pretend that we're not bringing the real people to the Capitol today, the real families – the poor families – who are going to be hurt by this budget. We are the majority of New Yorkers, and we want to see a fair and democratic process."

"Instead of looking us in the eye when they vote on a budget that will hurt our communities, Governor Cuomo and Senator Skelos are unnecessarily speeding up the process and slowing down democracy," said Robert Tolbert, a leader and Board member for VOCAL-NY. "The glory of an early budget is no excuse for keeping legislators and the public from fully reviewing the budget bills before they're voted on."

The full day's actions will be updated at the website for the New Deal for New York.

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