Legislature
ORG
Legislature
Gov. George E. Pataki and his budget director said in interviews on Thursday that they had reservations about the two central initiatives of the Legislature's budget, calling a nearly $1.8 billion property tax cut package unconstitutional and saying a bonding deal for New York City schools would set a bad precedent in the use of state debt. Making his first public remarks on a budget deal the Legislature reached Tuesday night, he said that he hopes that they can reach an agreement consensually with the Assembly and Senate to bring down their spending and to protect the state's finances but if not, then he obviously have the constitutional power to exercise vetoes. They continue to skirmish over even the size of the Legislature's budget, with Mr. Cape saying it was as high as $115 billion, not $112.4 billion to $113.4 billion the Legislature claimed.