Politics on the Hudson

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, says there should be a budget deal in place before Gov. David Paterson calls a special session to close a $2.1 billion budget gap.

“We are committed to working with the governor to try and address it as quickly as possible,” said Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, in an interview with Gannett’s Albany Bureau yesterday.

“I just think that coming back should not be to attempt to reach a deal. Coming back should be when we have a deal,” he said.

Silver said he wants to avoid the Legislature passing one-house bills without a deal that can pass both houses, expressing concern about Democrats’ tenuous hold of the Senate. He said he hopes to start working with legislative leaders and Paterson after Labor Day to try to reach an agreement.

“I’m prepared if we can have some degree of comfort that we’re going to be able to achieve something,” he said of coming back into session.

In the interview, Silver wouldn’t rule out any cost-saving measures, saying he hasn’t seen a proposal from Paterson yet. But he said the Assembly’s deficit projections are “pretty consistent” with the governor’s.

“I would like to avoid cutting anyplace, but it’s not reality,” he said. “We just have to have a balanced plan.”

He added, “I don’t like education cuts, I don’t like health-care cuts, I don’t like living on borrowed money either. So something has to give, and I’m looking forward to the governor presenting a plan and discussing it with our members.”

Asked whether he thinks former Gov. Eliot Spitzer will seek to return to office, Silver replied, “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Asked why he thinks that, “I just don’t,” he replied.

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