George E. Pataki
PER
George E. Pataki Pataki
Gov. George E. Pataki continues to negotiate with legislative leaders from his hospital bed. Emboldened by a 2004 Court of Appeals ruling, Mr. Pataki has been using appropriations bills attached to his budget to rewrite existing law by himself on topics from school aid to Medicaid to environmental policy. But on the other hand, legislative leaders say Mr. Pataki has tilted the balance of power too far in his direction, creating what has become one of the primary stumbling blocks to budget deals' getting done on time. George E. Pataki continues to negotiate with legislative leaders. Emboldened by a 2004 Court of Appeals ruling, Mr. Pataki has been using appropriations bills attached to his budget to rewrite existing law by himself on various policies. Mr. Pataki's most recent budget is one of his broadest proposed rewrites of state law. Mr. Pataki's proposed budget would bypass the Legislature in deciding how to allocate more than $1 billion worth of federal aid to needy families and would keep for himself the authority to disperse $350 million of domestic security funds.