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Lawmakers deliver with historic overrides Restorations bolster education and health care
May 11, 2006 UUPers rally for lawmakers to override the governor's vetoes. Thanks to state lawmakers' courageous stand against the governor's vetoes, teacher centers are saved and slated for a much-needed funding increase. And finally, higher education is beginning to get the funding boost it deserves. "The Senate and Assembly have restored a sense of rationality to the state Capitol," said New York State United Teachers President Dick Iannuzzi. He praised the Legislature for delivering billions back to New Yorkers with the override of nearly all of the governor's 207 budget vetoes. "Governor Pataki's vetoes would have eviscerated teacher professional development programs, higher education and health care," Iannuzzi said. "Thankfully, the legislators stood up for the citizens of New York and told the governor 'no.'" Thanks to the leadership shown by Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, lawmakers in both houses came together to override most of the vetoes, restoring millions in funding for full-time faculty lines at the State and City University systems and millions in Medicaid and health care cuts. "Our public colleges and universities are the engines that can drive economic development across the state — particularly upstate," said Alan Lubin, NYSUT executive vice president. "The vetoes would have pulled the spark plugs from those engines, but the Senate and Assembly have helped to ensure those engines will run stronger than ever." Last year, more than 7,000 community college students were denied access to a four-year university for lack of resources, including full-time faculty, Lubin noted. It takes a two-thirds majority vote of each house to override a gubernatorial veto, a rare occurrence. This year, lawmakers had to contend with a recent court ruling limiting their power in crafting the state's spending plan. Gov. Pataki has already threatened to block funding on items he deemed unconstitutional, including a plan to give rebates to property taxpayers and orders to restore some $650 million in Medicaid cuts. Lawmakers restored nearly $3 billion to the state budget. Many families will receive assistance through a child tax credit offering working families up to $330 for every child between the ages of 4 and 17. The Legislature also restored more than $30 million in aid for professional development, including more than $26 million for the state's network of 127 teacher centers. Rallying cry Just days before lawmakers set to work overriding the vetoes, nearly 300 higher education faculty members and dozens of students converged on the state Capitol, clamoring for restoration of funds. "The state risks becoming intellectually bankrupt if the vetoes are allowed to stand," United University Professions President William Scheuerman told the red-shirted crowd of academic and professional faculty from the State University of New York. Scheuerman said the Legislature's action would give more students access to affordable, high-quality public higher education. "These overrides will also help the state's economy, since a stronger SUNY means a stronger economy in the many communities that house SUNY campuses," Scheuerman said. — Clarisse Butler Banks |
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