By Mark Scott
Albany, NY – The State Senate and ]Assembly proposed separate budgets Monday that are larger than the one Governor Pataki wants.
Both budgets reject Pataki's proposed tuition increase for the State University of New York. And they reject Pataki's proposal to restrict the Tuition Assistance Program for public and private college students. The proposals also allow billions of dollars in tax breaks.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says the Assembly budget complies with a court ruling in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case by providing more education funding.
"We address the Court of Appeals decision in CFE," Silver said. "We provide a formula in law that addresses that decision, not only for New York City, but for the rest of the state."
Conference committees will now begin ironing out the differences between the two budgets. The deadline for adopting a final budget is April first.