Good-Government Group Urges New York State Leadership
to Discontinue Use of “Messages of Necessity”
Citizens Union Calls for End to Long Standing Practice of Rushing Budgets Through Legislature

In a letter to the Governor and legislative leaders, Citizens Union is urging the state’s leaders to break the bad habit of issuing “messages of necessity” to push the final budget through on an expedited process and, instead, allow the legislature the proper time to review the final proposal before being required to vote on it. With a new governor involved in the budget process this year for the first time in 12 years, and in light of the legislature’s vocal support for government reform measures in recent months, Citizens Union sees this as a timely opportunity to end the rushed passage of the budget for good.

“The use of a ‘message of necessity’ to rush through a budget bill prevents not only the public, but legislators as well, from reviewing the most important legislation they will pass all year,” says Doug Israel, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy for Citizens Union, who added “there is no compelling excuse, it is bad government. "

Past practice has been that if the budget is delayed beyond April 1, the final product is rushed though the Legislature. Through a series of messages of necessity the Governor is able to submit the final budget bills to the legislature for a vote without the required three day waiting period. By law, the legislature has to ask the Governor to issue a message of necessity, and it has done so almost without fail over the past twenty-five years. The process limits review by legislators and the public alike.

Israel continued, “Abandoning this practice will help create a more transparent and accountable budget process. We believe that with the current climate of reform in Albany, under new leadership, now is the time to make ‘messages of necessity’ a thing of the past.”