ALBANY - Do you know where your state budget is?
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature blew the April 1 deadline to have an on-time budget for this fiscal year as the sides work behind closed doors to hammer out a deal in the coming days on a $200 billion spending plan.
The stakes are high this year: New York was able to close most of its $15 billion budget gap over the next two years with an infusion of $12.6 billion in federal aid, but there are thorny issues still to decide.
In particular, Democratic lawmakers are pushing Cuomo to raise taxes on the wealthy and on Wall Street by as much as as $7 billion a year, despite the flux of federal stimulus money that will stave off cuts to programs and services.