State Legislature
ORG
State Legislature Legislature
A senior aide to the governor said on Sunday that Gov. George E. Pataki is preparing to block roughly $2 billion worth of spending and proposed tax cuts in the budget that the State Legislature passed last month, vetoing some items and declaring that several major programs were passed unconstitutionally. Mr. Pataki is threatening to take aim at several of the Legislature's top priorities, the aide said, including the property tax rebate checks that lawmakers hope to send out before they face re-election in November; the spending that the Legislature added for health care; and the tax credit it passed for most taxpayers with children. One held that the Legislature is sharply limited in how much it can alter a governor's budget proposals; a second held that executives do not have to enforce laws they deem illegal.