State Senate passes budget as Albany GOP rails
...three days past the deadline... The state budget increases spending by $10.5 billion, or 8.7%, and imposes $8 billion in new fees and taxes while closing a record $17.7 billion deficit.
It also repeals much of the tough Rockefeller-era drug laws, adds bottled water to the 5-cent bottle deposit law, and eliminates a property tax rebate check.
The Assembly passed all nine budget bills on Tuesday before the deadline.
Frustrated Senate Republicans, angry at being shut out of the process, debated most bills for hours.
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is considering a run for governor next year, called it "catastrophic."
"In the last week - this is serious - I've talked to at least five people who are moving out," Giuliani told Fox 5's "Good Day New York."
