Hey, dude, party on!
As if the state Legislature didn’t already seem like a bunch of wild frat boys, now they are taking an extended spring break, lengthening this month’s already 13-day vacation period to a leisurely 18 days.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Nassau) say the five extra days away from Albany are OK because they won’t be hitting the beach in Daytona — they will be in their districts helping constituents.
But critics say there is still a lot more work that needs to be done in Albany. Lawmakers have not capped local property taxes, cut ballooning public pension costs, overhauled the state’s notoriously porous ethics laws or tackled the “last in, first out” teacher-seniority debate.
“There’s an overwhelming number of issues that need to be addressed. It sends the wrong message to the public, that these issues aren’t important,” said Dick Dadey, executive director of the good-government group Citizens Union.
The state’s 212 legislators — 150 Assembly members and 62 senators — are technically “part time” and get paid a base of $79,500.
This year, the Legislature had planned to be in session for 63 days between Jan. 5 and June 20. The original schedule included a 13-day holiday break for Passover and Easter.
On Wednesday, lawmakers began notifying staffs of plans to cancel sessions on April 27 and April 28, thereby extending their break to 18 days.
The pols will now get an uninterrupted break from April 14 to May 1.
Silver’s spokesman, Michael Whyland, insisted the extra time will be used on local constituent issues.
“It’s important for the members to be in their districts and listen to constituents,” said Whyland. “The issues aren’t before us. So it’s important for us to talk to constituents now.”
Skelos’ spokesman, Scott Reif, noted that some of the year’s major work is done already.
“Obviously, the budget was passed on time. So, that’s out of the way,” he said. “While it is important that members are in Albany, it’s also important that they’re in their districts dealing with constituent matters.”
Whose idea was the extra time off? Skelos’ rep said he was approached by the Assembly. Whyland would not confirm or deny that and said, “It doesn’t matter, because both houses will not be in session.”
Sources said Gov. Cuomo was notified of the extra break and gave his OK. The governor’s spokesman, Josh Vlasto, would neither confirm nor deny this.
Not every legislator agreed with the elongated spring break.
“It’s an unfortunate decision when there are so many decisions that need to be addressed before session ends,” one Assembly Democrat complained. “We should be back in Albany doing our jobs.”
